Good Morning Angels: Woman takes in abandoned children

BACKGROUND: Abuse has no race, age or gender - however, women and children are by far the worst affected when it comes to family abuse, violence and neglect. As we celebrate Women’s Month in South Africa, we are reminded of the scourge facing women and children in this country - but also of those who work to protect and stand up for victims of abuse and neglect. FamPro, founded by Natasha Dixon is one of these. FamPro is a non-profit organisation that acts in the best interest of the voiceless and the vulnerable: abused women, children and men! They are fully reliant on public funding to provide Legal assistance for abuse victims and intervention regarding minor children.  

One of their cases involves an 18-year-old brother and 16-year-old sister, who were left destitute after a lifetime of neglect. Natasha could not find a safe haven for the children after they were dropped off next to a road and left to fend for themselves. She asked a friend, Pam, to provide a temporary home for the siblings. Pam, a mother of two young girls and her husband agreed. They are now in the process to gain legal guardianship of the teenagers, as they have become part of their family and they have nowhere else to go. This addition to their family however comes at a greater financial cost than they can afford, and that is why Natasha asked Good Morning Angels to help.

REQUEST FOR: Pam and her family including 18-year-old “T” and 16-year-old “S" 

REQUEST FROM: Natasha Dixon, founder of FamPro

ANGEL 1: Retha Ingenbleek representing the Spar Women’s Virtual Challenge 

SPONSORING:  The theme for this year’s Spar Women’s Virtual Challenge is "I Rise”. To help Pam rise to the challenge of caring for her new family members, Spar will assist Pam and her family with grocery vouchers of R 5000 for six months - that’s R 30 000 in total!

AND

Online entries are still open for the Spar Women’s Virtual Challenge - taking place on 3 September 2022.

From all the entry fees with the entry code “JACA”, R60 will go towards FamPro, to help represent victims of family violence in court.

To enter the SPAR Women's Virtual Challenge (Sat 3 Sep) visit  https://sparvirtualchallenge.co.za/ 

ANGEL 2:  The Good Morning Angels Fund NPC

SPONSORING: The Good Morning Angels Fund will assist Pam with R 30 000 to help cover some of the costs to care for "T" and "S"

ORIGINAL REQUEST:

Dear Good Morning Angels,

FamPro is a non-profit and we act in the best interest of the voiceless, the vulnerable, abused women, children and men! We get our funding from the public and are not by any means funded by the state. Our services include legal assistance for abuse victims and intervention regarding minor children working together with DSD and the SAPS. We fight the right way.

We have 6 cases running in court, and 9 more cases in the coming week, from GBV to acting in the best interest of minor children. We have so far concluded 18 cases successfully. We as FAMPRO need your support with expert and legal advice, which costs a lot of money.

What we do is difficult as we are all mothers and have families we love and care for each day. Abuse has no race, age or gender. We get up and go each and every day because making a difference is the most important thing to changing the world one step at a time. South Africa is dark and we are reminded of it every day but in the darkness, there is always a little light.

I would like to bring your attention to one specific case - that of siblings 18-year-old “T” and 16-year-old “S”. These teenagers were left by the side of the road by their adoptive father after their mother disappeared. She is a drug addict. The children’s schooling is way behind. The 18-year-old would probably never be able to finish matric. They have experienced severe neglect all their lives. Pam and her family took them in after we could not find a safe haven for them anywhere. Below are Pam’s own words about the children and how they have changed her and her family’s lives. They really need any help they can get, to look after the children.  

PAM’s Story:

I agreed to take in two teenage children (a brother of 18 and a sister of 16) who had nowhere to go. They were dumped next to a road, with a Pick n Pay packet each. I have two small children of my own. I was so nervous about how two teenage children who came from an emotionally and physically abusive home would affect my girls. I was wondering whether I was doing the right thing? 

Each day they spent with me became more and more difficult knowing that financially we were not in any position to look after two more children and worrying about what would happen to them and where would they go. Would they be separated, would they be loved? I prayed night after night with no sleep asking God for help until one day he gave me the answer. I knew that letting these children leave was not an option and we would do what we had to, to give these kids a chance in life. We have fallen in love with these children and it blows my mind that anyone could harm two sweet souls like them. 

For the first time in their lives, they know what it feels like to be loved. They know what it feels like to blow out candles on their birthdays, to get a hug good morning or good night, to eat something other than dry brown bread, to eat at a restaurant. Things we all take for granted. We have cut all the little luxuries we had. We have cancelled some policies to enrol these kids into online learning. The schools in the area are full and pleading day after day for someone to accept them was unsuccessful.  

The amount of time they have been out of school and especially the boy's age, all count against us. Every month is a struggle financially for us resulting in applying for loans to get to the next payday. As we all try to establish a new life as a family, it becomes more and more clear how damaged and hurt these children are. They have insecurities that we are trying to work through and there have been nights I lie awake with shivers from the stories they have told me about their lives up till now. These children deserve a shot at life and they have overcome so much. We will do all we can to make that happen.

The kids have been let down at every turn by their parents & other responsible adults. 

They have been physically, mentally & psychologically abused for years and their education has been treated as an optional extra. 

The shortage of places in local schools and the year being midway through is making it impossible for them to be entered into regular schooling which leaves only online schooling as the viable alternative.

Thank you for reading this,

Natasha Dixon on behalf of FamPro