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Laura is the manager of the Childline centre,
Wynberg. Although this takes up a large part of
her time, she also makes sure that she remains
actively involved in the counselling work done
at the centre.
An important aspect of
this job centres around being aware of the issues
in South Africa, trying to keep a feeling for
the South African context, the nature of things
here.
Laura
‘I arrived in Cape Town about a year ago. Before
that, I’d worked in the UK, where I was a Play
Therapist. My main area of involvement was children
who had attachment disorders as a result of early
childhood trauma, who battled to attach to their
primary caregiver.
‘When I arrived in Cape Town, I worked as a volunteer
for the Cape Mental Health Society and the Red
Cross Children’s Hospital. I then applied to Childline,
and was very pleased when they offered me a position
here. I really enjoy being part of this committed
team, working toward such worthwhile objectives.
‘Although a large part of my day is taken up
with managerial work, I try to make sure that
I am engaged in some sort of counselling – assessments,
short-term counselling, long-term counselling
and bereavement therapy. I really like to keep
in touch with the counselling and play therapy
side of the job, but can only see a maximum of
three clients per week.
When the voices of children
are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still.
William Blake (1757-1827),
British poet, painter, mystic
‘An important aspect of this job centres around
being aware of the issues in South Africa, trying
to keep a feeling for the South African context,
the nature of things here. Certain things, such
as the lack of resources, we have to work our
way through, or around, or over! That of course
ties in with the fact that we don’t have enough
social workers, there’s a huge prevalence of sexual
abuse and so many people who need help. There
simply aren’t enough of us to help everyone, and
this can be frustrating. Limited resources limit
certain aspects of our work. For example, as well
as focusing on the child, it would be good to
be able to work in a more preventative capacity,
working with communities in a more holistic way.
As we move forward this is one of the aims of
Childline.
‘My role at the centre is often a supportive
one. I also co-ordinate meetings with the other
centres, and of course, manage things on a day-to-day
basis. I believe in the goals and vision of Childline
and see my job as helping these to be realised
as effectively as possible. To a large degree,
we are autonomous here; only in terms of marketing,
funding and finance do we have to have recourse
to the main LifeLine/Childline Western Cape offices.
‘Here, at Wynberg, we work very much as a team,
with three social workers. In addition I oversee
four other social workers, in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha
and Bishop Lavis. I supervise most of these social
workers, and, as is the policy of Lifeline/Childline,
they also receive outside supervision.
‘Each centre takes care of much of the day-to-day
running on their own. We meet every month, and
most decisions taken are as a result of participative
teamwork. Our work is team focussed, based on
sharing ideas and looking at the outcomes we wish
to achieve. Our staff offers a wide diversity
of experience and backgrounds, and it makes sense
to use these to our advantage.
Although we like to think of young children's
lives as free of troubles, they are in fact filled
with disappointment and frustration. Children
wish for so much, but can arrange so little of
their own lives, which are so often dominated
by adults without sympathy for the children's
priorities. That is why children have a much greater
need for daydreams than adults do. And because
their lives have been relatively limited they
have a greater need for material from which to
form daydreams.
Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990), Austrian-born U.S.
psychologist.
‘Recently, we had a strategising workshop with
Patrick Smith, from the University of Cape Town.
This was a great help to all staff as it reminded
us of the importance of being aware of the issues
that we deal with within a broader context – showed
us the importance of responding according to the
needs of different communities and cultures. It’s
very much a case of identifying the situation,
responding at the appropriate level, of looking
at ways in which we as an organisation can become
more adaptable, utilising our areas of strength
to function more effectively. This means extending
the number and the scope of the community based
projects we are involved in and taking those projects
which are already up and running into more communities.
‘The workshop was inspiring, and we will definitely
follow through on a great deal of what we learned
and gained from it. It enabled us to take a step
back and to review aspects associated with our
work. This sort of perspective is necessary in
a job where we have such full caseloads and are
so busy that we don’t always have time to analyse
our situation. Many of the ideas that came out
of the workshop are feasible, but at the same
time we need to retain a sense of the value of
what we are already doing. (Click here to read
an interview with Patrick Smith)
Children's self-esteem
develops in proportion to the depth of
trust that is reached in the parent/child relationship.
Stephanie Martson (20th century),
U.S. family therapist, author.
‘Childline Western Cape mainly deals with cases
of children who have been sexually abused, and
bereavement, trauma counselling and court preparation
also make up part of our caseload. Although it
is interesting to look at statistics, to see the
numbers of children who have come to us, and indeed,
been helped by us, it is often hard to quantify
the value of our work by numbers alone. Children
often don’t make it to appointments that are arranged
for them. This can be related to many factors
- it could stem from feelings of guilt, lack of
understanding relating to the impact of trauma
and the need for counselling, or as a result of
work or family related commitments. The main issue,
though, seems to be financial. When you think
about it, in terms of taxi fares and bus or train
fares, it can cost up to R20 to get through to
us, and so if a mother, for example, brings her
2 children this can cost up to R60 – a very good
reason for extending our services into communities
which do not have Childline centres.’
LifeLine/Childline Western
Cape is in the process of purchasing a property
in Mitchell’s Plain. This new centre will provide
Childline services within this community, where
the need is so great.
For further information, contact
the Childline Centre on
+27 (0)21 762 8198
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