Yabonga
Children in Johannesburg

Yabonga started support programmes to provide much needed information about HIV/AIDS, particularly to mothers infected with the virus.
Yabonga’s offices are based on Main Road in Wynberg, in the southern suburbs of Cape Town.
Yabonga’s programmes evolve to suit the communities’ needs.
All Yabonga field staff started off as clients in the HIV support groups, and are living with HIV themselves.

Yabonga staff are recruited from the areas where we work. They understand the complexities of impoverished township communities, because this is where they live. We started the Yabonga Youth Programme with a strong focus on life skills; we encourage young people to develop a positive attitude and healthy self-esteem. Our youth receive academic support so they can realise their potential. In 2010 our first group matriculated with many going on to further education. For those that needed further support and experience we developed the Yabonga Gap Year Programme. The aim of the programme is to offer work experience whilst also focusing on their personal development and the planning of their futures. Invaluable work experience in our organisation sees the gap students assisting the community mothers with the younger children and those in the Youth Programme gain experience by helping the youth counsellors with the older children. The centre maximises the effectiveness by enabling the Youth and Gap Programmes to operate under one roof. With a new astro turf pitch and gym we offer an exciting alternative to life on the streets. We focus on education to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. Yabonga cannot help its children without including their families and teachers through education and support. Some of the ways Yabonga supports the families is by supplying 1000 loaves of bread for distribution every day from our bakery. Education about HIV/AIDS, such as the medication (anti retro virals) or the prevention of parent-to-child transmission is crucial to the well being of the children. Yabonga interacts and educates adults within the community in the following ways. Yabonga peer educators share their knowledge in the waiting rooms of township clinics, as well as running awareness and testing campaigns. Support groups help those to cope with the daily traumas experienced at home or within the community. Our circles of support directly address the issues facing the caregivers of the children. Lectures and awareness campaigns cover topics such as drugs, alcohol and sexual abuse, domestic violence, and children’s rights. They also monitor the children’s progress at school by liaising with their teachers. The staff at Yabonga receive regular counselling to soften the impact of their experiences in the field. Our in-house training ensures that they are abreast of the latest developments in the field of HIV/AIDS. At this time HIV was a known, but underestimated factor in the care of many children. The Children’s programme was launched in 2006 when we started feeling the impact of the orphans left behind as mothers were dying of AIDS related illnesses such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. The first group of 35 children has grown to 700 in under ten years. The children attend an afterschool programme which is hosted in the homes of community mothers. Here they receive a warm, nutritious meal, emotional support and do their homework. In 2016 we aim to have 40 Community Mothers cooking, loving and teaching the children. Sometimes the children are not safe to go home when the afternoon is over. The Yabonga Respite Unit provides temporary, safe accommodation for those most vulnerable children. Yabonga Respite Programme mothers are trained to help the children catch up with their school work, check their health and provide mental and emotional support.