CHARITY
Surrey’s Premier Lifestyle Magazine
A day in the life of Sarah Wilkins, Morning Star
The Morning Star Children’s Centre is a day care facility for underprivileged children infected with HIV/Aids in South Africa. Here Sarah Wilkins, a volunteer at Morning Star’s school, details a typical day.
All images provided courtesy Morning Star
When I arrive at the school around 7.30am each day, the sun is almost always shining in a cloudless sky. I have been working here as a volunteer since 2010. Morning Star School is situated in Welkom, approximately three hours south of Johannesburg, South Africa. Our little school of just three classes is part of a day care centre for children infected with HIV/AIDS where 145 children are cared for on a daily basis, of which 54 attend our school. We are much more than a school, providing all round care for the children and their families.
The children tumble out of minibuses that have collected them. Their shining faces and beaming smiles never fail to bring me joy. After greeting them, I join those in the two older classes who by now are sitting on the carpet in the main classroom singing enthusiastically. We start our day with a short Bible lesson and speak and listen to the children. It is a very important time. We check for children who are sick or need help. Today we talk about what we can be grateful for. One child says water to wash with, another that he woke up alive today, another that he can come to school to learn. We finish by giving each one a hug and telling them they are loved.
The nurse has arrived to administer their medicine. They receive an antibiotic, vitamins, selenium and some TB treatment. We don’t give out the Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) – these are administered by their caregivers. Things have changed significantly since the drugs were made freely available ten years ago: they keep the children alive and give them more energy and strength. However, some children experience negative side effects and, in extreme cases, organ failure.
The children sit at long tables outside to eat porridge for breakfast, this is the first of two nutritionally balanced meals. Some of them help me water our small vegetable garden currently producing spinach, cabbage, beetroot and carrots.
The children are here for different reasons; some are too weak to attend their local school and some have no birth certificates and therefore no access to education. Then we have our special class of mostly older children who have severe problems with learning. This is due to a combination of malnutrition and the HIV virus when they were infants affecting the development of their brains. They have an inability to retain information and have severe concentration problems.
After lunch comes the best part of the day. Recognising the limitations of many of the children, the complete lack of creative experiences in their lives and poor motor skills, we introduced a programme of arts and crafts and practical skills activities each afternoon. This week the children are designing and making Basotho cone hats from their own culture. The hats need to be ready for Heritage Day on Friday when they will dress in their traditional clothes.
At 2pm the appearance of enthusiastic cleaners evicts us from the classroom and the children rush out to spend the remainder of their day playing. Soon clouds of dust envelop those kicking a football and the shouting and noise creates a sound familiar in playgrounds all over the world.
The children tumble out of minibuses that have collected them. Their shining faces and beaming smiles never fail to bring me joy. After greeting them, I join those in the two older classes who by now are sitting on the carpet in the main classroom singing enthusiastically. We start our day with a short Bible lesson and speak and listen to the children. It is a very important time. We check for children who are sick or need help. Today we talk about what we can be grateful for. One child says water to wash with, another that he woke up alive today, another that he can come to school to learn. We finish by giving each one a hug and telling them they are loved.
The nurse has arrived to administer their medicine. They receive an antibiotic, vitamins, selenium and some TB treatment. We don’t give out the Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) – these are administered by their caregivers. Things have changed significantly since the drugs were made freely available ten years ago: they keep the children alive and give them more energy and strength. However, some children experience negative side effects and, in extreme cases, organ failure.
The children sit at long tables outside to eat porridge for breakfast, this is the first of two nutritionally balanced meals. Some of them help me water our small vegetable garden currently producing spinach, cabbage, beetroot and carrots.
The children are here for different reasons; some are too weak to attend their local school and some have no birth certificates and therefore no access to education. Then we have our special class of mostly older children who have severe problems with learning. This is due to a combination of malnutrition and the HIV virus when they were infants affecting the development of their brains. They have an inability to retain information and have severe concentration problems.
After lunch comes the best part of the day. Recognising the limitations of many of the children, the complete lack of creative experiences in their lives and poor motor skills, we introduced a programme of arts and crafts and practical skills activities each afternoon. This week the children are designing and making Basotho cone hats from their own culture. The hats need to be ready for Heritage Day on Friday when they will dress in their traditional clothes.
At 2pm the appearance of enthusiastic cleaners evicts us from the classroom and the children rush out to spend the remainder of their day playing. Soon clouds of dust envelop those kicking a football and the shouting and noise creates a sound familiar in playgrounds all over the world.
All images provided courtesy Morning Star
I go back inside, passing the wall of remembrance, a stark reminder of the horrific toll HIV/AIDS has taken here over the last seventeen years. 283 stars, each with a child’s name printed inside it, cover the wall.
I collect some food, a warm hat and blanket and drive to the hospital. Two of our teenagers were admitted recently. One of them died on Saturday. An emerging problem is teenagers aborting their treatment deliberately. The boy is grateful for the hat and blanket. He looks better to me and hopefully is recovering. I return in time to see the last few children climbing onto the minibuses and wave them off.
An Australian who had travelled to almost every country in the world once visited us and at the end of her visit said she had never experienced the same joy and love anywhere else. I too love being part of a very special and unique organisation.”
Sarah Wilkins, volunteer, Morning Star
About Morning Star
Morning Star is a day care facility for under-privileged children who are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. It opened its doors in January 2000 to admit its first eight children. Now, 17 years later, there are over 750 children on its register, with 143 of them attending on a daily basis.
Morning Star’s great desire is to help change the lives of as many HIV/AIDS and vulnerable children as possible and, where funding is available, assist their families too. This is achieved through optimum care, nutritious meals, adequate medication, stimulating activities and lots of love. Although the majority of children blossom and thrive at Morning Star, they do lose some of the little ones and, over the years, more than 281 of them have died.
Morning Star’s key objectives are:
• To rehabilitate as many HIV/AIDS children as possible and enable them to reach their full potential
• To provide for the spiritual and educational needs of the children from a Christian perspective
• To deliver support to their families
• To ensure the organisation’s ongoing sustainability.
Morning Star is located in the centre of the Free State Province of South Africa in the city of Welkom. Until fairly recently this was a bustling mining town, but the falling gold price and outworked gold-bearing reefs have meant that many mines have drastically scaled down their operations. This has resulted in multiple job losses.
It is estimated that up to 50% of the local workforce is currently unemployed. Most of the men who were made redundant were migrant workers who returned to their homeland leaving behind them children and mothers who no longer had any financial support. What also remained is AIDS, which has infected and continues to affect a very large proportion of the community.
I collect some food, a warm hat and blanket and drive to the hospital. Two of our teenagers were admitted recently. One of them died on Saturday. An emerging problem is teenagers aborting their treatment deliberately. The boy is grateful for the hat and blanket. He looks better to me and hopefully is recovering. I return in time to see the last few children climbing onto the minibuses and wave them off.
An Australian who had travelled to almost every country in the world once visited us and at the end of her visit said she had never experienced the same joy and love anywhere else. I too love being part of a very special and unique organisation.”
Sarah Wilkins, volunteer, Morning Star
About Morning Star
Morning Star is a day care facility for under-privileged children who are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. It opened its doors in January 2000 to admit its first eight children. Now, 17 years later, there are over 750 children on its register, with 143 of them attending on a daily basis.
Morning Star’s great desire is to help change the lives of as many HIV/AIDS and vulnerable children as possible and, where funding is available, assist their families too. This is achieved through optimum care, nutritious meals, adequate medication, stimulating activities and lots of love. Although the majority of children blossom and thrive at Morning Star, they do lose some of the little ones and, over the years, more than 281 of them have died.
Morning Star’s key objectives are:
• To rehabilitate as many HIV/AIDS children as possible and enable them to reach their full potential
• To provide for the spiritual and educational needs of the children from a Christian perspective
• To deliver support to their families
• To ensure the organisation’s ongoing sustainability.
Morning Star is located in the centre of the Free State Province of South Africa in the city of Welkom. Until fairly recently this was a bustling mining town, but the falling gold price and outworked gold-bearing reefs have meant that many mines have drastically scaled down their operations. This has resulted in multiple job losses.
It is estimated that up to 50% of the local workforce is currently unemployed. Most of the men who were made redundant were migrant workers who returned to their homeland leaving behind them children and mothers who no longer had any financial support. What also remained is AIDS, which has infected and continues to affect a very large proportion of the community.
UK supporters of Morning Star: Linda Gardiner and Bill Muddyman: a personal testimonial
Morning Star is a day centre for children with HIV/AIDS in the city of Welkom, South Africa. We became personally involved at the very beginning in 2000 when we met founder Joan Adams at our home in Esher. Joan is the remarkable lady who started this charity to help the many innocent children affected from birth by the AIDS epidemic in Africa.Joan has been visiting the UK each year since then to raise funds, primarily through churches and women’s groups. We became actively involved by initially holding fundraising events in our garden. Over the years, we also added some unusual events, such as lunch at the Clink in Banstead, a dinner at an Esher restaurant and, more recently, an evening at the Hare and Hounds pub in Claygate. In addition, we were privileged to be allowed to use the BT Tower three years ago and delighted to raise over £40,000 for the day centre.
When we visited Morning Star in January of this year, we were very happy to see they had managed to secure a permanent building in Welkom, made possible in part by funds raised at these events, and the constant support of our friends and family. This has been a very important step for the future of Morning Star, as the tenure of the current premises is dependent on the local government and has always been insecure and fragile.
We are thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to have what almost certainly will be our last big event, in the wonderful grounds of the ACS Cobham International School: a party night
on Friday 23 June at 7pm.
The School’s generosity and willingness to help us make this a fantastic evening is appreciated by Joan Adams (who will be joining us), her staff and all of the children in the care of Morning Star.
We would love it if you can join us on Friday 23 June and thank you in advance for your interest and support.
Linda Gardiner and Bill Muddyman
essence info
Morning Star Children’s CentreNon-Profit Organisation: Registration Number: 009-016-NPO
Pretoria, South Africa, 9 November 2000.
Contacts
Linda Gardiner: 07979 600877 lindagardiner@hotmail.com
Bill Muddyman: 07768 848899 bill@ruxley.com