CWSA White River | SIETA fund

White River Child and Family Welfare Society ( CWSA White River)

CWSA White River was established in 1940 as an affiliated member organisation of Child Welfare South Africa. Child Welfare South Africa is an umbrella body with 263 affiliates, outreach projects and developing organisations across the country. Established in 1924, Child Welfare South Africa is the oldest and largest non-governmental child protection organisation in South Africa. In addition, CWSA White River is registered as a non-profit organisation with the Department of Social Development and as a designated child protection organisation in terms of the Children’s Act, Act 38 of 2005.

Over the past years, CWSA White River has developed into one of the largest and most dynamic designated child protection organisations in Mpumalanga, with satellite offices in Phumlani, Sabie and Graskop as well as 24-hour victim support centres for survivors of domestic violence and rape in Sabie and Graskop.

CWSA is situated in the scenic Lowveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa. The town of White River is surrounded by mountains, forests, waterfalls and other beautiful attractions which

nature has to offer. Despite the beauty and serenity of this tourist hub, White River is not excluded from the social ills which plague communities all over our country. Social problems include the HIV/AIDS pandemic, child abuse, exploitation and neglect, unemployment, poverty, domestic violence, child trafficking and children made orphaned and vulnerable by HIV and AIDS and other diseases.

CWSA White River is driven and managed by 10 dedicated management committee volunteers, 21 staff members and 60 programme volunteers.

The Mission of CWSA can be summarised as follows :

To promote, protect and enhance the safety, well being and healthy development of children

The Objectives of CWSA are:

To render prevention, early intervention, statutory social work, after care and family reunification services to children and families in need of care and protection
To render 24-hour victim support services to survivors of abuse, rape and domestic violence at our victim support centres in Sabie and Graskop
To advocate and lobby for the rights and protection of children, families and marginalised communities
To network with other stakeholders in the field of child protection in an effort to coordinate and integrate service delivery
To conduct awareness campaigns with regards to child rights issues
To provide material assistance and support to child headed households and children without any visible means of support
To promote food security through community vegetable gardens, feeding schemes and income generating projects
To empower communities through a range of community development programmes
To promote early childhood development through our ECD centres
To combat the effect of HIV and AIDS on children and families through the implementation of Child Welfare South Africa national programmes
To provide internship/practical training opportunities for social work and social auxiliary work students
To provide technical support to St John’s Care Centre in Barberton – a child and youth care facility for children living with HIV and AIDS
To provide employee assistance programmes
To continue to train our volunteers and staff members to ensure high quality of service delivery to children, families and communities

On average, CWSA White River provides direct services to 3075 children per month while thousands more are reached through awareness campaigns.

CWSA White River is actively involved in the following community development projects:

Asibavikele (Let’s protect them)

Asibavikele is a national community-based and volunteer-driven programme providing services to 337 children made orphaned and vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. This programme has been hailed by the National Department of Social Development as a best practise model in child protection. The programme is running in Phumlani and Graskop.

Food garden projects

Eight food gardens are up and running in Phumlani, Sabie and Graskop where community members are empowered towards food security.

Feeding scheme

A feeding scheme is operating in Phumlani where 400 orphaned and vulnerable children receive a balanced meal three times per week. The feeding scheme has been extended to the older persons of the community.

Empower the girl child programme

The girl child programme is a national group work programme for young women with a focus on empowering them towards successful enterprise development. This programme is running in 5 schools in White River and Graskop, involving 140 girls.

Child headed households

As a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in our communities, child headed households have become a common phenomenon where older children look after their younger siblings. CWSA White River is currently supporting 12 child headed households, involving 49 children. It is envisaged that the number of child headed households will increase drastically in the near future.

Child trafficking

Mpumalanga is bordering Mozambique and Swaziland and is therefore a prime target for child trafficking, as reflected in our social work statistics. CWSA White River has embarked on an intensive awareness strategy, making children aware of the dangers of child trafficking. Trafficked children are often placed in our victim support centre in Sabie. During 2012, we partnered with UNICEF, raising awareness in our communities with regards to child trafficking and the Orange Africa Cup of Nations.

Early childhood development

Early childhood development is a national priority of government and Child Welfare South Africa. CWSA White River provides ongoing technical assistance and support to 7 developing early childhood development centres, involving 200 children. The centres are located in the White River, Sabie and Graskop areas.

Boys and Girls clubs

These clubs are running in White River and Sabie where 89 children engage in weekly life skills training sessions.

Graskop after school programme

This programme provides daily homework support, after-school supervision and meals to 120 children of Graskop.

Graskop laundry project

This income generating project provides in the needs of 10 unemployed community members. With the generous assistance of USAID, washing machines and tumble dryers were purchased to kick start this programme.

Holiday programmes

Holiday programmes are conducted for the children of White River and surrounding communities during school holidays, involving 800 children.

Phumlani laundry and sewing project

This project generates an income for 7 unemployed community members.

Sabie victim empowerment baking project

The volunteers attached to the Sabie victim support centre have embarked on a baking project to generate funds for this project.

Victory Park art project

This project empowers 17 boys and girls with learning difficulties. The group meets weekly and the children are equipped with life skills, business skills and lessons in art work. The art work is sold in White River and generates an income for the children.

Employee assistance programme (EAP)

CWSA White River offer employee assistance programmes to 10 industries in the White River, Sabie and surrounding areas on a continuous basis, reaching 450 employees. The programme addresses issues such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, TB, HIV and AIDS, etc. and referrals are made to CWSA White River social workers where necessary.

Social work placement programme

CWSA White River offers internship/practical training opportunities to 8 social work/social auxiliary work students at any given time. 15 social auxiliary work students commenced with their training in 2013.. Post-graduate students from the United States of America are often placed at CWSA White River to gain experience in community development.

Buhle Home-based care

A group of trained volunteers provide home-based care services to frail older persons and persons living with HIV and AIDS in the Phumlani community.

Victim empowerment programme

A 24-hour crisis service to survivors of abuse, rape and domestic violence is rendered by our victim support centres in Sabie and Graskop, assisting on average 75 survivors per month. Door-to-door and other awareness campaigns are conducted at regular intervals.

Awareness campaigns

These campaigns are conducted during national and international days e.g. child protection week, 16 days of activism of no violence against women and children, World AIDS Day, children’s day, human rights day, etc. to make the public aware of child protection issues.

Advocacy and lobbying

Advocacy and lobbying for the rights and protection of children are done continuously by means of radio talks, newspaper articles, our website, participation in child protection forums and our Facebook page.

Skills transfer and capacity building programme

Weekly technical support and social work supervision are provided to St John’s Care Centre in Barberton – a child and youth care facility for 40 HIV infected children.

Statutory social work services

Statutory social work services include the safeguarding of children, children’s court inquiries, foster care screenings, placements and monitoring, adoptions, temporary safe care placements, family reunification services, parenting plans and divorce mediation.

Governance

The organisation is governed by a dedicated management committee, supported by a group of committed staff members.

The management committee and staff are supported by the Mpumalanga provincial office of Child Welfare South Africa.

Monthly management committee meetings are held where strategic decisions are made with regards to the management of the organisation.

The Annual General Meeting of CWSA White River is held during September of each year and members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend.

Accounting firm

Martin van Rensburg Accountants

Registration number: 002 321

26 Russell Street, Nelspruit, 1200

Funding

CWSA White River receives subsidy from the Department of Social Development. However, the subsidies only cover a portion of the salaries of the social work staff and do not cover a

Apart from the above-mentioned income, CWSA White River is in need for monthly contributions to cover the running costs and to enable us to render quality services to those children and families in need of care and protection. Donations can be in kind or in cash.