A Story from South Africa

A recent newsletter from Helping Hands in Africa included a story about a 10 year-old boy who attended their Orphan Intervention Program. He said this: "My mother was bad so they put her in a hole and covered her with sand so that she would die."

The newsletter went onto remind us that death is a very present reality in the lives of children in the village but it is also a misunderstood reality. Children are seldom spoken to about death. Often the child is told that his or her mother left to work in another town rather than be told that the child's mother died. This leaves the child with a sense of abandonment and an inability to come to closure. Even the process of funerals remains a mystery, with children many times not being included, even in a funeral of their own parents.

Grief Care is vital for these young children and adolescents to ask questions, express how they are feeling, to have their fears eased and their misconceptions dispelled. It is important for them to learn how to cope with loss, changes and trauma and to be empowered to make good decisions.