Teenager blossoms after horrendous abuse

It was in 2022 that our office became involved with a sweet 16-year-old girl with a very tragic story.

The teenager had been removed from her biological father’s care after horrendous allegations of sexual abuse were made against her father and brothers.

This while the young girl already had a very sad story…

Her mother died during giving birth to her and all the years while growing up her father blamed her for her mother’s death.

The girl was neglected and physically abused in the care of her grandparents and her biological father for many years. She was only enrolled in school in grade one and received no pre-school education and care. She attended school for only a few months, but shortly after she was removed to be the caregiver of her elderly grandparents. She also had to clean the home and cook for the family.

She never attended any other formal schooling while she resided with her family.

After she was removed at the age of 15 by the social worker, she was placed in the care of a family friend. This placement was difficult and in 2023, the child had to move to another family. As the teenager never received any schooling, it was also difficult to find a suitable children’s home. Our social auxiliary worker however refused to give up on the child. She was adamant to secure a placement for her in a special school after very hard work and determination. The girl was accepted at a Child and Youth Care Centre and started going to school. She blossomed!

Today she is over the moon for finally being able to attend school. She is learning to be a normal, functioning child every day. She has made friends and her self-esteem has improved tremendously.

We applaud the continued efforts of the social auxiliary worker who refused to give up on the teenager. This story also proves that life can change for a child in need and that our staff do not give up no matter how hard and how tragic the background of the child was.

The story of Prince – an abandoned baby boy

Prince may have been discovered abandoned in a bush in rural Mamelodi, but he was the most super healthy baby boy, with a big bubbly personality to match!

The sooner Prince was offered a permanent loving and caring home, the better.

We immediately started the adoption process as required by law and the Children’s Act to find Prince suitable adoptive parents.

Unfortunately, the matching process may take some time…

A wonderful couple who had two biological children of their own had a big dream and yearning in their hearts to adopt another child. They were open to any gender, any race, and a child of any age.

Their only hope was to find a child that would benefit from having a family and a bright future.

Yet they had felt discouraged.

Even though the couple had no fixed adoption preference and had already been approved as suitable adoption candidates, they had to patiently wait for a child that would be perfectly matched to the dynamic of their family.

During consultations with the social worker, the couple were advised that it was indeed crucial to keep the oldest children’s existing positions in the family.

It is always best that there should at least be a two-year gap between all the children.

After an intensive screening process, the couple were finally matched and placed with a healthy joyful boy of two years old.

Our little Prince.

It has been eight weeks now and the newly extended family of five couldn’t be happier.

In their own delightful words: “Our lives have never been the same. We know and believe that there are more people out there who are willing to adopt, they just need to discover that they can.”

The couple felt by sharing their story they can inspire more families to consider adopting a child outside of their race, or to even consider becoming a foster family.

“Through our own adoption journey and our experience with children getting older in the system, we know that every person has the ability to change someone’s life and say: We will not let this child’s story end like this.”

Prince’s story is indeed a story of hope. After being abandoned he is now flourishing in a loving and caring environment!