• by Busani Bafana and Chris Stein (windhoek)
• Wednesday, October 20, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Seventeen-year-old Jason* wants to be a pilot and his 14-year-old foster sister, Gracie*, wants to be a lawyer. In the impoverished district of Rehoboth, south of Windhoek, dreams such as these do not always come true.

But thanks to foster care grants from both government and a private charity, they will pursue their dreams in a reasonably well-supported foster home. But some children in Namibia's impoverished Rehoboth district live in conditions much worse than this family, even though they are recipients of government grants.

Varity van Wyk, who fosters Jason and Gracie and two other children, is fortunate to be the recipient of an additional grant of about 53 dollars a month from Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries. This helps bolster the 29 dollar government stipend she receives per child as a foster parent. Though the government grant money provides for the children’s basic needs, Van Wyk said incidentals are often unaffordable.

Gracie has chronic bronchitis. So paying for medicine and doctor visits is challenging, even with the grant money, Van Wyk said.

'It very difficult to provide for all the needs of the children, especially the medical needs, and we are lucky to have our ministry. But we think the government can do more for the children,' Van Wyk told IPS. 'Government can assist with medical expenses and even free medical assistance. It is not easy, there are lots of challenges, but with the help of the Lord we pull through.'

According to the Principal Social Worker in the ministry of gender and child welfare, Zelnadia Engelbrecht, job opportunities in Rehoboth are scarce and poverty is high and many children enter foster care because their parents cannot provide for them. Children in this area enter foster care for various reasons including: poverty; death; old age; alcohol abuse; mental illness; and HIV/AIDS - which can cripple a parent's ability to care for their children.

Foster parents in Namibia receive about 29 dollars a month for each child they care for. While keeping them out of abject poverty, caregivers say the grants are not enough for many of these children’s needs. They also do not cover other costs like rent, telephone, electricity and water. And in some cases foster parents have to contribute towards school funds.

Though Namibia’s constitution guarantees free education, schools in Rehoboth charge a fee for essentials like toilet paper, paint for the classrooms, and for books. The primary school Van Wyk’s children attend charges 21 dollars per child for their development fund. This eats into the grant she receives monthly for the children.

And she is not the only foster parent who has to spend a large portion of funds on school fees. 'According to our studies, 35 percent of grants are spent on school fees,' said Matthew Dalling, overseas specialist for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 'We need to move towards universal free education.'

Dalling said most children who leave their immediate family move to live with extended family members. But these family members are not eligible for grants. Dalling said a better approach would be for the government to extend grants to households who take care of children outside their immediate family.

Foster care grants, which reach 15,192 children in Namibia, are a good short-term solution, but a large-scale expansion of free services is necessary to allow families to get on their feet and stay there. 'Grants provide some level of security,' Dalling said. 'But also have to focus on broad economic growth.'

In an effort to forge greater commitment for child-sensitive social protection policies, 40 parliamentarians from 10 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are meeting in Windhoek from Oct. 20 to 22. The forum hosted by the Parliament of Namibia in partnership with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNICEF, is discussing how parliamentarians can help scale up safety nets for the most vulnerable, especially children affected by HIV and AIDS.

'The proof is clear — child-sensitive social protection schemes such as cash transfers, removal of user fees for health and education for the poorest, along with pro-poor policies, laws, and regulations, make a real difference in the lives of children who have to cope with the worst impact of extreme poverty,' UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy said. 'They can also foster social stability, particularly in countries with high levels of disparity and exclusion.'

*Names have been changed.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement