When
there is a calling, the way will follow
“I’ve come to believe that
each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that
the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to
offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the
energy of the universe to lead you.”
When we choose
our careers we often consider the future, the remuneration and the
opportunities. But sometimes we just
listen to the calling and we follow a path that leads us to a position where we
serve with love and build other people’s lives rather than focus on building
big careers. A dynamic group of ladies
manage operations at Child Welfare Tshwane and they embody the phrase, “Charity
begins at home, but should not end at home”.
They do their work with compassion and love to ensure that the lives of
children in Tshwane improve.
Child Welfare
Tshwane (CWT) was established in 1918 to care for vulnerable and orphaned
children after the war and is still doing amazing work in the City of Tshwane. Apart from the 24-hour care facility, the
Bramley Child & Youth Care Centre, in Groenkloof, the Organisation also
runs service points in Mamelodi, Eersterust, Sunnyside, Elandspoort,
Atteridgeville and Olievenhoutbosch. CWT launched an ECD (early childhood
development) program in Sunnyside in April 2015 and have already seen excellent
results with the children and families who are part of this program.
At the helm of
the Organisation is Linda Nell (60) as Director. After a positive experience with social work
at a young age, she decided that this was the career for her. “I also enjoy
working with people, I find them very interesting,” says Linda. She enjoys her work, especially to motivate
and inspire people. Her personal goals
are to always be of value and to be resilient in mind, body and spirit. To achieve this, she enjoys reading,
exercising and cooking. The one thing
she would want to change about the welfare situation in South Africa is the
funding as it remains a constant challenge to meet the financial needs related
to caring for vulnerable children.
Linda finds motivation from her favourite quote by Sandra van der Merwe “Those who encouraged me to play and cheered
me when I did well”.
Winnie Moshupye
(49) is Manager: Social Work at Child Welfare.
Her role comprises of overseeing the risk assessment, family
preservation and legal protection services are fulfilled to the best standard
and quality. Winnie became a social worker because she has a passion for
helping people, wants to relief poverty and to help people feel empowered. “The
most rewarding part of my work is to see the improvement in the individual
development plan of a previously abused child”, says Winnie. She dreams of one day running a Centre for
the aged in Lephalale as she would like to also see the elderly cared for. Winnie stays healthy by going to gym, running
and cycling and enjoys socializing with friends and family. Her vision for welfare in South Africa is
that the system will strive to encourage independency rather than fostering a
culture of dependency on the social support systems. It is not wonder that her favourite saying is
“become independent rather than dependent”.
Mary-Jane
Motshwane (53) is Supervisor of the Foster Care supervision program, the
program supervises children and their families who have been placed in
alternative care via a court order by the children’s court. This is to prevent
foster children who are at risk not to be abuse or neglected and make sure they
are well-cared. Mary-Jane became a
social worker to make a difference in her community, and also assist the less
privileged and vulnerable be able to help themselves and not be dependent.
Mary-Jane support and guide supervisee in her Program to meet their goals. She always strives to be a better person and
her dream is to see people happy and free from suffering. To meet the demands of her position she
enjoys a bit of gardening to stay healthy.
“I do not go to the gym, but rather do house work – that way my house is
in order and clean and I do not feel as if I have wasted time to go out for
exercise”, says Mary-Jane. If she could
change the welfare situation in South Africa she would invest in skills
development so that, instead of hand-outs, people will rather be trained and
able to also give back to the community.
“We need to cultivate pride”, says Mary-Jane when she also explains how
the current system encourages dependency.
Mary-Jane believes we should continue dreaming but also take each day as
it comes.
Dineo Daly (28 for the past 12 years) is
Supervisor: Risk Assessment. “I relate
well to people”, says Dineo when asked why she is a social worker. “People find me easy to talk to and that
helps in our environment”, she continues.
She enjoys knowing that her work has made a difference, even if only in
one child’s life. Dineo dream of the day
when she can spend quality time with her family. “I married for love, because if I had married
for money I would have been a stay-at-home mom” says Dineo, whose family is
very important to her. Dineo hopes that someday
people will realise their own potential and she believes that the welfare
system should help them do that. She likes to be fit and healthy and walks 5km
each Saturday. Dineo finds her spiritual
strength in John 1, chapter 4:4: “Greater is He that is in me than he that is
in the world”.
Yolandi Singleton (30) decided to be a
social worker because she has a lot to give and enjoys promoting the
self-esteem of children. She is currently heading up the Assessment and Therapy
unit at CWT. The interaction with children
is the best part of her day and she feels so strongly about domestic violence
that she hopes to one day be part of the work group to re-write the Act. She wants to help shape the Act to ensure
that the victims are protected and get more help. To stay fit and healthy she enjoys Hip-Hop
and walking and she tries to always eat healthy. Yolandi says one thing she would change about
the welfare system will be to get social workers to take more responsibility
for cases and not just step away when it seems impossible. She also believes “do unto others as you
would have them do to you”.
Front, from left to right: Winnie Moshupje; Nina de Caires
Back, left to right: Yolandi Singleton, Mary-Jane Motshweni, Helena Willers, Dineo Daly & Linda Nell.
Helena Willers (60) is Manager of Bramley Child & Youth Care Centre. She chose to be a social worker because she
wanted to improve people’s quality of life.
It is rewarding for her to see the progress and change in a child’s life
during the time the child spends with Bramley.
Bramley currently provides 24-hour care to 45 children between the ages
of 6 and 19. Helena stays fit by
climbing stairs at home and she dreams of travelling more in her life. If she could change one thing about the
welfare situation she would want to see a change in the image of the profession
and also more people caring and showing empathy for others. Her favourite saying is something the
children can also benefit from “In this
world you can be anything you want to be, but it is important to first be
yourself”.
The group
dynamics will change when a male colleague will join as Supervisor: ECD and
Drop-In Centre program, but for now this group of ladies work diligently and rescue
children from potentially harmful conditions and to ensure that they are safe
and healthy and that they get the support needed to ensure that each child
reaches his or her full potential. No
one can change a bad beginning but we can work towards creating a better future
and these ladies are definitely working hard at creating better futures!
