1 
 
 
THE MEANING OF HEART 
?FAITH, CHARITY AND CHILDREN? 
AN ANALYSIS OF FAITH BASED 
FOSTER CARE AND CHILDREN?S HOMES IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA 
 
by 
Thomas Andrew Lipinski. B.A. 
0711482M 
 
Supervised by Professor Robert Thornton 
 
 
A research report submitted to  
the Graduate School of Humanities 
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of  
 
 
Master of Arts 
 
Department of Social Anthropology 
 
 
University of the Witwatersrand 
Johannesburg, Gauteng 
South Africa 
November 28th, 2008 
 
? 2008 Thomas Andrew Lipinski 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This work is submitted for a Masters Degree in Social 
Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand, 
Johannesburg, South Africa.  It consists solely of my own 
work. 
 
 
Thomas Andrew Lipinski 
0711482M 
3 
 
Acknowledgments: 
When you're a little kid you're a bit of everything; Scientist, Philosopher, Artist. 
Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time. 
-Kevin Arnold, from the Wonder Years (1988-1993) 
 
Those of you who know me know what a personal ordeal writing this research report has been for me.  I 
do not say that in usual sense that it was intellectually and professionally challenging, which it was, but I 
refer rather to the overarching  yet unrelated personal crisis that just happened  to occur congruently with 
doing the research for and writing this research report, and very nearly caused me to abandon my studies. 
I thank first to those people who have helped me personally, provided care, help, support and love:  Renee 
who has been a constant source of encouragement and of emotional support when I was beyond caring, 
my sister Margaret who has reminded me that I need to be living for myself rather than others. My friends 
Deborah, Danny, Tom, Brent, Emeritta, and the others who have been there when I needed them.  Geof, 
who opened my eyes to the path of self-annihilation that I had embarked. Myriam for simply being 
Myriam. 
I also owe a huge debt to my supervisors, Stefanie and Robert, who have been patient and understanding 
with my sporadic progress on this research and the additional time that I have required to complete it. 
The Heaney family who have been extremely tolerant of my random visits to Johannesburg to occupy 
their guest room for several days at a time; more than tolerant really, but welcoming. 
Finally my parent?s remarkable patience and continued support during this time. 
4 
 
Abstract: 
 
The author describes and discusses children?s social welfare in Cape Town, South Africa, 
particularly in light of faith/religiosity as a motivating factor for charitable actions and activity 
among individuals and organisations.  He outlines the general environment in which 
organisations are operating, draws a number of Faith Based as well as Secular organisations and 
individuals into the discussion, and describes the way in which religion and beliefs influence, 
moderate, and guide these groups in their daily routines and overreaching objectives and goals.  
The author will illustrate the central role that religion and religiosity play both in the initial 
impetus to become involved with Child Social Welfare as well as the role that it plays in 
retaining both staff and volunteers within this industry.  Further, the author will demonstrate the 
ways in which religious ideology impacts upon and informs the ideology and policy of the 
distinct organisations which are discussed here in an attempt to demonstrate the ways in which 
religious ideology interacts both internally within the organisations and externally informing 
their relationship with those around them.  Finally the author will describe the way in which 
religion influences and impacts on the children that are being raised and care for by these 
organisations, examining the way in which individual organisations ideologies and religious 
positioning changes the children?s upbringing and the goals that they have for the future of the 
children.
5 
 
Table of Contents 
 
Signature Page          i 
Acknowledgements          ii 
Abstract           iii 
Table of Contents           iv 
             
 
Chapter 1: Introduction         1-1 
1.0 Objectives and Structure         1-3 
1.1 Problem Statement: Orphans and Vulnerable Children?s in South Africa  1-5 
 
Chapter 2: Children?s Social Welfare and Faith Based Charity Organisations   2-7 
2.0 Social Welfare and Children in South Africa: A glance at policy and practice  2-7 
2.1 Faith based organisations in South Africa      2-10 
2.2 Approaches to orphans and vulnerable children      2-12 
 
 
Chapter 3: Methodology         3-14 
3.0 Approaches to Faith, Altruism and Motivation      3-15 
3.1 Methodology of the study         3-24 
 
 
Chapter 4: Faith, Charity and Children       4-29 
4.0 Faith Based organisations in Cape Town and their actors    4-29 
4.1 Secular Based organisations in Cape Town and their actors    4-32 
4.2 Who, How and Why: My sample        4-32 
  
 
Chapter 5: Doing God?s Work        5-40 
5.0 Personal Motives in Working with children      5-40 
5.1 Patience and Compassion: Personal challenges      5-46 
5.2 Nurturing ?Good? children: What is a ?good child? and how do we raise them  5-59 
 
 
Chapter 6: Religion in the Home: The Institutional Package    6-71 
6.0 Transmission of Belief:  Converting the Children      6-71 
6.1 Religion and the Functioning Home       6-77 
 
 
Chapter 7: Conclusions         7-87 
 
References 
Appendix 1: Sample Interview Questions 
6 
 
Appendix 2: Letter(s) of Informed Consent 
 
Chapter 1 Introduction 
 
The children here are very challenging, they didn?t trust adults very easily, so it 
really takes some hard work and some initiative to build up the customer 
relationship, but I think they need a lot of attention, I think they need to feel loved 
and accepted in spite of everything else, I think it?s very important that they know 
that you accept them and care for them in spite of the fact that they have lived on 
the street, in spite of the fact that they are taking glue and using dagga, that it?s 
important that you don?t say well the child is bad because of what he is doing.  I 
think you?d rather say the behaviour is bad. You know, and I think that you really 
go out and look for the positive in this child, because all you have is the positive. 
Yinzani Drop in Centre and 
Homestead Children?s Shelter 
 
 
 My first real experience in the lives of those who work with children, and made 
substantial sacrifices to help children was with an organisation that will not otherwise appear in 
this research report.  This is because this experience is substantially removed in both time and 
space from my fieldwork in Cape Town and it does not have an overt religious aspect.  In the 
north eastern South African province of Mpumalanga, not far from the Kruger National Park, 
there nestled among the lush green rolling mountains that make up that part of South Africa?s 
landscape there is a farm.  This farm is owned by a woman who I will refer to as Sharon.  The 
first time I arrived at her home I was quite taken aback; the smell of pigs mingling with the mud 
and compost, what appeared at first glance to be a rundown old farmhouse, and a swarm of 
children seeming to be utterly out of control.  Having had a long drive from Johannesburg the 
day before, and being severely hung over, it was all rather more than I was prepared to cope with 
7 
 
early on a Friday morning.  The first person I met was one of Sharon?s sons, Jack.  A very thin 
man with more hair than I?d seen on one person in quite some time he brought me into the yard 
proper and offered me a joint.  I was introduced to the others around; Sharon?s other son Dave as 
well as her daughter Beth and a large Zimbabwean man by the name of Nathan who seemed to 
be a permanent fixture around the table on the stoep.  I was also introduced the monkeys, some 
species of lemur I recall, the male of the group who immediately pissed on me through the bars 
of his cage, and I got the tour of the farmhouse.  Little children everywhere, Sharon?s three 
youngest grandchildren and the children in her care all playing and making a ruckus.  It was 
school holidays I was told, this is why they were all about (my first though having being ?Christ, 
why aren?t these kids in school, what is wrong with these people?).  The large five room brick 
and concrete house was packed full with toys and clothes and all the things that are needed for 
children.  Coming in off the stoep we entered the main sitting room, with the large dormitory 
style sleeping room containing beds, the television and a computer off to the left.  A kitchen, 
bathroom and second small bedroom made up the rest of the house. 
 First impressions are often quite deceiving. I quickly discovered as I spent time with this 
family of carers and the children that were their wards just how much work they put into them on 
a daily basis.  The stress and worry that went into making sure that they were fed and clothed and 
schooled and loved.  Every few days Sharon would take her kombi-van into Barberton to one of 
the local grocery stores where the owner donated the food which could not be sold and loaded it 
full of everything that she could, to be sorted back at the house.  This trip was not always easy; in 
the time that I was there she more than once had to ask other people for petrol money so she 
could make the trip.  I accompanied her to the Township north of her farm where she had to buy 
8 
 
electricity, sixty rands, or three days worth, at a time so the kids wouldn?t go through an entire 
month?s budget in a week.  Daily trips to the local pawpaw farm which donated as many 
unmarketable papaws as Sharon could fit in her van, some of which went to feed the children, 
the rest to feed the pigs.  Every morning the household would wake up to tea and a breakfast of 
toast and whatever else was available.  The morning consisted of errands, trips to town if needed, 
trips to the pawpaw farm and other tasks that needed to be done.  The day would continue and 
Sharon would prepare lunch; the children helped with the preparation of rice or pap and the 
cleaning and cutting of vegetable while Sharon handled the cooking over an open fire in the 
yard, one pot for the adults who ate on the stoep, and another for the children who mostly ate in 
the accompanying house.  While I was there we had an abundance of meat and tomatoes and 
onions, these things being in season, and the main meal was a relish like stew made of these 
ingredients, with pawpaw salad for desert.  Food was not always so plentiful, and at times one of 
her son?s or Nathan would hunt in the bush to provide extra meat.  
 When not working on feeding the children, the various adults of the house occupied 
themselves with other tasks.  Jack was in the process of building a wood fired oven in the yard 
and also made jewellery to sell through a number of shops in the area. Dave when not taking the 
boys into the bush to gather firewood or hikes to clear poacher?s snares was forever working on 
his rickshaw project which he was certain would revolutionise tourism and urban transport in 
Port Elizabeth. When not teaching the kids how to build cars out of cans and wire, Nathan 
seemed to be working on setting up a local hostel/tourist attraction.  Nathan however is the type 
of character where you can never be sure what is fact or fiction.  Even after the week I spent 
there I am not entirely sure he was actually from Zimbabwe, and I certainly have no idea what 
9 
 
his real background or life was like.  The only two things I am reasonably sure about is that he 
did, at some point, have parents and that he smokes a great deal of dagga. 
1.0 Introduction 
I came to South Africa with a different question in mind than the one that I find myself 
answering here.  I was motivated by having seen a documentary about the grandmothers and 
older women in the South African townships who had to take responsibility for their 
grandchildren when the children?s own parents had died, often from HIV/Aids related illnesses.  
Some of these women had further taken in other children from the community who had no one 
else to care for them, a dozen or more in a home not being uncommon.  With the desire to write 
my masters in anthropology and a curiosity for what seemed to my Canadian mind an amazing 
act of generosity, a downright selfless act on the part of many of these women, I packed my bags 
for Johannesburg and took a place in the masters program at the University of the Witwatersrand. 
I had intentions to find as many of these women as I could and really get to understand what it is 
that made them care for these children; I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I later came 
to realize that the very premise of my search was flawed.  Of course people took care of their 
grandchildren, caring for family is a common trait across cultures, and it is a common practice in 
Southern Africa for women to rear their grandchildren.1  As to how they were able to do so? The 
same way they managed living before, one day at a time.  In my pursuit of these grandmothers 
that I had come to South Africa to study I however began to encounter other organisations and 
people who were reaching out to children whom others could or would not; organisations trying 
to reach those who had no one else to help them, for reasons entirely beyond kin or community.  
                                                             
1 Erdmute 2004 
10 
 
Through this change in interests I came to encounter Sharon and spend a week on her farm as I 
described above, and found myself fascinated by her and those like her. 
So I instead came to focus on a segment of the population that is truly challenging to all 
those who work with them.  My research shifted to look at those organisations that deal almost 
exclusively with street children and children who have been statutorily removed from their 
homes or communities for reasons of poverty, neglect, abuse or unmanageability.  These 
organisations, being primarily smaller grassroots and local non-government organisations, do 
deal with other orphans and vulnerable children, but the ones selected for this research deal with 
these more difficult cases as their primary care group.  The question that then came to mind was 
what motivated these individuals and groups to work with these children who many other people 
wish would hurry up and die, or at least not bother them for change at the traffic lights.2 
 
1.1 Objectives and Structure 
 Having reviewed the literature of orphans and vulnerable children and faith based 
organisations in general and with regards to those operating in Cape Town it has become 
apparent that 1) there is little written on the topic of faith based children?s homes and charities in 
South Africa and that 2) what is written is from sociological, political science, pedagogy or 
related fields, and that there is nothing from an anthropological perspective on the topic in South 
Africa, and 3) that while there are some claims by organisations that religion or faith act as 
                                                             
2 I was first introduced to the Afrikaans curse voetsek by a man sitting next to me at a caf? where street children 
often approached those sitting outside.  His conversation went something like this ?Ach don?t talk to them they 
only want money. You must tell them to voetsek and if they still bother you give them a smack.  Open hand, if you 
punch you might break the skin and you could get aids? 
11 
 
motivators among their staff, there is little written by way of measuring religiosity and belief 
within the organisations. 
This research has focus primarily on the three following questions: 
1) What roles do religion and faith play in motivating people to work with orphans and 
vulnerable children in Cape Town? 
2)  What role do religion and religiosity play in the activities and lives of the individuals 
who are involved with faith based child welfare programs in Cape Town? 
3) What, if any, common factors can be found between the individuals who are involved 
with orphans and vulnerable children and the organisations that care for them? 
This research has been concerned primarily with those people who have made a major 
commitment to children?s social welfare, being involved in the industry full time as their daily 
activity, usually employed at or a full time volunteer at one of the various children?s social 
welfare organisations in the city.  They are often individuals who have sacrificed opportunities 
with greater economic and/or social rewards to continue in this field and have made other 
personal sacrifices to be able to continue with their work. 
 As the activities of many of the larger faith based organisations and non-government 
organisations span entire continents it would be a scholarly travesty to attempt to generalise 
broadly from these organisations.  There are however a number of smaller local groups that 
operate in Cape Town and are run primarily by people who have strong ties to the city.  These 
organisations can give a much more accurate picture of the local influences and attitudes that are 
involved with both faith based organisations and secular organisations dealing with orphans and 
vulnerable children.  Further, given other literature dealing with the various topics surrounding 
12 
 
orphans and vulnerable children and drawing on my own experience and observations, it is 
possible to generalise on a local level. 
This research report is structured to provide as much as possible a logical and intuitive 
discussion of the topics surrounding the questions posed.  This chapter will continue to introduce 
the subject and provide relevant details to situate the reader.  Chapter 2 is to be a discussion of 
Social Welfare both in South Africa and internationally, outlining some of the current theory and 
philosophy on the subject.  It will aid to further situate the reader with regards to the topic and 
prepare them for a site specific discussion on the subject.  Chapter 3 will deal with the 
methodology of the research, discussing the reasoning behind the particular groups I have chosen 
to work with and provide a discussion of the various ethnographic data collection strategies that I 
have used in this research.  Chapter 4 is a historical look at both faith based organisations as well 
as, secular organisations operating in Cape Town.  It will examine historical activities faith based 
organisations in Cape Town and further expand on their interactions and involvement with 
orphans and vulnerable children.  Chapter 5 will examine the concept of good children: what are 
good children and what goes into raising them.  Chapter 6 is a review of the nature of religion in 
the home, examining the influence of religion on the running and environment of the homes. 
Finally chapter 7 will conclude this research report, drawing together the disparate arguments 
and demonstrating the ways in which belief and religion serve to motivate the individuals in 
question. 
 
1.2 Problem Statement 
13 
 
 After nearly 15 years of free democratic rule at the time of this research; South Africa is 
experiencing a very significant problem meeting the needs of its orphans and vulnerable 
children. White South Africa has been previously regarded as a ?first world? or developed nation.  
In the 1970?s the population of Cape Town enjoying a standard of living superior to that of 
California?s.  Yet today the numbers of orphans and vulnerable children, as defined by Tsheko 
among others as ?A vulnerable child is a child who is either orphaned or is living in crisis 
situations due to multiple causes?3 is high, and in many cases the conditions under which they 
exist are extremely harsh.   
Most societies have struggled at times to deal with numbers of orphans, homeless or 
otherwise vulnerable and disadvantaged children.  Given the current number of such children in 
South Africa a study of children?s social welfare and those involved in it is long overdue.  The 
current projections put the number of orphans in South Africa at 1.8 million, with the projections 
for 2015 of over 2.5 million.4  For a nation of 45 million this represents 2.5 percent of the 
population, and we can only begin to guess the impact that these demographic shifts are going to 
have on society.  The need to accommodate such numbers of orphans and vulnerable children 
has not been faced before in a society that has the infrastructure and resources to make a serious 
effort to address the problem, and it presents a unique set of challenges to a nation that is still 
undergoing significant social and economic changes since it?s democratization in 1994.  What is 
present in South Africa that is absent from other nations facing similar crises is that South Africa 
possesses both a well established, if inadequate welfare infrastructure5 and the presence of many 
                                                             
3 Tsheko 2007, 1 
4 Actuary Society of South Africa 2002 
5 White paper on Social Welfare 1997 
14 
 
non-government organisations that are occupied with child social welfare, both local and 
international, secular and faith based. 
15 
 
Chapter 2 Children?s Social Welfare and Faith Based Charity 
Organisations 
 
The Government changed everything with the white papers.  They set out a bunch 
of goals, but they never told us how to achieve them.  We have, with a lot of trial 
and error created the new standard approach to dealing with... 
Cape Town Child Welfare 
 
 
2.0 Children?s Social Welfare in Cape Town: A glance at policy and practice 
 Children are addressed by the South African Constitution, Chapter 2 ?Bill of Rights,? 
Section 28 ?Children.?  Of particular interest are items b through e, which deal explicitly with the 
issues that are most commonly encountered by many of those who work in children?s social 
welfare.  This section reads: 
1.  Every child has the right   
a. to a name and a nationality from birth;  
b. to family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed 
from the family environment;  
c. to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services;  
d. to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation;  
e. to be protected from exploitative labour practices;  
[?] 
2. A child's best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the 
child.  
3. In this section "child" means a person under the age of 18 years.6  
 
It echoes the African National Congress? The Children?s Charter of South Africa7 in its content, 
which is in turn based closely on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 
ratified in 1995 in South Africa following the commencement of democratic governance in this 
                                                             
6 South African Constitution, 2:28 
7ANC The Children?s Charter of South Africa 1992 
16 
 
country.   For the purposes of this research the most important points to draw from this bill of 
rights are ?b. to family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed 
from the family environment? and ?c. to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and 
social services.?  In accordance with the article 4 of the United Nations convention on the rights 
of children, it is the government?s responsibility to ensure that all children have these two things, 
which is where foster care and other children?s social welfare projects come into play. 
 The issue of children?s social welfare is further developed in the Social Welfare White 
Paper of 1997.  The South African White Papers are a collection of documents published by the 
government of South Africa outlining current policy.  Their publication under the current 
government began in 1994 and has continued since then.  They focus on the various challenges 
that South Africa encounters, particularly those relating to public services such as education, 
social welfare, corrections, the use of natural resources, energy issues, the land bank, and any 
other concern that is primarily the government?s responsibility.  Published in August of 1997, the 
Social Welfare White Paper set forth a number of requirements for organisations operating in the 
Social Welfare field, particularly but not limited to those receiving public funding.  Both 
government and civil society8 (private) organisations are required to address the concerns and 
follow the guidelines and objectives that are outlined in the white papers.  Different 
organisations among those I have studied have a number of responses to the white papers; from 
working hard to meet and set out guidelines by which the objectives of the papers can be met, to 
being only vaguely aware of the white papers as something that they should probably look into.  
As might be expected the larger organisations that are more heavily funded by government 
                                                             
8 Meeuwisse 2007 
17 
 
grants are more familiar with and adhere more closely to the white papers guidelines than 
smaller organisations which tend to be more independent.   
 There are two particularly interesting aspects of the Social Welfare White Paper as it 
relates to the delivery of social welfare to children. 1) is the admission that the government of 
South Africa does not have the resources to increase or improve the social welfare system9 and 
2) that the government will have to involve civil society as a major partner in the social welfare 
restructuring project of the nation.10  This has come to mean that non-government organisations 
have borne much of the effort in working with orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa. 
 With the release of the Social Welfare White Paper there were a number of major 
changes that occurred in the child welfare sector.  Since the transition in 1994 to a democratic 
nation required then that all children would henceforth be treated equally regardless of race, 
there was a need to address the woefully inadequate welfare systems that were in place to assist 
the non-white population in South Africa.  Without additional resources, and with the massive 
restructuring of government organisations in general at this time, there was a great deal 
uncertainty and confusion as to how to best address the new environment that welfare workers 
and organisations found themselves in.11  The older, more firmly established and well funded 
organisations were instrumental in developing a new strategy for the care of orphans and 
vulnerable children, meeting the significant challenges that existed in this changing environment.  
They used their experience in the field of children?s social welfare to develop the procedures and 
                                                             
9 Social Welfare White paper 1997, 8:11 
10 Social Welfare White paper 1997, 1:20 
11 Field Notes January 28/08: Christy, a middle aged white woman discussing being an employee in Government 
Social services in the mid 1990?s. Yinzani Children?s Shelter 
18 
 
strategies to enable them to operate within the governments mandates with the limited resources 
at their disposal, essentially to serve the children?s needs as best they can. 
 As residential care has become unfashionable in most other parts of the world, primarily 
because it remains both expensive and has been demonstrated to be not in the best interest of the 
child developmentally,12 a foster care and family and early intervention and community 
upliftment model was adopted by the more successful child social welfare organisations.  Cape 
Town Child Welfare in particular credits itself with developing community and family based 
upliftment and development projects that aim to help vulnerable children before there becomes a 
need for statutory intervention.  Cape Town Child Welfare alone manages eight separate projects 
geared towards reducing the numbers of children at risk, most notably their Thembalabantwana, 
Isolobantwana, Child Protection, Job Skills and Educare Training, and managing foster care 
placement and adoption in Cape Town.  These reflect primarily preventative measures aimed at 
reducing the need for statutory removals and foster placements by improving the community, the 
situation of the parent and maintaining surveillance on potential problem cases, thus reducing the 
overall load on the system.  Other organizations have followed suit with community based 
programs; Ons Plek maintains a children?s afterschool program in Philippi for children identified 
to be high risk; Home from Home, a cr?che in Khayelitsha for all the children in the area of their 
foster homes; and Homestead, a daytime drop in centre for street children in the City Centre as 
well as a beadwork project to empower communities.  In this way these organizations have been 
able to address the needs of many more children and fit within the guidelines set out by the 
government to operate on a community level. 
                                                             
12 Bartholet 1999 
19 
 
2.1 Faith based organisations in South Africa 
 The prevalence of faith based organisations in social welfare is well documented, and has 
historical precedence.  Faith based organisations were the primary social security net in the 
United States, Canada and the United Kingdom until after World War 1 when the 1930?s 
depression spurred the creation of government funded and administered welfare systems. 
 Faith based organisations in South African began with missionaries who came as part of 
the colonial forces to South Africa.  One of the earliest faith based organisations in Cape Town 
was Nazareth House, founded in 1881 by a small group of the Sisters of Nazareth.  Their 
mandate to found a mission and to care for the elderly and orphans who were not otherwise able 
to care for themselves.13  They offered the first residential care in Cape Town, and are further 
credited with being the first residential care facility in South Africa to accept HIV positive babies 
and children.  They continue to operate residential care and foster style care for children, as well 
as residential care for a number of elderly patients.  
 Chevrah Kadisha, better known as Jewish Community Services, has a history in South 
Africa nearly as long as that of Nazareth House.  Founded by a group of concerned individuals in 
1888 its initial mandate was to provide assistance with burial and to provide welfare to those in 
need.14  They work in conjunction with ??Children?s home in Cape Town to provide 
residential care, foster placement, and social work intervention with children of Jewish descent 
within the community.  
 Cape Town Child Welfare is a now secular organisation with faith based roots dating 
back almost as far as Nazareth House.  Founded in 1908 as The Society for the Protection of 
                                                             
13Nazareth House ?About Us? http://www.nazhouse.org.za [Accessed Nov 27, 2008] 
14 Chevrah Kadisha ?About Us? http://www.jhbchev.co.za [Accessed Nov 27, 2008] 
20 
 
Child Life, it was created in response to a very high infant mortality rate in the early 20th century.  
Having since become the primary social welfare body concerned with children in the Western 
Cape, its mandate includes monitoring all children at risk in the region.  It currently maintains a 
large number of community based projects aimed at reducing the number of children at risk. 
 The prevalence of a wide variety of Christian social welfare projects is evident all 
around.  One only needs to look at many of the projects that are still operational in the city to be 
aware of the Christian imperative to charity.  Even African National Congress literature from the 
apartheid era cites a number of Christian organisations that were in support of its anti-apartheid 
activities, both financially and spiritually.15 
 The existence of Muslim faith based organisations is more difficult to trace in Cape 
Town.  By all accounts much of the charity and social welfare that exists in the Muslim 
community is quiet and managed between individuals.  As Zakah accounts for much of the 
charitable activity in Cape Town and with the mosques and Muslim Judicial Council taking 
further responsibility there is less ability to track charity in this community. 
 
2.2 Approaches to orphans and vulnerable children 
The problem of orphans and vulnerable children is one that is approached in different 
ways depending on the resources that are available to a community or state, and upon the 
particular cultural and historical context in which the situation arises.  In the latter half of the 19th 
and first quarter of the 20th centuries in the United States there existed a system of orphan trains 
where children were taken from the streets, institutions and abusive homes in the eastern cities 
                                                             
15Msimang 1989 
21 
 
and shipped to farming communities in the developing west.16 Following World War 2 Hermann 
Gmeiner founded SOS Kinderdorf in response to the large numbers of war orphans, founding in 
1949 the first of what was to become a massive multi-national non-government organisation that 
operates on a basis of providing family style communities for orphans and vulnerable children.17  
While the SOS Child Village model has a number of drawbacks and is not ideal for the 
individual development of the child, it has acted as an efficient response to caring with larger 
numbers of orphans at a given time. 
 More recently there have been other approaches to the question of how to deal with 
orphans and vulnerable children.  Brazil notoriously had a number of paramilitary groups that 
executed street children who had attracted too much attention to themselves with their 
activities.18  Several Eastern European nations still favour large residential style orphanages, as 
does China.  Canada, the US and the UK have until relatively recently used institutional 
residential care, but shifted to a foster care model in the 60?s and 70?s for reasons of cost and for 
the children?s developmental interest.  Today the care of orphans and vulnerable children is 
foster care with an eye to permanent placement or adoption.  The literature on the subject 
demonstrates that this approach is the most beneficial to the long term development and 
prospects of the child, whether they are orphaned or removed from the familial home for reasons 
of neglect, destitution or abuse.19   
                                                             
16 Holt 1992 
17 Schreiber 2003 
18 Dimenstein 1991 
19 Bartholet 1999 
22 
 
Chapter 3 Methodology 
 
Of all the human sciences and studies anthropology is most deeply rooted in 
the social and subjective experience of the inquirer.20 
 
 
 In the preceding chapters I have outlined some of the literature that exists pertaining to 
the history of children?s social welfare, orphans and vulnerable children and faith based 
organisations.  Much of this body is written by psychologists, sociologists, policy makers, 
politicians, historians, ?africanists?, economists, theologians, geographers, and students of every 
other discipline but, save for a few examples, anthropologists.  This discussion raises some 
interesting questions regarding the children?s social welfare field as a whole, but also serves to 
underscore the need for anthropological research on the subject.  This is due primarily to the fact 
that other disciplines do not make use of experientially based field work to the extent that 
anthropologists do, and that to really understand the motives that drive the people studied, 
getting right in amongst them and seeing and experiencing firsthand what it is like to be them is 
the only way.  Anthropology further provides the theoretical frameworks and extensive 
experience of cross-cultural analysis that allows for a study of a group that consists of multi-
 cultural individuals and exists across religious lines.21 In this chapter the focus is to describe and 
discuss the methodology that I have used to study my sample demonstrating the relevance and 
validity of this research and of the conclusions that I will be drawing later on in this document. 
 
                                                             
20 Turner 1986 
21 Bernard 2006; Berg 2004 
23 
 
3.0 Approaches to Altruism, Faith and Motivation 
 The study of altruism, faith and motivation has challenged theorists and researchers 
across many disciplines, not the least of anthropology with its heady reflexivity and postmodern 
influence.  Religion in particular has long been a major focus of anthropological work.  Indeed it 
formed the basis of much of the early anthropological research into ?The Other,? many of the 
early texts being in fact description of the theology of various other peoples.  These early 
attempts at documentation and explanation of ?the other?s? religion; undertaken mostly by 
individuals whom had little idea of cultural relativism and who were writing from a perspective 
of western though.  They were further often engaged in a comparative analysis of the symbols 
and outer manifestations surrounding the ritual and institution of religion.  They rarely if ever 
touch on the subject of the individual?s faith or beliefs and the specific ways in which beliefs 
influence people?s activities. 
 This research report is by no means an attempt to correct an oversight in the history of 
anthropological interest and pursuit, such a project being far beyond the scope of a Master 
Degree it probably could easily encompass the life works of an individual suitable motivated.  
Rather I mention this historical omission in order to explain the vacuum of precedent that this 
research has been conducted in.  Other disciplines have a number of techniques to attempt to 
measure or gauge altruism, faith, or beliefs, and this first section is to be a discussion of how 
these models have been used and modified to meet the needs of this research. 
 There are two variables that prove particularly problematic.  These are faith and motive.  
The question of altruism is also addressed, but it is more readily understood by the way it 
interacts with these two variables; it is not an independent variable in its own right.  First the 
question of how do we define these two variables, then the question of how to measure such 
24 
 
subjective and personal variables.  A discussion of altruism theory will be first, as research on 
altruism has been very influential in modelling the tools and measures that are used to better 
discuss faith and motivation. 
 
3.0.1 Altruism 
 The question of altruism is one that I have encountered regularly while conducting this 
subject.  As I am working with organisations that are charities and rely almost entirely on 
donated time and resources to keep running, under the at times unreasonable levels of stress and 
demands on the personnel,22 the concept of altruism was brought up in many conversations 
surrounding this subject.  The question of altruism, what it is and how to measure it has been 
addressed rather extensively, especially by psychologists and sociologists.  Psychology and 
sociology contribute two main theories of altruism to this research; those are the behavioural 
models and the motivational models.  Of interest to us here are the motivational models of 
altruism.  Motivational models include behaviourism, psychoanalytical, and development 
approaches.23  Behaviourism follows a classical conditioning model, stating that altruistic 
behaviour is primarily reinforced through positive feedback from those around us.  Rosenhan 
suggest that altruism then becomes self rewarding, that the actors in question feel good about 
their actions and this reinforces the behaviour.24  Psychoanalysis originally viewed altruism as 
being pathological, being fundamentally opposed to the interests of the ID.  With modifications 
                                                             
22 Fieldnotes January 24/08: Caroline, coloured woman in her early 30?s and a social worker at Ons Plek discussing 
some of the strategies used to fight employee stress or burnout. At Ons Plek Shelter. 
    Fieldnotes March 17/08: Sara, Middle aged white woman, social worker and director at Homestead.  Discussion 
surrounding employee fatigue and strategies for retaining staff. At Homestead Head Offices. 
23 Losco 1986 
24 Rosenhan 1978 
25 
 
to theory, mainly allowing for more self direction than original Freudian psychoanalysis,25 this 
approach has come to view altruism as a potentially healthy manifestation of maturity.26  The 
developmental models of altruism attribute much more to the motivations of the individual in 
question.  Where other models discuss positive reinforcement or oedipal issues as root causes of 
altruistic behaviour, the development models suggest that altruistic tendencies originate in 
childhood and reflect people?s upbringing.27  Where children were raised to feel empathy 
towards others and to be helpful they suggest you will have adults who are more empathic to the 
needs of others and more likely to behave in an altruistic manner.  Once again this approach ties 
into a positive feedback loop where children are rewarded for altruistic behaviour, and this 
becomes internalised behaviour in the adults.  From the anthropological perspective the 
development model in psychology has the most to offer.  Understanding altruism as being 
transmitted behaviour taught through the upbringing of the young fits far more closely with our 
understanding of culture than do the other approaches discussed thus far. 
 Sociology has discussed altruism in a different light than psychology.  There was not 
much interest in altruism in sociology until the 1960?s,28 and since then there has been an 
increased attention to altruism within the discipline.  The 1964 rape and murder of ?Kitty 
Genovese? in New York City, where not one of the 39 witnesses either intervened or called the 
police, caused a significant interest in the study altruism and factors that lead to altruistic 
behaviour.29  Understandably researchers wanted to know how it was possible for not one person 
to take action to help Kitty Genovese, and the late 1960?s and 1970?s saw a significant increase 
                                                             
25 Ekstein 1972 
26 Losco 1986 
27 Krebs 1978 
28 Friedrichs 1960 
29 Rigby & O?Grady 1989;  Dovidio, 1991 
26 
 
in altruism studies.  The sociological positions on altruism, much like the psychological one, was 
that pure altruism did not exist, altruism could always be explained in some capacity as being in 
some way driven by selfish motives.30  The methodological approach that sociology has taken to 
is similar to psychology?s methodologies.  Experiment design focuses on testing for external 
factors that are thought to influence altruistic behaviour in a quantitative manner31 and to express 
these findings primarily on a scale ranging from ?pure? altruism through ?pure? egoism.32  As 
with psychology, early sociological studies in altruism focused more behaviours and 
consequences of actions than they did on the motivations.  As part of a general shift in thinking 
on altruism that occurred in the 1980?s33 altruism studies began to be more interested n the 
motivational and intuitive aspects of altruism.  The empathy-altruism hypothesis is an example 
of this change in understanding of altruism. 
 The principal aspect of the empathy-altruism approach is that people engage in altruistic 
behaviour because they have the ability to relate and feel sympathetic towards the people that 
they are helping.  People are thus engaging in altruism either to reduce the negative feelings they 
experience as a result of this empathy, or to cause an improvement in their mood as result of 
causing another to improve their situation.34  This is primarily an egoist approach to 
understanding altruism, but it does take a strong motivational stance,35 making it a more suitable 
approach to understanding altruism from a perspective that anthropology can use.  Its 
methodological approach is focused on understanding the motives of the people involved, and it 
                                                             
30 Piliavin & Charng 1990 
31 Batson 1992 
32 Sawyer 1966;  Batson, 1992 
33 Piliavin & Charng 1990 
34 Sober 1991; Batson 1992;  Dovidio 1991 
35 Batson & Coke 1981 
27 
 
allows for a qualitative approach to understanding altruistic behaviour.  Using empathy as a 
motivational factor allows for the incorporation of a number of different models.  It can take 
either an empirical approach to studying altruism, or can approach the subject from a more 
intuitive perspective.36  Developmental models in particular have a strong ally in empathy 
theory, where the development of children can be linked to their particular capacity for feeling 
empathy, and thus behaving in an altruistic manner.  Whether empathy can be demonstrated 
across multiple cultures to be a strong driving force remains to be proven, but it certainly cannot 
be neglected as possible motivation when studying altruism in any culture.  On empathy Morris 
and Jefferies discuss another aspect of empathy, and that is that familiarity with the people in 
need of assistance drastically increases the tendency for people to be able to feel empathy 
towards them.37 
 Methodologically both psychology and sociology have taken a highly quantitative 
approach to studying altruism.  The search for altruistic personalities or for the ability to define 
particular situational variables that would predict altruism has been psychology?s primary focus 
regarding altruism in individuals and society.  Batson outlines an approach using a variety of 
scales to reflect the impact of altruism on the mood or guilt of the actor, indicating which 
variables are available for testing.38 Sociology has taken a slightly different, though no less 
quantitative approach to examining altruism.  Where psychology examines the stimuli and 
motives involving the altruistic actions, sociology prefers to find the broader contexts of who 
engages in altruistic behaviours and what possible characteristics these people have in 
                                                             
36 Losco 1986 
37 Morris & Jefferies 1968 
38 Batson 1992 
28 
 
common.39  Both of these disciplines focus heavily on experimental approaches which are not 
suitable to anthropology?s usual field conditions and methods, nor to a holistic view of human 
interaction.  Both disciplines have contributed a number of models of altruism which can be 
applied to the informants that have participated in this research, particularly the empathy altruism 
model.  They have also provided a measure of scales that are applicable not only to altruism, 
which is a complex variable to analyse, but have been used to model two other variables that are 
examined in this research, those of faith and motive. 
 
3.0.2 Faith 
 I use the term faith in this document interchangeably with belief.  By faith, or belief, I am 
referring to the individual?s certainty surrounding their religion, which should they behave, and 
believe in a certain way they will be living within the guidelines set down by their god.  Doing so 
may be rewarded in the afterlife, or be to live more comfortably in this one, depending on the 
individual and religion.  Allport expressed the problem best when he wrote of faith that ?[t]o 
make a spectrographic analysis is not easy, since the prisms of each personality are unique.?40  
It sums up the fundamental issue of how to address a variable which is both not only subjective 
but also highly personal.  Especially with regards to faith it is indeed rather difficult to have a 
measure. As with other highly subjective variables that researchers might have an interest in 
pursuing such as altruism or emotions,41 faith can be measured through religiosity on a scale by 
observing a number a variables associated with faith and then assigning faith a mean average of 
                                                             
39 Piliavin & Charng 1990 
40 Allport 1950 pp.9 
41 Dovidio 1991; Batson 1992; Sober 1991  
29 
 
those variables.  For clarity in this study rather than attempting to assign absolute categories of 
faithful or non-faithful, a five point scale has been devised which reflects a level of intensity of 
faith experienced by the informants and the institutions that they are affiliated with.  This scale 
is:   not at all ? somewhat ? moderately ? very ? extremely 
A number of questions were posed to get an indication of the intensity of faith experienced by 
the informant, typically in semi-structured interviews,42 as well as observations of their 
environments, their style of speech and use of religious terminology.  The interviews approached 
the question from a number of angles, including the direct questions of ?Are you a religious 
person?? or ?How much of a role does the church play in your life?? to asking about childhood 
experiences in religious centres, to inquiring about current attendance at religious ceremonies.  
Where individuals indicate that they are religious or spiritual but not adherents to a particular 
church the same questions were asked with regards to their relationship with ?god? or whatever 
they identified as their spiritual following.  Further, in order to determine the levels of intensity 
of faith experienced by the informants in this research I have used a number of informal 
measures or observations.  Primarily the frequency of religious service attendance is measured 
and the prevalence of religious symbols about the house and finally the frequency of religious 
terminology or references that they use in during their interviews and casual conversations.  
These are admittedly suspect in their subjectivity and susceptibility to misinterpretation, but 
there is realistically no way to accurately get a perfect measure of degrees of something like 
faith. 
 This study has been focused on institutions that are affiliated with a formal recognised 
?world religion;? specifically the children?s homes and individuals that have been involved fall 
                                                             
42 See Appendix 1 
30 
 
into the judeo-chiristian-islamic grouping.  There are also two secular organisations that have 
been studied which in some ways act as a control group, however many of the individuals 
working within these organisations identify themselves as religious and exhibit varying 
intensities of faith in their own right.  The measuring of an institution?s level of faith or 
religiosity is in some ways more challenging than measuring that of individuals, though it has 
been done in previous studies.  The ways in which religion and faith influence an institution is 
through the actions of its members.  Founders, executive boards, directors and other members of 
staff all influence the direction and action of the institution.  In cases like Nazareth house which 
is a part of the Roman Catholic Church there is little doubt as to the religious affiliation and 
intensity of the relationship.  In some other cases such as non-denominational Christian non-
 government organisations or with religious individuals operating within a secular organisation it 
requires a more considered approach to determine where on the scale they would lie. 
 There are two primary methods that have been used to position institutions on the scale: 
one is by examining the mission statements and policies of the organisation and reflecting on the 
ways in which these are in line with the beliefs and philosophies of the faith with which the 
organisation is affiliated.  The other is an observance of the routines and activities of the 
institutions, the daily adherence to religious observances, the prevalence of religious symbols or 
related artefacts and the behaviour and religious observance of the children who are in the care of 
these institutions.   
 The use of these factors to determine levels of religiosity has precedent, particularly in 
psychology where the strategy of observing religious behaviour such as prayer, reading of 
31 
 
religious texts, or religious service attendance have been used effectively as indicators of 
individual religiosity.43 
 
3.0.3 Motivation 
 Motivation is an aspect of human behaviour that is difficult to measure from an 
anthropological perspective. Research based theorists in sociology and psychology have made 
efforts to devise means and methods of measuring, or at least predicting human motivation. For 
the purposes of this research the question is rather: what specifically are the reasons, the motive, 
that cause an individual to work with children, and what factors have contributed to this.  The 
ways in which faith or religiosity influence motive will be examined, as well as other factors that 
have contributed to the person?s choice to work in the child welfare industry.  One of the primary 
problems is that one cannot simply ask someone why they do something.  Sometimes they will 
know their reasons, sometimes not, sometimes they will respond with polite generalities of 
?doing good? or ?giving back to the community? yet these generalisations fail to reflect the 
individual reasons and motives that lead that specific person to wish to do good or contribute to 
the community. 
 There are a number of models available for the understanding of motivation in people, 
ranging from biological to psychological to sociological.  The biological perspectives would 
argue that motivation for behaviours can be best understood by the ways in which it enhances the 
survival of the group, essentially an evolutionist approach.44  Much of the discussion and theory 
regarding altruism discussed in the previous pages is applicable to motivation, indeed altruism is 
                                                             
43 Hoge 1974; Allport 1950; Genia 1993 
44 Tinbergen 1968 
32 
 
examined as one of the primary motivating factors in this research, and as it is viewed by many 
to be a factor in motivating behaviour, the models predicting altruistic behaviour are also 
applicable to these conditions. 
 
3.1 Methodology of the study  
 There has been a variety of data collection methods used in this research.  As with most 
anthropological research the primary research tools have been observation and interviews.  In 
addition to these there has been additional review of printed material and files made available to 
the researcher by a number of the institutions who participated in this research.  First I will 
briefly outline the strategies and methods used in the observation and interviews, as well as the 
particular conditions that existed during this research that influenced and affected the data 
collection, and then I will discuss the general demographic of the study and the findings 
themselves. 
 
3.1.1 Observation 
 The use of more passive forms observation, as opposed to full participant observation that 
would normally be the preference for anthropology45 was the primary observation that was 
conducted during this research. This was due to a number of limiting factors that made full 
participation with the institutions and organisations being studied unfeasible.  The main problem 
which prevented me from fully immersing myself into the environment and participating as a 
member of the community was that the organisations themselves were unable or unwilling to 
allow that level of involvement from a relatively unknown person.  Because of the legal and 
                                                             
45 Berg 2004; Bernard 2006  
33 
 
ethical considerations when dealing with children, especially children who are already vulnerable 
and in crisis situations such as having been statutorily removed from their homes or living on the 
street, most of the organisations I was working with had to limit my interaction with the children.  
I was permitted to spend time at the facilities during the day, to speak with staff, volunteers, and 
children who were there, but I was not allowed to remain in the evenings nor to participate in the 
as might a volunteer.  In fact most of the organisations did not have much by way of volunteer 
involvement with the children at all; in most cases volunteers rather donated time to 
administrative needs such as professional services that they might be capable of providing. 
 Many of the organisations routinely screen their potential staff and volunteers quite 
thoroughly; and volunteers are not left alone with children unless they are very well known to the 
organisation.  In fact many of the organisations prefer not to accept casual volunteers at all, 
finding that they are too unreliable and are in reality a possible liability to the rehabilitation and 
development of the children.46 However, while I could not participate in a manner that would 
replicate the activities of the individuals I was studying, I was welcomed quite openly to come 
and spend time at the facilities.  I was invited to attend the social worker?s meetings and other 
administrative activities, as well as the social functions that the shelters often held for the 
children and the sponsors, and was also kept informed about any special events that were 
occurring.  I was free to ask questions of everyone there, as well as in a few cases given access to 
the non-confidential files relating the functioning of the organisations, and once the people 
                                                             
46 Bartholet 1999 
34 
 
involved became adequately comfortable with my presence, and ?bribes of tobacco,?47 I was able 
to perch unobtrusively in a corner of the place and watch everything going on about me.   
 
3.1.2 Interviews 
 Interviews have provided the majority of my data for this research.  When it became 
apparent that I was not going to be able to embed myself and participate fully, that is engage 
fully as a member of the community, I shifted my strategy to conducting in-depth interviews 
with a wide variety of the people involved with the organisations.  Interviews were conducted 
with the directors, managers, social workers, volunteers, house-mothers, and childcare workers, 
as well as one domestic worker.48 
 In order to try and ascertain motivation in working in child welfare the use of in-depth 
life history interviews was used.  They were general life histories going back to early childhood, 
and they endeavoured to cover as much as possible any early experiences that could have 
contributed to a desire to work with children.  Family situations, religious upbringing, 
educational experiences, early role models, early environment, traumatic events, work history 
and any other variables that could indicate the process by which people came to be working with 
children were explored in the interviews. 
 Typically two interviews with each person were conducted, a preliminary semi-structured 
interview of about an hour to one and a half hours where we discussed their jobs, how they 
began working in the industry, their religious views and beliefs, and other information 
specifically relevant to the research questions. This was then followed up in as many cases as 
                                                             
47 Actually they were cookies 
48 Berg 2004; Bernard 2006; Perks 1998; Shensul, Schensul & LeCompte 1999 
35 
 
possible with longer life history interviews averaging two to three hours.  These longer life 
history interviews were done more organically than the shorter interviews.  They were begun in 
early childhood and encouraged to continue chronologically, with occasional deviations where a 
particularly relevant or interesting topic related forward to their current jobs.  Special attention 
was given to childhood schooling, religious affiliations or activities, family structure and 
relationships, role models, play, high school and varsity years where appropriate, career track, 
the point where they began with social work as a job or volunteer hobby, and any significant life 
events that may have occurred.  These interviews have been a source of significant amounts of 
information regarding especially the individuals faith and religious beliefs as they were talking 
more about themselves than about their jobs, as well as the fact that they had met me at least 
once, and usually quite a few times by then, thus I was no longer a stranger as I tended to be 
during the first interview.  In total I conducted full interviews with 18 individuals across 9 
institutions and organisations, for a total of 32 interviews.  The majority of these were life history 
interviews which were conducted as follow ups to shorter conversations where I had introduced 
myself and explained my intentions. 
 Many other informal interviews were conducted, more conversations really and are 
referred to in my fieldnotes rather than as interviews.  These yielded some surprising gems of 
data as they tended to be in situations where my informants were highly relaxed; sitting on the 
pavement watching the children play, on public transportation while on our way to one of the 
projects, lunch.  These interviews tended to be with informants that I had developed more of a 
relationship with and become quite friendly with.  The reduction in barriers between the 
informants and me allowed for a frank discussion of sensitive topics that would normally be off 
limits.  Often what appeared to be admissions were made at times like these, admissions to not 
36 
 
really following procedure, to losing faith at times, to sometimes just wanting to give up.  
Discussions about the ways in which donors where handled and managed, as well as the realities 
of running a shelter that would not normally have been disclosed were also brought up at these 
times. 
 I have left the quoted transcribed dialogue a close to the original recordings as possible.  I 
have added punctuation only for ease of reading and to indicate pauses in speech.  Otherwise all 
dialogue remains unchanged, including duplicate words or other grammatical inconsistencies.  
 
3.1.3 Other Material 
 Finally there is a great deal of written material that has come into my possession, both 
printed and digital, which has contributed to my understanding of the organisations and how they 
operate, as well as the individuals operating within them.  This material consisted of sponsorship 
literature, fundraising pamphlets, annual reports, records of correspondence, organisations 
structure charts, external reviews and reports, and other miscellaneous pieces. 
 
3.1.4 Timeline 
 The collection phase of this research was conducted over six months spanning from 
January to July 2008.  There are a few conversations which occurred with informants in late 
2007 which have been referenced, but the formal observations and research are in the 2008 
period. 
 
 
 
37 
 
3.1.5 Ethics 
 As with all anthropological research, there are ethical concerns, especially where children 
are concerned.  In order to preserve the anonymity of all informants, all names of individuals 
have been changed.  Where appropriate I have also disguised the origins of quotes and my 
discussions of certain events to not associate them with any particular organisation. 
 
 
38 
 
Chapter 4 Faith, Charity and Children 
 
All major world religions call for the faithful to care for the poor.49 
 
 
4.0 Faith Based organisations in Cape Town and their actors 
 There is no lack of faith based organisation in Cape Town to study, at last count over 67 
Christian children?s homes or shelters, 3 Islamic homes, and 1 Jewish home which remains 
unnamed at their request.  The largest of the homes and shelters include Nazareth House, Vision, 
Al-Maun, Holy Cross, Ons Plek, Homestead, Home from Home, as well as many others. 
 The proliferation of Christian institutions reflects in many ways the long standing 
tradition within Christianity of being involved with charitable works, especially with raising 
children.  Levi claims that the Christian church has in fact had a ?quasi monopoly? in dealing 
with poverty nearly since its beginnings 2 millennia ago.50  Furthermore the colonisation of the 
world by, primarily, Europe was supported substantially by the Christian churches which 
promoted their faith in these new regions through the work of missionaries and various projects 
in these new territories, though the motives and means of doing so have come under criticism 
from a number of sources.  The criticism of the church?s role in colonialism per se is not the 
question here, it is simply important to recognise the role that colonialism and the church play 
together in establishing the church as a primary charitable force in South Africa for much of the 
nation?s history since the creation of the Cape Colony in 1652.  The Roman Catholic 
organisation Nazareth House for example is recognised worldwide for the quality of care that 
                                                             
49 Jennings 2008 
50 Levi 1989 
39 
 
they provide.51  The primary role of the church in delivering social welfare, or charity, has come 
under considerable scrutiny during the latter half of the 20th century, particularly in the United 
States where the constitutional separation of church and state has resulted in a long and heated 
debate as to the role that religious organisations may play in doing charitable work.52  This is 
particularly relevant with the use of public funds, so much so that faith based organisations that 
make use of public money must now keep clear records to demonstrate that they do not use that 
money or projects that are religious in nature. 
 Islam has a strong theological onus to perform acts of charity, especially towards orphans 
or widows.  A quick scanning of the Qur?an reveals 23 references to orphans across 12 books.53  
These references are particularly prohibitions against abusing or taking advantage of orphans or 
of taking their rightful inheritance or property for one?s own gain.  There is a hadith54 that 
demonstrates the promise of eternal reward for those who care for orphans.  The saying  
Yahya related to me from Malik that Safwan ibn Sulaym heard that the Prophet, may 
Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I and the one who guards the orphan, 
whether for himself or for someone else, will be like these two in the Garden, when he has 
taqwa," indicating his middle and index fingers. 55 
The text is quite clear.  As a number of informants have told me, the ultimate goal is to be as 
close to the profit Mohamed as possible in the afterlife, so the promise that ?I and the one who 
guards the orphan? will be side by side like the two fingers on the hand acts as significant 
incentive.  Along with the prohibitions against doing nothing when you know another Muslim is 
in need who you can help this would seem a strong encouragement to the Muslim faithful 
towards caring for orphans and vulnerable children.  Further, in the Islamic faith there exists 
                                                             
51 UNAIDS 2006 
52 Bartkowski 2003 
53 Shakir 1983 
54 Hadith refer to the oral tradition passed down in Islam of the words and action of the prophet Mohamed 
55`A'isha `Abdarahman at-Tarjumana & Ya`qub Johnson 
40 
 
Zakah, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a voluntary donation.  It is typically calculated at 2.5% 
of an individual?s net worth, but this is the minimum amount, there being not upper limit on 
donations. 
 Judaism differs from Christianity and Islam in that while it does have a tradition of 
charity and charitable works and donations; it remains an exclusive community which requires 
membership through the blood affiliation rather than through religious conversion like Islam and 
Christianity.  This gives Jewish charity a different flavour than either Islamic or Christian 
charity, it being a more focused and more community oriented activity.56  That said, while Cape 
Town?s Jewish community goes to significant lengths to care for the members of their own 
community who are in need, they also donate time and resources to charities that act outside of 
the community.  A brief look at the list of donors to any of the major charities in the city shows a 
hugely disproportionate number of Jewish names compared to the percentage of the population 
they represent in South Africa.   
 According to Illife before the arrival of Christianity and Islam to Africa there was not a 
strong association between historical religion and the temples or spiritual leaders and welfare 
delivery, it was rather the domain of the chiefs or other political leaders.57  The association 
between charity and religion being therefore appears to be an imported concept, at least to 
southern Africa where he demonstrates that there is not a tradition of spiritual or religious 
institutions providing charity to the poor. 
 
 
                                                             
56 Schrire 1990 
57 Iliffe 1987 
41 
 
4.1 Secular Organisations in Cape Town and their actors 
 There are also a number of secular social welfare organisations in Cape Town that 
concern themselves with children in the city, though not nearly so many as faith based 
organisations.  Some of these have Christian roots from the late 19th and early 20th centuries but 
have moved into the secular realm during the intervening time, others are organisations that were 
formed expressly outside of religious associations.  Cape Town Child Welfare in particular is a 
large secular body that has the mandate to monitor all children in the Western Cape.  It originally 
was founded with an affiliation to religion, but has changed to become a secular organisation in 
the intervening years.   
 The activities of secular organisations in social welfare are a relatively recent 
phenomenon, with beginnings in the great depression of the 1930?s government involvement, 
somewhat earlier in France where a tradition of social welfare began following the French 
revolution.  It is particularly well documented in the United States the progression that occurred, 
and especially the issue of a separation of church and state that has caused a great deal of 
controversy with regards to funding of religious charities or social programs.58   
 
4.2 Who, How and Why: My sample  
 My sample of organisations was chosen based on a number of key characteristics.  These 
were that 1) they ought to operate primarily in the City Centre area of Cape Town, or be within a 
reasonable distance from the City Centre, 2) they ought to be faith based institutions, with the 
exception of 2 secular organisations identified for control purposes, 3) they must be willing to 
allow observation and participation in interviews by members of staff, and 4) that they work with 
                                                             
58 Bartkowski 2003 
42 
 
orphans and vulnerable children?s with the intention of placing them back home, within their 
families or communities, or in appropriate foster care or adoption whenever possible. 
 The reasons behind these criteria are fairly direct; the desire to limit the research to the 
City Centre serves three purposes. 1) It assumes that the institutions will then be facing similar 
environmental variables and children; 2) it assumes that these institutions will have access to 
similar levels of resources, and 3) it allows for familiarity of the organisations with one another, 
encouraging discussions to involve more than one organisation.  That they must be faith based 
organisations is a reflection of the research?s focus on religiosity and beliefs as motivation, 
though there are secular organisations included to help provide a balance and to examine the 
individual?s religiosity and beliefs outside of the faith based organisations.  That they are willing 
to allow observation and be involved in the research is important to this researcher?s ability to 
conduct ethnographic studies of the subjects.  As fostering and child welfare work by faith based 
organisations is the focus of this research it was critical that the organisations be involved with 
the foster care and development of children, with a focus on foster placement or returning them 
to their families, based on the needs of the child. 
 The end result of the selection process left me with 7 organisations with which I worked 
closely.  These are Nazareth House, Ons Plek, Home from Home, Vision, Al Maun, Homestead 
and?;59 this consists of 1 Jewish organisation, 2 Christian organisations, 2 Muslim 
organisations, and 2 secular organisations.  It was initially the intention to have 2 of each 
category, however the demographic makeup of Cape Town?s children?s social welfare 
organisations prevented this as there is only one Jewish organisation that was both willing to 
                                                             
59 Jewish Organization wished to remain unnamed 
43 
 
work with me and meets the profile for my sample.  It is also for this reason that while the 
organisations I have worked with have been identified, I will deliberately confuse and obscure 
the origins of certain possibly damaging quotes or observations relating to the organisations in 
order to protect both the organisations and the in individuals with whom I have had the privilege 
to work. 
 These 7 organisations have formed the basis for my research.  They are where I have 
spent the majority of my time and conducted the majority of my interviews, however I have also 
conducted a number of other interviews with other individuals and organisations which where 
appropriate I will drawn on in this document.  These will not be identified explicitly unless it 
becomes necessary. 
 I will describe my samples in some detail.  As these are all public organisations and in 
most cases they have chosen to be identified, I will give the background and operating policies of 
these organisations without fear of breaking confidentiality.  It is with the individual?s directly 
attributable quotes that I will as much as possible disguise the identities of the individuals with 
whom I have spoken, or the organisation with which they are affiliated in order to address issues 
of confidentiality or conflict that may arise. 
 My secular samples are Homestead and Ons Plek.  These two organisations are in a sense 
brother and sister organisations as Homestead focuses on male street children in the Cape Town 
City Centre area, and Ons Plek is involved only with girls who are on the street or at risk, with 
the occasional very young boy such as in the case of a brother or baby of one of the girls.  They 
are not formally associated as organisations, but they work together closely as they are the two 
organisations which focus most on street children and they complement each other?s areas of 
activity. 
44 
 
 Ons Plek was founded in 1988 in response to the ?invisible street children,? that is girls 
living on the street, to act as a shelter for young girls in need of shelter.  It caters specifically to 
young girls as they have specific needs and are more vulnerable in many ways on the street than 
are young boys.  They operate 2 facilities, their main shelter in City Centre which takes the 
majority of the girls and deals with the more difficult cases, especially where drugs and violence 
are concerned.  There is then Siviwe in Salt River which acts as a secondary care facility, being 
for girls who have been with Ons Plek longer and are better adjusted, as well as girls who are 
lower risk. 
 Homestead was founded in 1981 and it was in fact the first shelter for street children in 
the city.  It was founded in response to what was seen as a great need in the Cape Town City 
Centre.  At the time there was what was described as a ?horde?60 of children on the streets in the 
City Centre and surrounding area.  They currently operate a daytime drop in centre for boys 
living on the street, a shelter in the City Centre for boys willing to sleep in the shelter and begin 
the process of either returning home or moving the residential care facility, and a residential care 
facility in Khayelitsha where many boys from the City shelter are relocated after a period of 
adjustment and preparation by the social workers at Homestead.  They have also recently opened 
another daytime drop in centre in Muzeinberg in response to a group of about 12 children that 
are now being found in the southern communities of Muzeinberg, Kalk Bay and Fishhoek.  This 
location acts as a more local centre where they can attempt to reach the children, and also reflects 
the drop in numbers of children in the City Centre area, due both to the efforts of the police and 
private security as well as a general drop in the number of children living on the street in Cape 
                                                             
60 Fieldnotes March 17/08: Sara, discussing origins of Homestead and the founder?s (a local teacher) reasons for 
starting it. Homestead head offices. 
45 
 
Town which has been attributed to the recently increased age for which a child rearing stipend is 
available from the government. 
 The Christian organisations that I chose to work with are Nazareth House and Home from 
Home.  These are organisations that have a history of cooperation, the founder of Home from 
Home having been a social worker at Nazareth House in the past.  This has enabled me get a 
more intimate feel for the natures of the people involved as they were able and willing to speak 
about each other as well as of their activities.   It is worth noting that given the plenitude of 
Christian faith based organisations working with children, my count indicating 67 at the 
beginning of 2008, I have also conducted some observations and interviews with individuals at 
other organisations which will give further data to be compared to these two.  These two simply 
represent the ones which became the focus of my study because they most closely meet the 
criteria I was looking for and they were agreeable to working with me. 
 The Catholic institution Nazareth House is one of the earliest faith based organisations in 
South Africa, founded in 1881 by a small group of Sisters of Nazareth with an initial mandate for 
the care of at risk children and elderly.  It has a long history of residential care for children in 
need, particularly of orphans.  They act as a residential facility for a number of orphans, many 
with special needs such as metal or physical handicaps which are a result of pre-natal drug and 
alcohol abuse.  They have also especially taken on a large number of babies especially affected 
by HIV/Aids, either being orphaned by it and/or being HIV positive themselves, being the first 
place to do so in the country.  The convent, which acts as their primary facility in Vredehoek, 
and they have 2 subsidiary homes that they run in Wynberg for the children who have fewer 
demands in terms of care. Their primary affiliation is with the Roman Catholic Church and they 
46 
 
actively promote what they describe as a moral Christian lifestyle, though are they are liberal in 
terms of accepting the religious denominations of the children in their care, when known. 
 Home from Home was founded in 2005.  It was initially founded to take over 
responsibility from Nazareth House in running a number of foster homes in Khayelitsha that they 
were no longer capable of managing.61  It has since expanded the number of homes considerably 
and is now working in cooperation with churches and community groups to run homes and 
programs in addition to the ones that they are wholly responsible for. They are non-
 denominational in nature, though adhere to Christian values and encourage participation of the 
children in religious life, as well as giving preference to Christian staff.62 
 My two Muslim samples are Al-Maun and Vision; two children?s shelters that are located 
in Athlone/Lansdowne area of the Cape Flats.  This is not directly in the City Centre proper, but 
as the majority of the Muslim population lives primarily in the Cape Flats and most of Muslim 
faith based organisations are to be found there, the distance from the centre of my research is not 
only reasonable but also unavoidable. 
 Al-Maun was founded in 1992.  They are a residential care facility for Muslim boys that 
have been statutorily removed from their homes.  At the time I viewed the facility there were no 
?proper? orphans there, all the boys had at least one known parent still alive, but they had been 
placed in the care of Al-Maun either because their parents were incapable or unwilling to provide 
proper care, were abusive, or the children had run away from home for any number of reasons.  
                                                             
61 Fieldnotes January 11/08: Sister at Nazareth House, talking about past projects that had been taken over by 
another organisation because the convent was no longer able to manage them 
    Fieldnotes March 17/08: Julia, discussing the founding of her organization Home from Home in response to 
Nazareth House?s need to withdraw their involvement 
62 Interview  June 30/08: Julia, Founder Home from Home, discussing problems with finding suitable staff to care 
for the children in their care at her head offices in Wynberg 
47 
 
They boys ranged in age from 5 to 11 and experience a wide range of emotional and behavioural 
problems.  It is a Muslim environment foster care facility that provides care and endeavours to 
rehabilitate children who often have behavioural problems.  Unfortunately access to resources to 
try and treat these children?s deeper problems is unavailable.  They attend a Muslim environment 
school in the area and receive further religious education at one of the local madrasahs.   
 Vision Children?s Home was founded in 1991, though the founder had previously been 
hosting children from various institutions in his home for quite some time.  He had also been 
involved with the creation and running of other Islamic charitable organisations before deciding 
to dedicate himself fully to the project of Vision.  They are an Islamic organisation that accepts 
boys and girls of Muslim descent.  This translates as children who are from the Islamic 
community or have Islamic names.  Vision also adheres to a Muslim environment both in terms 
of religious observations such as remaining halal and observing the prayers, as well as 
maintaining a code of dress and behaviour consistent with their beliefs.  It was founded by Seraj 
primarily in a response to the need for Muslim environment residential care for children, the 
primary issue being that for a Muslim to know of another living in sin that he could do 
something to alleviate the problem and to do nothing is also guilty of sin.63 
 Finally ? is a Jewish children?s home in the city. It is located in the City Centre and 
differs from the other organisations in a number of significant ways.  First it is comparatively 
                                                             
63 Filednotes March 17/08: Seraj, 67 year old observant Muslim man. Founder Vision Children?s home. Discussion 
about how he came to find Muslim children living in a non-Muslim environment and the need to correct this. In his 
office at Vision in Athlone. 
    Interview March 19/08: Sylvia, observant Muslim woman, trained social worker and volunteer with Vision 
Children?s home.  Discussion about charity and the dictates in Islam to care for the needy. In office at Vision in 
Athlone 
    Interview May 5/08: Seraj, life history interview and conversation surrounding his own experiences with poverty 
as a youth 
48 
 
well funded, receiving both money and other resources from the Jewish community which puts it 
in an enviable position in comparison to many of the other organisation. Secondly they operate in 
conjunction with Jewish Community Services as opposed to Cape Town Child Welfare, which 
maintains its own social workers and manages social welfare delivery for the Jewish Community 
in the city.  It was founded in 1911 to care for Jewish orphans in Cape Town, and also took on 
responsibility for hundreds of Jewish orphans from Europe, particularly the Ukraine, during the 
early part of the twentieth century.64   
                                                             
64 Interview May 30/08: Life History of Henry, middle aged Jewish male, a childcare worker with ?.  Conversation 
surrounding the origins of  ?. In his home in Tijgerhof 
49 
 
Chapter 5 Doing God?s Work: 
Personal belief as motivation  
 
I really I all my life I felt something, I think this is 
why god created me, he wanted me to do this. 
Theresa65 
 
 On the level of individuals the main question in the research has come down to that of 
motivation, personal motives that lead to and sustain working with children in situations that are 
extremely difficult and challenging.  The ability to assess motivation, particularly motivations 
that relate to religion or faith is a special challenge, but one that ethnographic methods of field 
work can overcome with patience and persistence.  As discussed in chapters 2 and 3 the science 
and philosophy of measuring altruism and motivation is an intense and detailed field in its own 
right, but many of the insights it has to offer into human motivation will be applied here in 
understanding the ways in which people come to care for children who are not their own, and 
how they remain in a field which is continuously challenging on both a personal and professional 
level.  
 
5.0 Personal Motives in Working with children: Beginnings 
 The steps that bring individuals to work with children are varied.  No two people have the 
same story or the same reasons for why they work in children?s social welfare, nor can one point 
to any particular common aspect of personality, demographic or history that correlates as the 
cause or reason for people to work in children?s social welfare.  Rather there is a rich blend of 
factors; history, opportunity, situation and beliefs that have culminated in these people working 
                                                             
65 Interview May 12/08: Theresa, Christian white woman in her forties, TLC Ministries. How she came to work with 
children. Yard at TLC 
50 
 
in the positions that they are in now.  In the majority of cases they have made a conscious choice 
to work with children in these organisations.  Here we will explore some of the reasons and 
events that have led them down this path. 
 When I asked the people I met why it is that they worked in this industry there were a 
variety of answers.  Common answers were ?I saw a great need? or ?I had always had an interest 
in working with children? or ?It was a sign from god, it was what he wanted me to do.?  These 
answers reflect some of the more common themes, but there are other reasons.  Some people 
simply were looking for any sort of work and a job as a care worker was convenient or available.  
One woman moved through the ranks from being a cleaner at an institution to eventually being a 
the house mother of a foster home in Khayelitsha.  Another person had been volunteering to take 
children on excursions over the weekends when the organisation asked him to consider working 
full time for them and he accepted.  Here we will examine the chronological events that led many 
of my informants to working with these children and begin to examine the similarities and 
patterns that emerge in this kind of work.  There are two primary topics that I wish to pursue 
here: 1) god/belief as motivation, 2) ?helping people? or ?doing good? as motive. 
 I did not begin this research with the intention of studying religion or faith.  It was forced 
on me by the repeated assertion of my informants that they were motivated in many ways by 
their beliefs and further by the high prevalence of faith based organisations and individuals who 
expressed high degrees of religiosity even within the secular organisations.  Thus it became clear 
that research in this field would discover that for many individuals, faith, religion and motivation 
are inextricably enmeshed.  Another theme that occurs regularly is that of wanting to help others.  
This is a complex concept, as questions of who needs help and what help involves vary from 
person to person; however a general idea of help recurs consistently among my sample and 
51 
 
warrants further investigation.  This concept of helping others in entwined often with general 
ideas of ?doing good,? which is further often interlinked with beliefs and religiosity depending on 
the individuals belief system surrounding ideas of what exactly is good.   
 
5.0.1 The Question of God: 
 That it was god?s will, or that it was required by my beliefs is an explanation which came 
up in a number of interviews and conversations at various organisations.  These were not always 
faith based organisations, religion or god was perceived to have influenced a number of people 
working in secular organisations as well.  A large number of respondents attributed to god the 
desire or purpose to which they had begun to or continued to work in children?s social welfare. 
 Theresa and Christy are only two of several Christian examples, those who spontaneously 
attribute their work to god.  Theresa for example directly attributes her previous dissatisfaction 
with her life and disinterest with the business she ran to the fact that god?s will for her was to go 
to bible school and then to start an orphanage for orphan babies.66  I began this chapter with a 
quote from her that reads ?I really I all my life I felt something, I think this is 
why god created me, he wanted me to do this.?67  A fairly direct explanation as to how her beliefs 
have led her to this work, but also it goes back to a yearning she couldn?t quite identify.  In the 
same interview Theresa also talks about the lack of satisfaction that she experienced with her 
other jobs and the business she ran.  She describes the horror that she felt when she saw the 
conditions at the government orphanages that she toured, and that is when she knew what she 
needed to do. 
                                                             
66 Interview May 12/08: Theresa Life History 
67 Interview May 12/08: Theresa Life History 
52 
 
 Christy also attributes working in children?s social welfare to the will of god, but in a 
different way.  She had been looking for work in Cape Town and attributes the fact that she was 
offered a job with Homestead as a sign from god that she was to that she should work with 
children at a non-government organisation.  It was a sign from god because the position entailed 
the financial drawbacks of leaving a government post to do so, and also the loss of benefits, but 
he had prayed for a way to return to Cape Town and this is what she was offered for her prayers. 
 Among the Muslim respondents there was no question that they were motivated by god, 
that this was a religious mandate for them to complete.  Seraj and Sylvia both describe the ways 
in which Muslims must help other Muslims that they know to be in need; to do otherwise is a sin.  
Sylvia discusses this somewhat in describing Seraj?s personal religiosity: 
Sylvia: so yeah you listen to all these motivation people and listen to how they 
speak and they have to captivate you somehow or another I mean even a lot of our 
great priest that speak on the radio and publicly if you listen them they say exactly 
the same thing that we are saying take care of the aged and of the young people 
but people are scared to do it and their only one reason they afraid that if they 
give of their selves and their finances they?re not going to have enough but what 
people forget is that faith carries you through which is what he?s proven time and 
time again, Seraj, he?s proven that because he has so much faith he actually able 
to take an idea into fruition because of his faith and his belief68 
 
The strongest emphasis that Sylvia gives this is that faith or belief is the key factor in 
determining charitable behaviour.  She says ?what people forget is that faith carries you through? 
and that ?Seraj, he?s proven that because he has so much faith he actually able to take an idea 
into fruition because of his faith and his belief.?  If people were to maintain and be strong in their 
faith they would be more able to help those in need.  Further, she identifies Seraj?s faith and by 
association her own faith as primary means that allow them not only to continue their work, but 
shows that with faith Allah will intervene and help.  So we see not only the religious imperative 
                                                             
68 Interview March 19/08: Sylvia on how Seraj manages to  successfully run Vision Children?s Home 
53 
 
coming from religious leaders to care for those in need, but also the understanding that with 
enough belief it will always be possible to care for others.   
 It was not found among my Jewish respondents that there was a strong association 
between the will of god and choosing to work in children?s social welfare.  Rather concepts of 
charitable behaviour and community responsibility are the primary sources for this behaviour.  In 
pursuing this topic, one informant divulged an extremely interesting explanation for why this is, 
and while it remains the opinion of a single individual it speaks volumes about why the Jewish 
community contributes so much to charitable causes.   
You know Andrew, it?s interesting, it?s not religious at all really.  It?s more... it?s 
the pathology... part of the whole thinking of people.  You know the Hebrew 
expression for charity, there is no word for charity in Hebrew, and instead to 
mean charity we use the word tzedakah.  It means justice.  It?s not about giving 
handouts, it?s about levelling the playing field, about making things right...69 
 
Justice is a very powerful ideal.  That charity in Jewish culture is linked so strongly to 
concepts of justice that they are equated with one another on a linguistic level illustrates a 
very strong cultural imperative to give and help others. 
 
5.0.2 Helping others: 
 The notion of wanting to help, of feeling that there was a need was one which existed 
frequently, especially among secular women interviewed.  This was especially common in those 
that had trained in social work or a related field, the idea of wanting to help others often being 
what lead them to choose to study in that field.  Directors of 4 organisations, both religious and 
                                                             
69 Interview Nov 17/08: Ronald, White Jewish male in his Mid-50?s. Director of a Prominent Jewish Historical 
Organization in Cape Town and a Board member of several Jewish charities in the city. His office with Historical 
Organisation 
54 
 
secular, describe the notions of wanting to help others from a young age as one of the factors that 
lead directly to their involvement with social work.  Sara, who is director of a secular 
organisation, recalls how she became interested in studying social work 
Sara: I um.. we had a tea... somebody came to talk to us at the school, I guess they 
probably had various people come to talk about different careers and things like 
that and I remember this particular person I though wow that sounds exactly like 
that I want to do, she must have just explained herself very well, you know the way 
she described I just know that was the kind of thing I wanted to do. I always 
wanted to help people, you know that kind of vague I want to help people I don?t 
like the situation that other people are in that?s not as good as mine you know 
kind of... social work seem to be the way one could do that 
Me: had you given any thought to something like social work before that? 
Sara: not that I know of, I used to think that I would want to help animals prior to 
that talk, I mean I didn?t really think about it that much, that was probably two 
years before matric, so it wasn?t a last minute thing70 
 
It is interesting that she though she wanted to help animals before hearing the woman speak 
because it demonstrates that Sara?s desire to help extends beyond people, and is an inherent 
impulse. Further, Sara says she ?always wanted to help people? and describes it as a vague sense 
?I don?t like the situation that other people are in that?s not as good as mine...? which is a 
directly empathic dislike for others suffering.  It is an almost textbook example of altruism 
through empathy described in chapter 3. 
 Similar sentiments were expressed by the director of one inner city shelter and daytime 
drop in centre 
Christy: well when I was very young with everybody being in the navy I thought I 
will go to the navy, and then I sort of started thinking about um either teaching 
because I enjoyed school so much, or I wanted to do something where I would be 
a benefit to people, so I either though of nursing or social work 
Me: can you remember what made you settle on social work? 
Christy: I actually don?t know, I just one day knew, that?s what I wanted to do.71 
                                                             
70Interview June 4/08: Life History with Sara of Homestead. How she came to study social work 
71 Interview May 7/08: Life History with Christy of Yinzani. How she came to study social work 
55 
 
 
Again there is the desire to be of ?benefit to other people.?  It is not as clear an empathic 
motivation as Sara above, but it carries the same sense of wanting to help.  The fact that nursing 
or social work were the only two choices that seem to occur to her as a teen is also telling.  They 
are two disciplines that traditionally were open to women and are both disciplines that directly 
relate to helping other people. 
 
5.1 Patience and Compassion: Personal challenges 
 No one who has spent time working in or visiting an orphanage or children?s home would 
believe that it is an easy job.  Aside from chronic understaffing, underfunding and overcrowding 
which make it a very challenging professional environment to work in, there is also the aspect of 
the personal challenges of working with problem children.  With few exceptions these children 
are from backgrounds of neglect and abuse. They are often in need both of extensive counselling 
and of discipline to try and return them to even a modicum of normalcy within society.  The 
personal aspect of this profession is one which I find most telling of what drives many of these 
people to continue despite the upsets that occur regularly. There are three areas that I wish to 
address which demonstrate the strategies used by individuals to deal with the frustrations and 
difficulties that arise in their work.  These are 1) the personal challenges that occur in the daily 
work environment, 2) the challenge of empathy, counselling children and dealing with their 
problems, and 3) dealing with failure, when children don?t ?make it.? 
 
 
 
56 
 
5.1.1 The challenges of everyday work: 
 Working with children is a job rife with ingratitude and confrontation.  There are parents 
and other family members who feel that you have stolen their children and/or are not caring for 
them properly, there are government officials and social workers who are by turns militant that 
you should be observing their rules and negligent in following up on their own responsibilities.  
Then there are the children themselves, many of whom resent being in the shelters or homes 
even though they are often the ones who have made the choice to be there.  These factors all 
combine to create an at times extremely hostile work environment. 
 One of the most memorable events that occurred in the time that I was in the field was the 
abduction of two children. Strictly speaking I have difficulty calling it a kidnapping as they were 
taken by their parents, but it was done illegally.  I did not witness the event personally, but I was 
at the shelter the following day and experienced the response and was given a detailed 
description of the happenings.  The children were playing outside of the shelter when the parents 
apparently arrived in a car and simply took the children.  It was witnessed by a childcare worker 
who was supervising the children.  The shelter immediately called the police and the children 
were returned within a few days, but the even shook the whole community deeply.72 
 During the time I spent at another shelter the staff were on alert for any cars that might be 
sitting outside because there had been a recent problem with the father of one of the children.  He 
had been watching the shelter and was saying that they had stolen his child.  The man was a drug 
dealer in the community, and was not trusted by the shelter.  He had previously been denied the 
                                                             
72 Fieldnotes Jan 24/08: Conversations with staff and children at shelter where event occurred. 
57 
 
right to see or be involved with the child.  His girlfriend, however, had a relationship with the 
girl which the staff felt was being manipulated to get information.73  
 Finally there is with the attempts at family reunification and family visits the threat of the 
child not returning.  Often the children experience a great deal of freedom when they visit with 
their families and it can be very difficult for them to readjust to the more structured environment 
of a shelter or foster home. One house mother described it as such: ?Madison: Because 
sometimes when they come from their homes they are very very naughty because they hear the 
stories you are not the mummy because they used to say mummy to us and then they hear when 
you are not the mummy and then ahh...?74 The difficulty in dealing with children that are not 
your own, and with having to deal with families is professionally difficult, but further, Madison 
refers to how hard it is to have a child who you have raised reject you based on it. ?[T]hey used 
to say mummy to us? is more than just how the children in your care treat you and think of you, it 
is the reality that these women are surrogate mothers with the feelings that motherhood entails.   
 It is a similar problem to the one faced by the shelters which deal extensively with street 
children, that the street for all of its problems is actually quite attractive.  The opportunity for 
drugs, easy money from tourists and a lack of rules appeals to many of the children more than 
rules and school, even if they are associated with somewhere safe to live.75 Again Madison 
outlines some of the problems of sending the children back into their communities for short 
periods  
Me: the children, have you had some that were really very naughty? Get too bad? 
                                                             
73 Fieldnotes March 12/08: Conversations with Caroline. Social worker at Shelter 
74 Interview March 25/08: Madison, 63yo Christian African woman from ?Transvaal? and house mother in 
Khayelitsha.  Discussions on discipline and disobedience. Home for children in Khayelitsha 
75 Fieldnotes April 22/08: Christy of Yinzani, discussions on difficulty of dealing with street children 
58 
 
Madison: on the moment, there?s not, first you know kids come is naughty. He 
used to be and then but we lucky I have almost experience with these things, so 
fine, is just a child.  You know they also they have teachers you know they were 
there at school or they were not there, sometimes they have friends sometimes 
they hang with the wrong friends... some, their parents are  drinking the whole 
weekend, there?s no one to say no, and now you come to here and do that 
behaviour here because you see there is no one, not to me, a child must be a 
child...  very difficult, very very difficult, sometimes they go home you know they 
their home always... and when they come back you go fetch them there they don?t 
want to come back again cause I ... oh they can maltreat me, now from baby I 
have you on my back and now you say I maltreat you, for these people you see for 
two minutes, [upset]... but ah, in the long run they let me see now, because 
sometimes I want to go there, I bring all those things I think she likes and ... I 
know I know I tell them from the start ohh this child is going to get...76 
 
Madison talks about the same problems with the families, how they undo the positive work 
which has been achieved with the children, but further she reacts quite strongly to the rejection 
of the children when they ?maltreat? her, saddened and upset by it.  She also refers to ?now from 
baby I have you on my back? referring to the technique of carrying children wrapped against the 
back with a cloth.  It implies closeness and a bond between child and carer which Madison draws 
on as part of her relationship between the children and herself.  She has done these things for 
them like their own mother would have. 
 Aside from the possibility of losing children there are the challenges that arise when 
dealing with what family the child may still have.  Madison describes the situation well when she 
says 
Madison: yeah they get along... you see the thing is this, it?s just like the customer 
in the shop, the customer is always right, the parent it always right even though 
he doesn?t do work, you are the one who is blamed you see ohhh... but he leave a 
child this small, you look after the child all the years, suddenly when he comes he 
sees something wrong and oh... these people they don?t know how their wearing, 
they don?t even know nothing, have not even a handkerchief for a child, not even 
sweet for the child, now we pack things when they go home, you see just to visit 
                                                             
76 Interview May 1/08: Life History Madison. About when the children return home for a period of time 
59 
 
when she come back they want to come too, the stuff is not there, you can t say oh 
this is that and you find. That is you know the things we met you know 
Me: so who is it that, if the parents complain who do they complain to? 
Madison: they come to us, you see me I gave them Julia?s number because really 
these people I just give them they can go complain there by Julia. You see this one 
give me a hard time, I gave her Julia?s number she complain by Julia. 
Me: and how does Julia deal with it? Is she good at it? 
Madison: oh. Sometimes we fight and she?s too soft for these uncles. You know 
and then ohh you know sometimes um...  
Me: can you give me an example? How is she too soft sometimes? 
Madison: you would think you would thing... if Julia is a bread winner for these 
children and also a superior [boss] for everything but they got the phone and they 
speak to Julia and say I want the child at such and such a time and Julia says no 
he can?t stay longer like that he just must ??? the phone, got the phone you 
know.... you see when you got these children must know you got this 
Me: she must be a very patient woman 
Madison: yeah yeah yeah,, and still is how can I say and still Julia is the one who 
is providing for these child and you come in and shout on the phone and childcare 
used to phone and all that they next morning must here again and you prepare 
that Julia must laugh at you... even when you ask where is the pants it doesn?t 
come, even when you ask he?s got four pants when he?s going home or six and 
where is the other two, where is the other four? Whoa it is a big problem 
Me: so sometimes they will keep the clothing 
Madison: you see they are supposed to have their own clothes because is their 
children, they must have something there for the child that is waiting for the child 
at their home and then our clothes stay here and are for the child when they come 
back. But we not do like that because we know the child is going to be naked77 
 
 
Madison refers to the idea that ?the customer is always right, the parent it always right? to 
outline to problem of dealing with families.  While she may in fact have the best interest of the 
child at heart we have a cultural belief that the biological family has some inherent right or 
interest in the child that is sacrosanct.78  Further she describes Julia as the ?breadwinner? and 
?superior [boss]? and yet she still has to deal with difficult parents who do not demonstrate 
                                                             
77 Interview March 25/08: Madison, talking relationships with the families of the children  
78 Bartholet 1999 
60 
 
appropriate respect.  Finally the problem of families taking clothing or other items from the 
children when they return home illustrates in many ways their inability to care for children.  
Other homes report similar experiences with the parents of children.  One informant related that 
there had been incidents of parents taking the clothes that had been given to the children and 
selling them to get money for drugs and alcohol.79 Thus the relationship between organisation 
and family is often a rocky one defined by conflict and strife rather than cooperation. 
 Another example of disagreements between organisations and family arose in a situation 
where the home was arranging for psychiatric care of a resident and the girl?s mother refused to 
acknowledge that it was necessary. 
Beatrice: well in this particular case was over the removal of the child, but it 
specifically, when it blew up it was um because the child was on antidepressant 
medication and the mother didn?t want her on the medication and that?s when 
things got very ugly and blew up, but I mean that same mother has terrorized and 
has tried to sue virtually every single professional everything in town do you know 
what I mean, so it?s just for those few months ... and it was hard because you 
know you tell your committee and they say ahwhwhwhw.. but they don?t realise... 
you know when you?ve got someone screaming down the phone at you that you?re 
a fucking schizophrenic cow and and making threats about your own children you 
know they don?t realise how stressful it is when you deal with that on a daily 
basis, I must say it took my committee a long time before they actually ... we 
eventually just banned her from the premises and told her that if she ever put her 
foot in here again we would get an interdict against her and that shut her up.  But 
it was like 6 months of...80 
 
 Beatrice describes how difficult and stressful it was, the very insults which she had to 
deal with and the lack of assistance from her own board.  At first it would also appear that the 
disagreement is over legitimate differences of opinion about how to treat her child, simply blown 
out of proportion.  However when we consider that the same woman has ?terrorized and has 
                                                             
79 Fieldnotes June 14/08: Conversation with worker at another of Home from Home?s houses in Khayelitsha 
80 Interview May 27/08: Life History Beatrice, Jewish woman in her early 40?s.  Some experiences with parents. 
Office in administrative building for children?s home. 
61 
 
tried to sue virtually every single professional? that has had an involvement with her child we see a 
pattern on dysfunctional behaviour.   
 These kinds of problems often do not have an obvious or simple solution; they are the 
problems that arise in the regular running of these organisations.  It is rather means by which 
individuals cope with the personal emotional aspect of the challenges that becomes interesting.  
Madison for instance says ?You cannot work with children if you if you do not go to church 
because you must have heart.  Cause these children sometimes they get very naughty, they get 
very very very naughty, so if you?ve got no heart you think that, oh...?81 For Madison there is a 
direct correlation between being religiously observant and having the strength to continue in her 
work when there are problems.  But Madison further goes on to lament the inability to discipline 
beyond the restriction of privileges like pocket money or sweets. 
Madison: my mother was just like every mother, my mother and my father they 
were very strict... there was rules, they were not... there was no things like abuse 
of something because its only now when they say when your child who want your 
child the best possible for your child and then they say your child must break the 
rules, your child can come 9 o?clock at  night can come 5 o?clock for the food at 
lunchtime  can comeback at 8clock at night and you must just give food for him 
and go through and wake up and wash and go .... when you just... you see we have 
a corporal punishment and we used it but we were taught once and we recognised 
that if we don?t want that in the future do the right thing, so we were very sweet? 
We were good listeners in our time, not this time with this children, even a small 
child can tell you something I say you can?t do this to me, you see, I don?t want 
you do that, you see, but ...82 
 
Madison is relating some of the difficulties and conflicts that arise when there are cultural norms 
that govern childrearing.  Where Madison would prefer one style of child rearing with a more 
stern form of discipline whereas the government and social workers would label that abuse. 
                                                             
81 Interview March 25/08: Madison. The need for religion to work with children 
82 Interview May 1/08: Life History Madison. Discipline and child rearing.  Her own youth 
62 
 
 Here we have different approaches to dealing with the challenges which are demarcated 
across the line of faith.  Individuals who are working with faith based organisations are often 
more prepared to accept the inevitability of unpleasantness, but also more likely to cope in terms 
of belief, of doing the right thing and as Christy expressed it ?There is a scripture that says the 
lord won?t test you beyond what you can achieve.?83 Atheist informants however tended to 
respond to the situation by confronting it and trying to change it. Beatrice for example banned 
the disruptive mother from the home in order to remove the problem, but it was 6 months of high 
stress to get to that point.  Samantha manages the stress by professionalising the role and 
segregating it from her personal life. 
 
5.1.2 The Pain of Empathy 
 One aspect of social work that the shelters undertake when working with these children is 
to take a history of the child.  This serves a number of purposes; it allows the social workers to 
attempt reunification with family, it alerts them to possible abuse, it informs them of the current 
conditions on the street or in the community which may be relevant to their operations, and it 
familiarises them with their charges so that they are able to assist the children in whatever 
manner best suits their interests.  I had the privilege to be allowed to observe at a number of 
shelters? case review meetings where the children?s cases were discussed in detail which 
familiarised me with the individual cases and gave me a general idea of the conditions that are 
being confronted.  I could not help but become aware of the levels of empathy that these social 
                                                             
83 Fieldnotes April 22/08: Christy giving me the tour of Yinzani and discussing the difficulties of working with boys 
from the street 
63 
 
workers and child care workers feel towards the children when their cases are discussed, 
especially those cases that involve various forms of severe physical and/or sexual abuse. 
 One of these was regarding the practice of often opening meetings with a prayer.  The 
director Patricia is a Muslim, with the majority of the staff being Christian. She often starts the 
meetings on Tuesdays and Fridays where the staff discuss in depth the girls and recent event.  
One particular meeting stands out in Caroline?s memory as being particularly moving, she 
describes it as thus 
Caroline: we had been having are really hard week, problems with some of the girls, it wasn?t 
long after the fire...84 we had all been having a hard time. Patricia came in and before anyone 
said anything she said let?s begin this meeting with a prayer... it was really touching, I almost 
cried.  I think everyone was moved.85 
 
This we can see as evidence of the intensity of emotion and stress that is often experienced by 
the staff at these organisations, particularly the sentiment of almost crying.  This for a 
professional environment is a strong level of emotion to be showing, but more to the point it is 
the prayer which is such a touching aspect of the meeting. 
 
5.1.3 Failure 
 All things being fair and just in the world these children would go on to be happy and 
lead fulfilling lives.  All things are not fair and just, despite the hard work and effort that goes 
into these children, many do not ?make it.?  What exactly it means to not make it varies: some of 
them die, some of them choose to go back onto the streets, and some are reunited with families 
                                                             
84 The organization?s main building had been gutted by a fire some months earlier.  They were at the time of this 
interview operating out of one of their smaller buildings.  This time was characterized by a great deal of stress and 
a higher work load, as well as overcrowding at the smaller building while they waited for the reconstruction of the 
main shelter to finish, which was past schedule and over budget. 
85 Fieldnotes Jan 24/08: Caroline on dealing with stress and difficulty in work 
64 
 
that later fall apart again and this time they do not get rescued.  All of these things in some way 
reflect a failure, be it on the part of the child, the system, the informant or of society in general 
but it does not do much to mitigate the hurt that is felt when a child?s potential is lost, nor the 
challenge to the faith of my informants, both religiously and their faith in the child social welfare 
system. 
 Sylvia tells a wonderful story around failure.  Well not wonderful, it is in fact an awful 
story.  It is about a boy who was known as Kentucky, who died.  When explaining to the children 
why it is important to listen to Seraj: 
Sylvia: I said to him tell that story about the guy, they called him Kentucky, so he 
was at Buitten Nuir [another home Seraj was affiliated with] that time and he ran 
away because he didn?t like the conformity of the rules and the regulations and he 
then went to live in a shack with a friend of his and the lamp fell over and he 
burnt to a crisp his hands look like this [mimicking claws] and eventually he got a 
government grant and Seraj used to take him and then to said you know where it 
is and you can etch your own money etc etc. He got his money and then he 
decided to go and blast a bit of it he ran to catch the train because he couldn?t 
grip the rail properly he lost his grip   and he fell and the trained smooched him 
completely so I was telling the children and the moral of the story is if he tells you 
don?t do a thing you listen because he?s got insight that we can?t understand you 
know how people some people just have this feeling but it?s inexplicable I can?t 
tell you what it is but I know something is going to happen.86 
 
 Here there is little sense of loss.  It is tragic that a boy lost his life but it is explained in terms of 
disobedience and as consequences for not listening.  I asked one of the boys at Vision what he 
thought of Kentucky and he responded ?He did something he was not supposed to do, when you 
go against what you are supposed to do sometimes bad things happen to you?87  Again while 
there is sadness and loss, he is held responsible for his own actions, both in being burnt the first 
time he left the home and the second time when he was killed by the train.  Seraj himself didn?t 
                                                             
86 Interview March 19/08: Sylvia on obedience and listening to Seraj 
87 Fieldnotes June 1/08: Attending monthly ?Prize Giving? ceremony at Vision children?s home. Conversation with 
one of the longer term male children at the home. 
65 
 
want to discuss Kentucky, just saying that ?It is very sad, you know what I mean, but people 
make their decisions.?88 Again it is defined as outside of the control of the institution, essentially 
the fault of the individual. 
 Emma talks about her own coping strategies ?Emma: When I go home I turn off.  I have 
my work, I counsel the girls here, but I can?t go home with it.  I have my husband and two 
children I need to be with them, not worrying about some girl.?89 And she further notes that her 
life outside of work is outside. She talks about her church involvement as another big aspect of 
what she does  
Emma: My husband is a full time pastor, that is his calling and I work with others 
in the community, and the childcare work is mine.  We operate a congregation in 
Claremont, it used to be only Congolese because my husband is fluent in French, 
but we decided to open it up and now we have some Nigerians and even some 
South Africans.90   
 
This perspective that childcare work for her is the equivalent of his being a pastor.  There is 
definitely an aspect of religious imperative in her reference to it being her calling. This ability to 
shut off is a skill that some of her colleagues find enviable, Caroline remarks that  
Caroline: I wish I could be like that, I wish I could just turn off, but I find that 8 
o?clock at night I?m still thinking about the girls or the case I worked on today. 
Sometimes it is really hard and it?s the first thing I think about when I wake up in 
the morning or I get a call at night and right away I think oh what?s wrong, 
what?s happened.91 
 
Her inability to disassociate work from private life proves problematic, to be so wound up that 
the first instinct at a ringing phone in the night is to think of the girls is a telling about how 
strongly she is affected by her work. 
                                                             
88 Fieldnotes June 1/08: Vision Children?s Home Monthly ?Prize Giving? ceremony.  Conversation with Seraj 
89 Fieldnotes  March 27/08: Day trip to Philippi Project. Conversations with Director Emma, Coloured woman in her 
early 30?s.  Community centre in Philippi 
90 Fieldnotes March 27/08: Same as above  
91Fieldnotes April 8/08: Observations at weekly social workers meeting.  Conversations afterwards with Caroline, 
social worker and co-worker with Emma who also counsels at the shelter. 
66 
 
 Christy talks of failure in different terms.  As a religious individual in a secular 
organisation she has a different perspective.  The policy that the organisation operates under is 
?Never give up on a child.?92  Unlike many of the other organisations which will not accept a 
child back after it has left,93 Homestead will always work with a child that wants to try and is 
willing to follow the basic rules. 
Me: Do you have a lot of kids who get sort of... who either don?t come back or 
refuse help, how do you deal with? 
Christy: um... yeah... I mean you still when we see the child encourage him to 
come back, we don?t say well you made your choice, and but it is difficult, you feel 
sometimes that you failed, and yeah, and you sort of need to tell yourself that it?s 
not necessarily you that?s failed, it?s the child that?s made the choice, and you 
must just keep trying to change his frame of mind , to make a different choice.  I 
mean we would say a child can?t com e in because he slept out, we will accept him 
back, and work with him again and see if this time it doesn?t...94 
 
There is a clear sense that the feeling of failure can exist quite strongly among the respondent.  
Again it is in terms of choice.  The children have made their choice and Christy accepts that 
without the cooperation of the child progress is not possible.  It is also the mitigating belief in 
persistence that keeps her pursuing the goal, that if you try again maybe this time it will take, this 
time things will work. 
 A final example of how children sometimes don?t work out is from JP speaks about a girl 
who they worked with who was just too much trouble.  The example of one of the girls that 
simply could not remain in their care is telling, more from the foster mothers feelings on the 
issue. 
                                                             
92 Fieldnotes April 22/08: Christy at Yinzani Tour and conversations about difficulties in dealing with street children 
93 Fieldnotes March 13/08: Seraj, discussing how a child had left and wanted to return, but he had filled the bed as 
there are always Muslim children in need. 
    Fieldnotes Feb 28/08: Julia of Home from Home. Conversation about runaways and other challenges 
94 Interview April 22/08: Christy on persistence with difficult children. 
67 
 
Julia: we took on stupidly a 16yo girl and we should never have done it, we did it 
because they begged us to...she stole, she caused absolute havoc and she ran 
away, and that didn?t do the foster mother any good and it didn?t do the young 
girl any good, so you know we sort of have to be sensible with who we take, but 
within the sort of 2 ? 12 age group there isn?t much the they really can?t.. can?t 
cope with...  The child was truanting hugely from school or when the child and he 
or she was really rebellious and... you knew that wasn?t going to do any good for 
the family unit the children... even though Madison she?s lovely she said there?s 
another one she?s going to take he was running away and causing havoc and 
Madison said he?ll be alright when he comes to me, he didn?t because we didn?t 
feel she should take... have that stress she would have taken that child... so a child 
needs placement we will almost always if we?ve got room well take it.95 
 
Madison the foster mother who was responsible for this girl was somewhat less absolute in her 
condemnation, simply saying ?Madison: I tried, but she was too much... too much... it is better 
she is gone, she was... It was no good to the other children, how can you have children and take 
care of them when you have someone like that? Always trouble...?96  So the best interest of the 
other children prevailed, the girl left and there was a sense of general relief.  There is also an 
emphasis that it was a foolish action in the first place; they were influenced by their desire to 
help. 
 There is certainly a precedent for religion acting as a tool for coping, as Byamugisha 
notes a tendency among faith based organisations for good retention of volunteers, directly 
attributing this to religious motivation in their reasons for volunteering: 
Remarkably, the dropout rate amongst volunteers is generally very low, less than 
10% after an average of 2 years in most groups. This is probably because the 
great majority of volunteers feel that their work is worthwhile and are also 
motivated by their religious faith97 
 
                                                             
95 Interview June 1/08: Life History Julia of Home from Home.  Talking about some of the difficulties encountered 
96 Interview May 1/08: Life History Madison of Home from Home 
97 Byamugisha 2002 pp.26 
68 
 
This finding by Byamugisha echoes what this section has been attempting to demonstrate, that 
through faith and religiosity people are drawn to and remain in jobs or positions which are 
extremely difficult. 
 
5.2 Nurturing ?Good? children: What is a ?good child? and how do we raise them 
 The question of how does one raise good children is one which can stir quite a lot of 
controversy. From my own perspective I believe that the best thing I could do for my children 
would be to raise them as confident, liberal, rational, inquisitive creatures that question 
everything and are not afraid, but rather relish challenging and overturning social norms 
surrounding religion, sex, politics and anything else that most others take for granted.  They 
ought to be ambitious, but towards their own interests and skills rather than necessarily towards a 
societal defined norm of success or wealth, though that may well be what they are good at and 
enjoy.  I would most certainly raise them away from my own culture?s somewhat twisted sexual 
and gender standards that still promote an imbalance between men and women, and that in some 
way views sex or sexuality as dirty or shameful.  In doing so I believe that I would add to the 
world people who would in general lend themselves to the enlightenment of humanity, 
promoting my beliefs of secularism, personal liberty, independence, and the many other ideas 
that that I believe in.  The reality is that I would probably be setting my children up for years of 
counselling and therapy. 
 My own beliefs surrounding children and society in general differ somewhat from those 
of my parents, drastically from my grandparents, and are likely different from most of my 
generation in Canada.  Where my father was essentially forced to attend medical school, I was 
simply informed that I would finish university one way or the other, and my own children may 
69 
 
pursue any path they chose, either academic or other.  However the question of how one goes 
about raising good children causes a great deal of disagreement in societies that are relatively 
homogenous, to say nothing of societies such as in South Africa where people with vastly 
different histories and cultures coexist.  In the course of my field work an issue that came up 
frequently was the difference between white, coloured and black styles of child rearing.  
Typically these were educated western people making value judgements of black or coloured 
parents who they perceived to be raising their children inadequately, but also the reverse is true 
as we saw with Madison?s thoughts on discipline.  This is just one of the many ways in which 
cultural differences arise and complicate relationships in South Africa.   
 This section however is not to be an analysis of implied racism and cultural conflict with 
regards to rearing children, but rather I intend it to demonstrate the ways in which individuals 
working in child welfare seek to raise good children in accordance with their own beliefs and 
norms.  This research being concerned primarily with faith based organisations, I will 
demonstrate that a major aspect of the work that individuals associated with these organisations 
do is to teach and pass on the moral and religious imperatives of their respective faiths.  To do 
this we will look at 1) sex and drugs, 2) prayer and religious observances, and 3) plans for the 
future; ambition for the children. 
 
5.2.1 Sex & Drugs 
5.2.1.1 Sex, Abortion and Contraceptives 
 Few subjects can get normally calm and rational people frothing at the mouth like sex, 
contraceptives and abortion.  One just has to look at the rhetoric employed by any of the major 
world religions or United States election campaign concerning abortion, premarital sex, sexual 
70 
 
education and contraceptives to get an idea of the cauldron of emotion and the history that 
surrounds the topic.  In the United States doctors that perform abortions are routinely targeted for 
harassment and even assassination and clinics specialising in planned parenting and abortion 
have been subjected to a number of attacks.  There is ongoing debate in many nations 
surrounding whether abortion should be legal at all.  In this context the attitudes held and 
promoted by the workers in child welfare organisations are an important indicator of potentially 
common ground or religions motive in performing their work.   
 One particular conversation I had with a social worker at a secular children?s home Ons 
Plek provides an excellent perspective on the ways in which personal religious values can 
influence the operation of secular organisations.  We had been discussing the children in the 
home, of which there were 17 at the time, and the case of one 16yo girl struck my interest.  This 
particular home was one of the few in the city that would accept pregnant girls, or new mothers, 
and so Caroline and I got onto the topic of how one counsels a pregnant teen.   
 
Me: So how do you deal with a young girl who is pregnant or has a baby? 
Caroline: Well, here we try to give them a safe space.  They attend school as much as possible 
but they are completely responsible for their babies.  They must change the diapers, feed 
them, take care of them at night.  It is their responsibility. 
Me: What about the girls who are pregnant? How do you work with them? 
Caroline: well we try to give them space, when they are on the street or fighting with family 
they can?t make good decisions about what to do, so we give them space and we tell them 
about the options they have. 
Me: and what do you encourage them to do? 
Caroline: Here at Ons Plek we want what is best for the girl. 
Me: so what are the options? 
Caroline: well we look at what the girl needs, if she is finished school or if she can get a job.  
If she has family that can help her with the baby.  She can keep it, she can give it up for 
adoption, if there is reason she can get an abortion 
Me: you say if there is reason 
71 
 
Caroline: well here we prefer that the girls do not have abortions, they can arrange for 
adoption if they are not able to care for the baby, so abortion is for if there is a good reason, 
medical or something like that. 
Me: that is Ons Plek policy? What about the counsellors here? 
Caroline: what do you mean? 
Me: Umm... the policy of Ons Plek for abortions is that you discourage them, do the 
counsellors here feel the same way? 
Caroline: I do... and I know none of the people here want the girls to get abortions.  There are 
other ways98 
 
The emphasis here is twofold.  There is the idea that the girls must take responsibility for 
themselves and their actions in getting pregnant or having children.  But then there is also the 
aspect that the staff at Ons Plek discourages and disapproves of abortion unless it is for a ?good 
reason? on grounds of medical need or something similar.  Further Caroline?s position that none 
of the staff approve of abortion speaks of a large organisational ethos on the subject. In light of 
the high levels of religiosity expressed by Caroline and other members of staff at Ons Plek this 
demonstrates the influence of religious belief in the organisations and operation of these non-
 government organisations.  Out of context this conversation could simply be with someone who 
is not in favour of abortion, but other conversations with staff as Ons Plek as well as some of the 
girls reveals that they allow their own beliefs to influence the way in which they advise the girls.  
One of the girls states her thoughts on the subject quite clearly: ?Nonhlanhla: Abortion is not an 
option. It is about learning to take responsibility for your action.?99 For a 14 year old girl this is 
likely a taught attitude from the staff at the organisation.  Where for many of these girls abortion 
could arguably be the most expedient solution to a problem, they are being urged to carry to 
term.  When I pursued the topic, or rather asked her to question her conclusion she became 
extremely agitated and evasive and maintained that it wasn?t right to kill a baby.  I wasn?t able to 
                                                             
98 Fieldnotes March 12/08: Caroline, conversations about how they counsel the girls 
99 Fieldnotes Jan 24/08: Conversations with girls at shelter 
72 
 
determine conclusively that she had explicitly religious reasons, but it remains in the realm of 
moral belief. 
 The question of sexuality and sexual activity is one that all of the organisations struggled 
with in one capacity or another.  The Sister in charge of the children?s projects relates that: 
 Me: And why are the two house in town separated like that? Most of the other 
homes have mixed boys and girls... 
Sister: We had to set up two houses.  We raise them together and teach them that 
they are brother and sister, but they know that they are not really related.  We had 
a few problems with sex, so we decided that the best thing would be to keep them 
apart.  They see each other at school and when they play, but boys are not 
allowed in the girls? house and girls are not allowed in the boys? house.100 
 
While it is a reasonably effective solution to ensure that if they are having sex at least it is not 
happening in the home itself.  The question of why it is that sex is so discouraged comes to the 
fore in my mind.  Sister refers to the fact that they are raised as family which brings up questions 
of incest taboo.  But the words ?problems with sex? force me to propose that , assuming the sex 
was consensual, then the problem is one of moral belief on behalf of those running the 
organisation. This problem is also faced by other homes.  Beatrice describes a similar incident in 
their home: 
Me: And has there ever been a problem with sexual activity between residents? 
Beatrice: Yes. Hehehehe. It?s not allowed, ok, it?s not allowed, but yes we have 
yes, and that?s very problematic because we say to them they live together like 
family and therefore they can?t get involved but they?re actually not family and 
it?s a very difficult one, but we had uh there was once we had to actually send one 
of our kids home for a week, a boy, because we couldn?t keep him and this girl 
like apart, and I mean normally we wouldn?t do that but we actually sent this kid 
home, it wasn?t him it was actually the girls hahaha we sent him home for a week 
until we could make arrangements for him to be elsewhere.101 
 
 
                                                             
100 Fieldnotes Jan 11/08: Meeting with Sister in charge of Children?s Projects at Nazareth House Convent 
101 Interview May 27/08: Life History Beatrice. Discussions of some of the challenges encountered in work 
73 
 
And again in Al-Maun 
Mary: I have to pay attention. We used to have a problem, some of the older boys 
being sexually active with the younger ones.  They would sneak around at night if 
you didn?t watch. A lot of the boys here have been abused. By older brothers or 
other people, they know about sex and they go after the younger boys or do things 
with each other.  That is why it is open dorm beds like this, everything can be 
seen.102 
 
Not only in faith based organisations is sex a problem. Secular organisations also experience 
problems with residents becoming sexually active with one another.  During a weekly childcare 
worker meeting that I attended the issue of one fourteen year old girl initiating sexual behaviour 
with one of the younger girls in the home was a major part of the meeting.  It was addressed 
from two perspectives: one was to determine if this was indicative of a previously unknown 
history of sexual abuse in the girl who had initiated the behaviour and the second was the issue 
of how to counsel both of the girls to best 1) prevent repetition of the behaviour and 2) prevent or 
mitigate possible trauma.103 I unfortunately failed to take the opportunity to find what was most 
alarming, the young ages of this children involved or the homosexual aspect of the behaviour. 
 So as we see sexual behaviour is strongly discouraged between residents in the homes.  
There is however a difference in the approaches taken by faith based organisations and secular 
organisations in their attitudes towards sex. Most of the faith based organisations actively teach 
abstinence from all sexual behaviour.  There was one exception where the organisation had 
chosen to take a more progressive approach: 
Beatrice:  ok we are um... um.... basically we make contraceptives available to the 
kids if they need. We... we speak to them about it.  We?re very open.  Obviously we 
                                                             
102 Fieldnotes March 3/08: Tour of Al-Maun Muslim Boys Home. Conversations with House mother 
103 Fieldnotes April 8/08: Weekly social workers meeting 
74 
 
don?t allow them to have boyfriends or girlfriend and have sex in the house but if 
we know that they?re sexually active we will see that they are protected.104 
This differs from the typical approach with is to promote abstinence, though in all homes the 
children are made aware of the use of condoms.  This is largely because of the awareness of 
HIV/Aids in the population and the need to protect oneself.  It is not done as a way of promoting 
sexual behaviour, but rather an awareness that some of the children will have sex regardless of 
how much you promote abstinence. 
 
5.2.1.2 Smoking, Alcohol and Drugs: 
 Smoking, drugs and alcohol represent another area that organisations are forced to 
concern themselves with.  All organisations have zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol.  That is 
not to say that drinking or using drugs will get a child thrown out, but rather their use will not be 
tolerated and will result in significant disciplinary action and intervention.   
 Smoking is typically viewed with more tolerance than drugs and alcohol, viewed often as 
very much the lesser evil.  As Beatrice describes the issue: 
Beatrice: yeah, cigarettes, ah is one of the things that we don?t get into big fights 
about, there used to be a rule at ? that when you were 16 you could smoke, and a 
lot of people are against this because they feel 16 is too young over the years, but 
we?ve kind of just left that rule... at 16 you can smoke, not in the house, outside, 
and we know that the younger kids smoke as well and... we went through a period 
of fining them and this and that and eventually my kind of philosophy is your 
dealing with so many bigger problems  like alcohol and drugs and sex and... that 
really smoking cigarettes I?m not going to fight with them if their sitting discretely 
in the bottom of the garden having a cigarette so we king of tend to turn a blind 
eye to that one.105 
The same rule applies at other shelters, one staff member describes the situation; it is a case of 
openness. ?We don?t want the girls to run around hiding it from us.  We don?t encourage that 
                                                             
104 Interview March 5/08: Beatrice, Conversations about house rules and regulations  
105 Interview March 5/08:Beatrice,  Conversations about house rules and regulations 
75 
 
they smoke, but if they do we would rather they tell us and be open. If they hide that they will 
start to hide other things.?106 Here the concern we see is that there needs to be an openness, a 
chance for dialogue with the children.  Trying too hard to enforce less important rules will drive 
the children to secrecy where more important or dangerous behaviours may be involved.  Core 
needed concepts of honestly, and openness; open to discussing behaviour but not oppressive in 
regulating the activities of the children. 
 Other organisations however are much less tolerant of smoking.  Madison for example 
does not allow smoking in the homes at Khayelitsha, and she holds quite strongly that smoking is 
an unacceptable behaviour, and she has never smoked.  She holds smoking as an example of 
what could occur if the children are allowed to skip church on a Sunday.107 Vision Children?s 
Home has eating a box of cigarettes as punishment for being caught smoking. 
 
5.2.2 Prayer and other religious observances 
 The prevalence of a number of religious observances among the faith based organisations 
further demonstrates a means by which organisations seek to raise good children.  By 
indoctrinating them into the moral and social framework of a particular religion they provide a 
basic set of rules and guidelines for life and behaviour.  Vision Children?s home is a particularly 
good example of religious and moral education in a faith based organisation.  Beyond the 
maintenance of a halal kitchen and orthodox lifestyle for both the children and the 
staff/operators, they provide additional religious education in the home with madrasah tutors 
who are paid to come and instruct the children, observance of the 5 times daily prayer required in 
                                                             
106 Interview Jan 24/08: Caroline at Ons Plek. House Rules and Regulations 
107Interview May 1/08: Madison on discipline and church attendance 
76 
 
Islam and having a modest dress code especially where girls are concerned (that is to say no 
short skirts and the older girls cover their heads, but veils are not common.) Mosque attendance 
in required, the whole household typically attending together.  
 A very interesting case of religiosity and of religious instruction of the children in care by 
a faith based organisation in Cape Town is that of Nazareth House and of Home from Home, 
which adopted the practice from Nazareth.  All children are expected to have a religion.  The 
organisation respects and gives preference to the religion of the child?s family in any case that it 
is known, however when it is unknown the child is baptised and raised Roman Catholic.  This 
reflects Nazareth House?s imperative that children have a moral education.  Sister Margaret 
outlines as ?Well, we have moral instruction, it is not specific to any religion exactly but it is 
certainly based on Roman Catholic Christian principals of modesty, chastity, sobriety.?108  
While Nazareth House exemplifies religious acceptance in their operations, there is still a very 
strong sense of moral responsibility to the children, and these are based on Roman Catholic 
beliefs.  Sister Margaret further elaborates on the moral education that they have at Nazareth 
house.  She describes one of the motivational speakers that they had come as talk to the children: 
Ah we have a wonderful speaker who came and spoke to the children.  She is a 
wonderful woman and a real role model.  She is HIV positive, but she comes and 
talks about how she is able to live a normal life.  She is married and has children 
and is really a good Christian and provides a Christian education.109 
 
Thus regardless of organisation there is a focus on trying to teach moral values.  The key values 
of importance that Sister Margaret emphasises here are marriage and children.  However with 
regards to things like sex and drugs the secular organisations tend to perceive that the children 
                                                             
108 Interview Jan 11/08: Sister at Nazareth House on morals education 
109 Interview  Jan 11/08: Same as above 
77 
 
are going to do these things and their role is to try and minimize damage with education about 
safe sex and drugs, whereas the faith based organisations tend to teach abstinence, that children 
must not engage in these activities and will go to efforts to first curb and then prevent these 
behaviours.  Religious individuals within the secular organisations operate in a limbo, often 
promoting abstinence to children while acknowledging that it is not a requirement of the 
organisation and educating about safe sex and drug use.   
 
5.2.3 Plans for the future, ambition for the children 
TLC wasn?t created to just be another institution and just to be another foster home.  It was 
created to make and to produce people of value to society where we can turn around in 20 years 
time and say look at what Joshua can do today he is a great leader or great teacher or even a 
great father, we?re not going to proscribe what they need to be, but they have to contribute.110 
 
 The focus of children?s social welfare is in many ways the future.  There would be little 
point in fostering children if there was not some idea that there was a possibility of taking a child 
that would otherwise not have opportunities and giving him a chance at making a normal life for 
himself.  The vision of the future that people have for these children can be highly indicative of 
what their motivations and beliefs are, as well as demonstrating the ideals that they hold for the 
children.  This helps to reiterate the ways in which motive and intention interlace with each 
rotation of the cycle. 
 Each organisation, in fact each individual, has different ideas about the potential of these 
children.  Secular organisations tended to have a darker perspective on the possibilities for the 
children than did faith based ones.  This difference seemed to be defined by a matter of 
perspective; faith based organisations were looking to visions of what could be, secular 
                                                             
110 Promotional Materiel TLC (Collected April 19/08) 
78 
 
organisations reflecting perhaps a more realistic view of what is likely to be in their experience.  
It at times provides an interesting dichotomy between hope and despair.  The quote from TLC?s 
promotional material is from one of the children of Theresa, TLC's founder.  It illustrates the 
importance of looking to the future of the children quite solidly at the beginning of this section.  
?People of value to society,? ?great leader,? ?great teacher? and ?great father? are all descriptions 
she uses to describe what she wants for the children with whom she works and lives. These of 
course all have implied values of what a great anything is, but there is the desire for so much 
more for the children. 
 The founder of the same faith based home for orphans as above described her views on 
the subject quite succinctly when she said  
 I?ve always believed that a newborn baby just is a package of potential; all it needs is 
 somebody to help it to produce that potential at the end. But you?re not going to get that 
 out of them if you?re not going to give them quality in the first place. So if you?re just 
 going to give them mille pap and stick them in a dark room and think that that?s going to 
 do the job, it?s not going to do the job, you need to give them an environment that they 
 can flourish and their potential can come to the fore111. 
 
Here we find the hope and aspirations that could be held for the children.  It remains unformed, 
but the sentiment of hope and possibility for the child is clear and the desire that much should be 
done in order to help this child reach his potential. By contrast the director from a secular 
organisation illustrates some of the harsh realities that exist.  She points out simply and clinically 
the following: 
Sara: It?s a huge bottomless pit of problems, and the drugs that we were talking 
about add to the problem.  But I mean there are no jobs for these kids, I mean 
even if you?re a great kids and you?ve never had a problem in you live and you?ve 
got matric you can?t get a job, so when you?re a kid like this who?s also got 
various brain damages from all the drugs they?ve used and are hardly literate, 
                                                             
111 Interview April 19/08: Teresa of TLC. Conversations about her experiences with government orphanages that 
led to starting TLC 
79 
 
they can?t get into any kinds of course because the entry requirements are so high, 
because  there?s so many people that want to get in so they always do that they 
push it up and up and up so now  you need matric to do anything to be a 
carpenter to be you know so our... it is the big challenge to prevent these guy 
ending up back on the street again as youth, what are we going to do... it?s all 
very well were going to look after them until their 18 but if you?re now going to 
say goodbye, a lot of them are going to end up back on the street.112 
 
The problem of futures and of what possibilities are available to these children is a major 
concern for the people working with them.  The harsh reality that faces many of the children in 
the care of these shelters is that economic or social opportunities for them are rare when they are 
older and many of them will return to the streets or crime as a means of survival. 
 The differences between religious and secular organisations are further expounded when 
we consider that many of the religious organisations take an extended interest in many of the 
children.  The Muslim and Jewish shelters had a history of arranging aftercare programs for their 
children after the age of 18 where they attempt to facilitate their integration and independence in 
society.  Secular organisations do have programs, but theirs is a less individual approach to the 
children, whereas it is not uncommon in religious based organisations for them to arrange jobs 
and maintain an extended interest many years after the children have left the homes.113 
 With secular organisations there is an attempt to further the care and provide integration 
for the children in their care, but there is a less involved approach.  This is due partly to the fact 
that the secular organisations do not share in the rich community that many of the faith based 
organisations enjoy by being affiliated with religions or specific churches.  Where a faith based 
organisation may be able to find one of their promising children a position or opportunity with 
the members of their affiliated communities; whereas secular organisation do not have that base 
                                                             
112 Interview June 4/08: Life History Sara of Homestead 
113 Interview May 30/08: Life History Henry 
80 
 
to draw on.  The Jewish community is especially good at this kind of cooperation; there exists a 
Jewish organisation of sheltered workshops, though it is prevalent in the Islamic community and 
with those organisations as well.114 
                                                             
114 Interview: Nov 18/08. Ronald White Jewish male in his Mid-50?s. Director of a Prominent Jewish Historical 
Organization in Cape Town and a Board member of several Jewish charities in the city. 
81 
 
Chapter 6 Religion in the Home 
The institutional Package 
 
 
 The question that comes to mind with this research into motivation, beyond the personal 
reasons, is how the faith and beliefs of the individuals and institutions studied influence their 
operations and the care of the children.   
 This chapter is to be a discussion as to the ways in which the beliefs or religions of the 
organisations studied interacted with their operations, children, staff and the relationship they 
had with the outside world.  It is divided into two sections. The first is an examination of the 
means by which religion, belief or attitudes are transferred to the children in care of these 
organisations and the implications of this.  The second concerns the conflicts that arise between 
religion and the secular world, the ways in which faith based organisations and religious 
individuals within secular organisations find themselves at odds with those around them and how 
these conflicts are resolved. 
 
6.0 Transmission of Belief:  Converting the Children 
 Historically much of the activity of faith based organisations has been mandated by a 
desire to spread the influence of the religion in question.  There has been an implied 
understanding that by accepting the assistance of these organisations the individual is also 
accepting the proselytising that accompanies that aid. de Wall discusses a number of faith based 
82 
 
organisation in southern Africa, one in particular where they have a strategy of stealth to 
proselytise to the people they assist. 
Faith plays an important role in the lives of many of the program staff. Personal 
belief systems drive and sustain individuals and teams, without dominating the 
treatment care program: ?they say feed him, clothe him, heal him. And when he 
asks why? Then you say Jesus. That?s the difference?115 
The staff and organisation express awareness that people do not particularly want to be preached 
to, but that there are more subtle ways to get their message and hopefully gain converts. 
 The two primary means of transference that we are interested in I have determined are 
direct and indirect.  Direct refers to the intentional and structured transference of belief through 
formal styles of education.  Direct methods of transference include formal religious instruction 
such as madrasah, Sunday school or yeshiva/bais yaakov, the observance of formal prayer, 
attendance of religious activities/ceremonies (church, mosque, shul), and the adherence to 
religions environment in the home.  There were varying degrees of direct transference at 
different organisations which I was involved with.  The Islamic faith based organisations had the 
highest prevalence of observance, maintaining a strict halal environment and a high level of 
observance to religions practice and sending children to madrasah.  Multiple daily prayers, the 
maintenance of a halal diet and modest code of dress and conduct, enforced by consequences for 
failure to adhere were all means by which the beliefs and attitudes of the religion were taught to 
the children.  Christian faith based organisations also forced a high level of instruction on 
children, though there was more variation between different organisations than was observed in 
Islamic organisations.  Sunday school, church, grace before meals and prayer before bed were 
common in the majority of the homes where I spent time conducting observations.  The 
                                                             
115 de Waal 2005 pp. 25 
83 
 
organisations themselves were more flexible, tending to leave this up to the individual house 
mothers, but a preference for Christian women to run the houses116 encouraged religious 
education of the children.  The Jewish home had the most difficulty with religious education and 
observance among its children.  On an institutional level it does require adherence to orthodox 
rules but enforcing this was far more difficult than in other homes.  This was because the 
children were typically statutorily removed from more affluent backgrounds and had a higher 
degree of education and a large sense of entitlement.  It was also because the criteria for 
admission to the home was that they were Jewish, but this is as much a cultural category as 
religious and all of the children in the home at the time of my research had come from non-
 observant homes.  So while there were attempts to educate the children about their religion and 
to encourage religious attendance, it was a secondary consideration to larger problem that they 
were dealing with such as drugs, alcohol, sex and behavioural problems. 
 Indirect transference refers to the environmental references and cues that instil religious 
behaviour or habits in children, the presence of symbols or literature, the use of religious 
terminology and casual references to religion.  We will examine both of these; however the focus 
will be on the indirect methods as they are more telling in the interactions of the staff with the 
children. Indirect means of religious instruction are also prevalent both in faith based 
organisations and secular organizations.  There is a high prevalence of ?casual? prayer, religious 
references and religious education by the staff at most secular organisations studied, though on 
an institutional level it is not a part of the operating procedure.  The secular organisations have at 
times more difficulty with religion as they often have staff and children from a plurality of 
                                                             
116 Interview June 30/08: Life History Julia 
84 
 
religious backgrounds.  Emma notes that they stopped saying grace in Ons Plek when they 
started receiving a larger number of Muslim children  
Emma: Most of the childcare workers are Christian though we cannot advertise 
for specific people, we must advertise broadly or we are discriminating.  Some of 
the childcare workers feel like they cannot encourage the girls to pray now 
because with the Muslim children it would not be right117 
The reason that they do not specifically seek Christian staff is not because of a religious 
openness, but rather because they are not legally permit to discriminate based on religion when 
employing staff.  Further the staff has felt restricted in their ability to provide religious 
instruction by the presence of children from other religious backgrounds.  The concern with 
religious instruction serves a number of purposes.  As noted in chapter 5 there is the aspect of 
raising ?good? children.  Madison?s assertion that if you don?t send the children to school pretty 
soon you will find them smoking or misbehaving in other ways118 demonstrates that there is an 
understanding that religious instruction and attendance of religious services plays an important 
role in raising children who behave in a culturally appropriate manner.  Beatrice notes that while 
it is impossible to force more than formal religious observance on the children she does believe 
that they would benefit from it if they would take an interest: 
Beatrice: you know, I think... (sigh)... oh, I don?t know... you know these kids 
have got so much to deal with that pushing religion on them as well you know 
for me is really bottom of the barrel... but... ahhh... I think it?s hard for our kids, 
YEAH I think if they showed more it would be great... but you see were not going 
to push, I?m not going to push them into it... um.... you know we?ve got so many 
rules here, Friday nights not negotiable you have to go to shul... um, I feel sorry 
for our kids how can they go to shul when they?re the only children there? You 
                                                             
117 Fieldnotes March 27/08: Conversations at Philippi Community projects 
118 Interview March 25/08: Madison on misbehaviour and church attendance 
85 
 
know what I mean so ach... yeah I mean I think if people have faith, faith it 
certainly does help you um I think maybe some of them could benefit from it.119 
Again religious adherence is not an option. Not an option as Beatrice says, however she 
recognises that it is difficult for the kids and possibly is not what they need in their recovery. 
These are just some of the more visible and expected ways in which faith based organisations 
and religious individuals seek to educate and enculture the children in their care into their faith.  
Examples where religious members of secular groups teach children to pray were not 
uncommon.  One director of a small secular community program I had the pleasure of spending 
time with in Philippi, after leading them in grace before an afterschool snack, said to the children 
?You guy?s must learn to pray, ok? You guys all go to church, what must you do. You pray pray 
pray.?120 This is reflects the imperative that many individuals feel, a need to instruct children to 
observe religious practices, and also the understanding that rote instruction and habit is a 
powerful tool in any form of instruction.  This reflects an experience I had when attending a 
service at a mosque.  When I first began to inquire about Islamic faith based organisations in the 
city one of my Muslim friends invited me to join him at his regular mosque for prayer at midday, 
and to speak to some of the people afterwards.  While I would say that my welcome by most 
members of the mosque was not exactly open, many men refused to speak with me at all despite 
my attempts to observe the formalities such as (style of dress, etiquette and participate as well as 
I could in the prayer).  One man did take some time to talk to me and he asked about my prayer 
habits. I responded that I did not really believe, to which he told me ?No, you pray and pray and 
belief will come.?121 This recognition of rote and ritual as a cornerstone of religion is seen and 
                                                             
119 Interview March 5/08: Beatrice on faith and religion 
120 Fieldnotes March 27/08: Emma at Philippi Project 
121 Fieldnotes Jan 17/08: Attending prayer at a mosque.  Conversation with stranger 
86 
 
the instruction by Emma that ?You pray pray pray? is the same as that which I received from my 
stranger at the mosque that Thursday afternoon in January. 
 The religious education and upbringing of the children is an important task to many of 
those involved with children?s social welfare.  Both secular organisations and faith based 
organisations engage in religious education and indoctrination to varying degrees primarily in an 
effort to help the children and to encourage them into lifestyles that are more in line with their 
hopes and expectations.  And as Julia points out it is not necessarily for the children, but for 
those around that these actions are taken. 
Julia:  well if they knew what the child?s... if it was a mother that they knew they 
wouldn?t baptise it, but if the children, if they had no idea, or if there was a 
chance that the child was going to go back to another family then they wouldn?t 
baptise the children because they... but most of the children at that time were 
really sick and dying and it was just automatically they would be... I mean it was 
the babies it was more for the adults around that they were baptised it wasn?t for 
um... well obviously for the children?s soul, but but you know it wasn?t something 
the children had any part in.122 
That the baptisms were for the benefit of the adults present, and the children?s souls as a second 
though is rather telling about how people are concerned with the children.  The giving of comfort 
to the staff by baptising the children also shows that there is a real concern for the kid?s religious 
upbringing. 
 
 
 
                                                             
122Interview June 30/08: Life History Julia.  Her experiences while working at Nazareth House as a social worker 
87 
 
6.1 Religion and the Functioning Home 
 Religion, in theory, goes beyond church and prayer and what you eat or wear.  It is 
supposed to act as a set of guidelines for life.  This section is an examination of the ways in 
which religion influences the organisations studied and their relationship with those around 
them.  It is divided into two sections.  The first is a look at the role that religion and religious 
affiliation plays in the organisational structure and operations of the institutions.  The second and 
more interesting section is a discussion of what things go wrong; the conflicts that arise between 
religious ideologies and others. 
 
6.1.1 Religion and Standard Operating Procedure 
 Donations, especially monetary funding, are the lifeblood of any non-government 
organisations, without which no organisation in Cape Town, or anywhere else, would be able to 
remain open.  The faith based organisations studied here are adept at securing donations and they 
use their religious affiliations to the best of their ability when doing so.  However in order to 
solicit money from religious donors faith based organisations must be careful in the way they 
market themselves.  All non-government organisations are aware that their public image is a 
major factor in determining donations, but faith based organisations have to be doubly aware, not 
only must they have excellent public images with regards to the work that they are conducting; 
they must also ensure that their operations are in line with the ideology and ethos of their target 
donor population.  Topics of religious sensitivity such as sex, drugs, abortion, homosexuality and 
prayer must be carefully managed.  Too stringent in operations and many liberal and moderate 
donors are alienated but there is a great deal of money available from the religious right i.e. 
88 
 
evangelical Christians and fundamentalist Muslims.  Too liberal an ideology and practice will 
attract other donors and make more government funding more accessible, but the faith based 
organisation looses another potentially lucrative source of funding in the religious right. The 
personal beliefs of the founders and directors will play a large role in where the faith based 
organisations will try to position itself on the scale of religiosity in the public eye, but also the 
availability of funding for certain types of projects varies with the donors.  For example the 
United States? President Bush administration made international headlines when it modified its 
foreign aid policy to exclude anyone who provided family planning options other than 
abstinence, which is in line with the modal beliefs of his republican support base. 
 Henry discusses the aspect of operating procedures in the organisation when he discusses 
the regulations at the Jewish home  
Henry: you know what they used to do, on a Saturday morning the kids were 
dressed in their smart clothing and they would walk one behind the each other in 
a line, you know like in the old days, Jesus pathetic, they would walk one behind 
the other down to the synagogue and they would sit there and god help you if you 
spoke, if you made a noise in the service, not that anyone knew what was going 
on.123 
First the ironic ?Jesus pathetic? mid quote shows irreverence for the religious observances 
required by the organisation. However they no longer are quite that strict, but the regulations still 
require that they attend.  They do not always do so depending on who is on duty, and adherence 
to the Sabbath is given some flexibility depending on the care worker.  As Henry points out, it is 
about the development of the child more than anything.   
Henry: what we got now, you see out weekends, each child worker used to work 
Friday night through till Monday morning, now that is hectically long, so we got 
in a relief worker to work Sunday evening, so that means we work Friday evening 
                                                             
123 Interview May 30/08: Henry on Taking the children to shul 
89 
 
to Sunday evening. So if I am on duty I will take them to synagogue Friday 
evening.  She then decided she can?t Sunday evening so she would prefer to work 
Friday evening, which means I am never there on the Sabbath. Um... as far as 
their Jewishness is concerned we try and keep kosher in the house, we try and 
instil some Jewishness.  The Jewish festivals they have to adhere to.  On a 
Saturday we don?t take them shopping and take them downtown and take them to 
the movies whatever, but so much of it is hypocrisy because all their Jewish 
friends go to the movies on a Saturday, how can we not allow ours to go just 
because they happen to be in ?, just because the Jewish community happens to 
finance them. 
But it also clearly illustrates the direct correlation between the image that is maintained in the 
community and the support that they receive from it.  There is a real concern that the children in 
this home are not seen to be breaking the regulations.  And this has paid off, as both Beatrice and 
Henry note, this home is well funded and resourced compared to others in the city. 
Henry: We are really very privileged.  It?s far removed from children?s homes. We 
are first world and they are third world. The Jews look after the kids quite well, 
too well, they are actually quite spoilt. And you see it?s a problem because some 
of them come from very poor families they go back to nothing124 
And further that maintaining a ?mild orthodox? approach to the home keeps the best balance 
between maintaining good ties with both the orthodox and reformed Jewish communities.125 
 The Islamic homes all used similar strategies of maintaining a visibly religious operating 
procedure, both for their own religious reasons, but also because the majority of their donations 
come from the Muslim community in general and it is necessary to curry their favour.  This was 
done by observing the correct halal diet and modest codes of dress, but there were also other 
strategies implemented.  Vision for example holds a monthly awards ceremony to this effect.  
This is an event where prizes are given to the residents for best student/athlete/room etc.  What 
makes this an interesting event is that they invite roughly a hundred people from the list that they 
                                                             
124 Interview May 30/08: Henry on the generosity of the Jewish Community 
125 Fieldnotes March 05/08: Observations and conversations at Jewish children?s home 
90 
 
keep of all their previous donors, as well as people from the community.  The ceremonies 
include a guest Imam who talks about the charitable work being done and recites from the 
Qur?an, as does one or two of the children.  There are the awards themselves where the children 
uniformly thank Allah for their achievement, and there is tea and snacks afterwards.126  This 
monthly serves to maintain the image and presence of Vision in the minds of the community and 
to reassure them that they are faithful and adherent. 
 Both Jewish and Islamic organisations made an effort to nurture and cultivate local 
communities? relationships with these kinds of behaviours, though the Islamic organisations 
maintained that it was more for religious reasons, the Jewish organisations acknowledged that 
there was an aspect of managing impressions.  The Christian faith based organisations were less 
conscious of nurturing strong ties with the local community by promoting through their children.  
Much of their funding comes from abroad, mainly Europe and the North America, as well as a 
large number of volunteers who come to work with them.  Much of their religious positioning is 
done through the internet and promotion through word of mouth.  There are exceptions to this 
however, as there is still money to be solicited from local donors and foreign donors are 
notorious for showing up and expecting tours of the facilities that they are paying for.  Emeritta 
for example runs a home that cares for, at the time, 148 children and has a finely polished 
religious image.  During my first time at the facility I experienced what I cynically think of as 
?the pitch? where Esther told me about the religious awakening and experience that led her to 
open this place, and also shown the chapel area and was treated to a song and dance and prayer 
by the children that could be marshalled while I was there.  The whole affair had a distinct 
                                                             
126 Fieldnotes June 1/08: Observations from Monthly ?Prize Giving? at Vision Children?s Home 
91 
 
flavour of tourism to it, but in later conversations we discussed the way that donors perceived 
these activities and that many of the groups that donate to the organization expect to see 
something of that nature.127 
  
6.1.2 When things go wrong 
 Ideology and religious belief is a contentious subject at the best of times, even more so 
when orphans and vulnerable children are thrown into the fray.  Typically faith based 
organisations are seen to be doing good work and improving the situations of the children they 
work with; however, there are times when the beliefs of the faith based organisation do not 
coincide with those of others, be it social services or society at large.  There are a number of 
examples that we will look at here to illustrate the problems than can arise and the ways in which 
these issues are addressed. 
 There are three main areas that we are interested in here.  These are 1) the strategies used 
to accommodate the multi-religious nature of the children that many organisations are being 
asked to care for, 2) problems that arise with the raising of the children themselves, adequate 
preparation for the real world, and 3) conflict between the ideals of the institution and others?. 
 The plurality of faiths that are encountered in the average foster home can be impressive.  
To say nothing of different denominations of the same religion, many of the homes have children 
of several different religions in them.  These is particularly common in the Christian faith based 
                                                             
127 Fieldnotes June 18/08: Observations at a orphanage in the countryside just outside of Cape Town.  Not 
otherwise discussed in this research report 
92 
 
organisations as they are the most prolific and tend not to impose restrictions on the children that 
they accept, where as our Islamic and Jewish homes were able and chose to restrict their children 
to those that already at least nominally were members of their faith.  The practice of encouraging 
the children to pray at Ons Plek came to an end when a number of the children who came into 
the home where Muslim.  The concern being that it would not be appropriate to tell Muslim 
children to pray in a Christian manner.  Nazareth House encountered a problem when someone 
challenged them on not having halal food available for the Muslim children in their care.  This 
problem was addressed in a rather creative manner, the kitchen in their residential facility 
continued to prepare food for the majority of children that were Christian while a local halal 
restaurant was asked to supply enough food for the three Muslim children that were in residence. 
 The problem of raising children in a highly religious environment brings up certain issues 
of adaptability.  To use Nazareth House again, they began their program of smaller residential 
homes in the city instead of keeping children at the main mother house after they realised the 
children were becoming ?little nuns?128 rather than developing in a way that would allow them to 
best reintegrate into the cultures and societies that they were ethnically a part of.  This type of 
problem is addressed well by Madison at Home from Home in Khayelitsha when she is 
describing the food she is making to me.  
Madison: yeah we prepare them we are, you see we are, how can I say, we are 
black people, we have sort of things like the eating manner like what they are 
goanna get at home so they must learn you see not going to eat all the luxury 
things they must know, they must behave themselves they must know this is food 
for our people, their cultural food, so we prepare them for home, to go home.129 
                                                             
128 Fieldnotes February 28/08: Julia of Home from Home: Discussing the creation of outside houses by Nazareth 
House 
129 Interview March 25/08: On culture and educating children 
93 
 
This addresses both the issue of children who have known families that they are attempting to be 
reintegrated with and also the fact that eventually when the child is grown and a member of 
society they will need to be able to live together with others in the community. Madison also 
emphasises a need to be aware f the cultural differences, that there are specific manners and 
types of food that are expected.  Sylvia talks about the same things when she discusses etiquette, 
and it is similar to the issue described by the Sister at Nazareth house where the children were 
becoming like little nuns.130  The issue of little nuns at Nazareth House was that children did not 
have the ability to play with other children in the communities they were from, they did not like 
the food they were offered, and in general they could not interact, even to the point that they lost 
the use of their mother tongues. 
 Conflicts that arise between the ideology of a faith based organisation and society are 
large are typically small items.  There are however times when there is a rift between the 
ideologies of these different groups that is substantial and needs serious attention.  One example 
of this occurred when Theresa, the founder and operator of a faith based organisation refused to 
surrender the children in her care for adoption by homosexual couples.  This created a serious 
problem as it was interpreted as discrimination based on sexual orientation.  These were couples 
that had been cleared by social services as acceptable adoption parents and the organisation was 
not cooperating.  The organisation?s and Theresa?s stance was that homosexuality is immoral and 
unacceptable according to Christian belief and that they would not submit a child to be raised by 
homosexuals.  In this incident the faith based organisation kept the child and the reaction of the 
couple is unknown.  Since then social services has avoided attempting to place children from that 
                                                             
130 Fieldnotes Fieldnotes January 11/08 
94 
 
organisation with homosexual couples, however it remains as an unofficial understanding 
between the social workers and the organisation, and officially is a black mark against the 
organisation.131 
 Another example of operational conflict between faith based organisations and secular 
society is the difference in attitudes towards discipline.  One of the Islamic shelters that was 
studied has a list of consequences for misbehaviour which some would think border on abuse.   
Seraj: yeah we?ve got a, what I do every six months, we sit down and we say look, 
we need to work out punishments for certain things.  Late for transport in the 
morning for school what is the punishment? And they would tell me what they 
want. What is the punishment? 15 rand fine, they all have a savings account when 
it?s their birthday, or they do odd jobs here and there like they work for a catering 
company, the bigger ones, earn money that we put under their savings, so they 
break a florescent light or they break a window at school or something um or like 
for fines we deduct from the savings so they are very scared not to have money 
deducted from the savings. However where is my file?.... that?s their names, 
surnames, January February March April that?s the amount of money that that 
person has saved thus far, yeah then you see minuses that is for being fined for 
doing something naughty. They try very hard to work it into a plus figure.  At the 
prize giving we read this out and the people will applaud them, but if you read 
that minus then they don?t like it , so they work very hard to put something back in 
it, not to get fined again, so that?s one of the ways that we can discipline, late for 
transport 15rand fine, swearing 3 chillies,  
Me: chillies? 
Seraj: 3 chillies, you eat three chillies, if your caught smoking you eat a packet of 
cigarettes in front of everybody that?s the rules, they provide rules132 
 
Some of these are relatively minor, fines for small infractions, but the eating of chillies of a 
packet of cigarettes pushes that would be considered appropriate by many.  I was also told about 
the ?punch? which is used as a form of discipline.  A combination of vinegar, salt and spices, 
mostly chilli apparently, is mixed and there are a certain number of glasses to be drunk as 
punishment, depending on the infraction. Seraj further describes some aspects of physical 
                                                             
131 Fieldnotes July 23/08: Conversations with people who work with and friends of Theresa 
132 Interview May 5/08: Life History Seraj. Conversations on discipline. 
95 
 
punishment which, though not cruel per say would certainly be criticised by Social Services if it 
were made commonly known. 
Seraj: one thing... fighting here and there if you, like for instance if you like smack 
me and you come tell that person that smacked you then that person must smack 
you 120 times.   
Me: so if I smack... 
Seraj: if you smack me you smack me I come tell, tell me or mommy that you 
smacked me then I will call you in did you smack him or her, you smack it. It is 
the ones there is no fighting no hitting, then you give 120.133 
 
This discipline is certainly unusual to western views and they are aware of this at the shelter.  It 
is however viewed as being appropriate by the organisation.  As Seraj emphasises ?they provide 
the rules.?  They are also aware that physical discipline is not permitted legally and are 
dismissive of this fact.  In a conversation about manners and education Sylvia noted that she 
believes she is doing the correct thing if she strikes the child 
S: yes they are, I think it?s only the madrasah or the religion school tutors, they 
are salaried people but everybody else does a pure voluntary basis, now my dad 
also comes here.  My dad takes an afternoon class and he then sits with the 
adolescence and he also teaches them etiquette.  Because him and I are quite 
fanatical about the way children eat and their habits in respect to old people and 
when they hear me they now they tell me that?s your dad speaking because I 
believe that there is a manner in which to eat.  The one boy was slouching he 
actually was leaning over this way while we were having supper and he must just 
sit up straight. I says to him so what what this story about laying he said you know 
I was tired, I said what about the manners of eating, what about the little ones 
they are going to copy you because they think that?s cool.  I told him if I ever see 
you doing that again you?re going to get a tap against you head, he knows that I 
do because I don?t, I?m not shy with my hand and I tell him you go take me to 
social services but I believe the old way is the best way.  And they um they listen 
to me 90% of the time, I don?t have problems with them.134 
We see with her reference to social services awareness that this sort of discipline is not 
considered acceptable, but this is mitigated by the belief that the traditional ways of 
                                                             
133 Interview May 5/08: Life History Seraj.  
134 Interview March 19/08: Sylvia at Vision  
96 
 
raising children are superior.  This echoes Madison?s sentiments that when she was 
young there was more discipline that you didn?t misbehave because you knew there were 
consequences.  It also expresses the awareness of cultural differences and a need to 
educate children in not only western etiquette and culture, but that of their own people. 
 The conflicts which arise between faith based organisations ideals and the secular 
society within which they operate illustrate some of the ways in which religion and 
religiosity of the staff can drastically influence faith based organisations? interactions 
with the world around it.  It shows some of the ways in which a faith based organisation 
not only positions itself, but is positioned by its actions. 
97 
 
Chapter 7 Conclusions 
 
 I personally am not a religious man.  I was raised in a culture that is nominally Christian, 
though I have not been baptised, nor do I adhere to any of the observances beyond the national 
statutory holidays of Christmas, Easter, St Patrick?s Day and St Jean-Baptise Day.  I am not a 
member of any religious group or organisation; I do not attend religious ceremonies other than 
weddings and funerals, and those I attend without regards the religion associated; I do not 
believe in a god, nor do I believe that individuals can have a preordained purpose in life.  Yet 
despite my scepticism, or perhaps because of it, I came to study faith based organisations and the 
ways in which religion or religiosity motivates people to work in children?s social welfare.  My 
assumption was that I would find that religion provided substantial motivation to those that 
worked with children, that there would be a clear cut and obvious correlation between ?God says? 
and ?I do.?  As with everything in life, it is never that simple; my finding do support that religion 
plays a significant role in motivation people towards caring for children and in keeping them 
going in the face of challenges.  It has also become apparent that there are other factors that 
contribute, ranging from personal childhood experiences, to cultural norms, to feelings of being a 
mother and of wanting to help. 
 This research has been about, in the simplest of terms, motive.  Everything here leads up 
to the ultimate question of why do people get out o bed in the morning and do the things that 
they do, be it care for the 6 foster children in their house, run the shelter for street boys, counsel 
runaway girls or deal with the daily routines of managing an non-government organisation in 
98 
 
Cape Town and all the details that accompany such a job.  I have approached the question of 
motive and the way that religion serves to motivate behaviour from three main angles.  As 
discussed these are 1) the role that faith/religiosity plays in the personal motives and reasons for 
working in children?s social welfare, 2) how religious ideology has influenced the actions and 
positions of faith based organisations in children?s social welfare, and finally 3) the ways in 
which faith based organisations position themselves within these structures, both for internal 
reasons of belief and for external factors like donor reaction and community relations.  But the 
question of motive needs to go further than these topics.  As I suggested at the beginning of this 
paragraph, it is about what gets people out of bed on a daily basis to continue very difficult and 
challenging jobs.   
 In the preceding 6 chapters I have outlined some theory, discussed my methodology, 
presented my findings and discussed how they show the motivating factors in individuals? choice 
to work in children?s social welfare.  Here I aim to draw together these disparate discussions and 
show how religious belief motivates these individuals over the long term to continually persist in 
this work, to continue to try and help children in the face of the many challenges that they 
encounter.  This will be a discussion of some of my own personal experiences while conducting 
this research, of the people who I have studied and interviewed during this time, and of how the 
abstract and theoretical religious beliefs of people manifest into real world actions.  
 The clearest example I can present is Seraj at Vision Children?s Home.  This Islamic 
children?s home runs its daily routine based directly on the teachings of the Qur?an.  It was 
founded because it is a sin for a Muslim to know of another Muslim who is in need and living a 
non-halal life and not help if they are able.  The children therein adhere to a strict halal lifestyle 
99 
 
and observe all religious obligations.  They are raised by Muslims to be good Muslims, because 
that is what Islam requires.  To be sure, there are rewards for caring for orphans, and of course 
not all Muslims are opening and caring for orphans or other Muslims in need, so the individuals 
who do are also caring and passionate people above and beyond being Muslim.  Beyond the 
reasoning behind why he began and runs a children?s home, Seraj relies heavily on belief for the 
routine running of the place.  He prays for guidance as to what he should do, and that he should 
be able to continue his work.  He believes completely that what he needs to continue will be 
provided if he remains faithful, and that if he doesn?t get what he thought he needed, he was 
obviously wrong.  And the world seems to have an uncanny way of supporting this believe, Seraj 
can recite dozens of occasions when there was something in particular, something urgent that 
needed to be addressed, and by the will of Allah a donor appears or an opportunity arises 
seemingly from nowhere that solves the problem.  Thus belief is reinforced and continues; 
because he is faithful and lives by certain rules, and cares for children well, he is enabled to 
continue to do so.  As one of the volunteers who work with him told me of Seraj that ?if they 
were to come down tomorrow and tell him Mr. Jackson we?re going to close you he would tell 
them yes and when they turns their back then the children will just come in by the back door he 
won?t see anybody be turned away.?135  Further, Seraj uses the structures provided by the 
religious community to continue his work.  His involvement of local religious leaders and the 
Mosques in fundraising and social activities for the children provide the structure to enable him 
to keep Vision running. 
                                                             
135 Interview: March 19/08: Sylvia at Vision Shelter.  Muslim woman in her early 40?s, educated as a social worker 
and a volunteer during the evenings with Vision 
100 
 
 Julia from Home from Home is a great example of religion providing persistent 
motivation.  She began her non-government organisation in response to the closing of another 
non-government organisation which ran homes in Khayelitsha.  She did this because she could 
not stand the idea that the god work that had been done there could become undone, she is also 
motivated on religious grounds, her Non-government organisation being a Christian faith based 
organisation which does promote Christian ideals, but where her case is interesting is that she is 
responsible for the children in her care.  Julia brings home the difficulty in being the primary 
organiser of a non-government organisation 
1 Julia: well this job, my particular job is much more stressful and I worry about  
2 the children and responsibility, the responsibility rests solely with me really for   
3 the children so that way its heavy... and you can?t escape it you can?t think well  
4 do  something else because this is my responsibility, you don?t start something     
5 and  then not follow it through, and there are no options... it doesn?t mean I don?t      
6  believe what I am doing is really right, it just it takes its toll on me as a person.  
7  So can?t fix everyone ... we have to get on with it so its its yeah... and there         
8  really are wonderful rewards to, when the children do well at school or are        
9  physically well or parties or something exciting happens so there?s a lovely side 
10 to it all to and also working now with different organisation meeting wonderful 
11 people really enthusiastic special people, that?s nice, that?s exciting, so that     
12 feeds the bit where I worry at night all the time and the other side is good136 
 
There are a few very interesting aspects to what Julia is saying here.  On line 3 she refers to 
being unable to escape, that she cannot take up other projects because she has taken on this 
responsibility.  This reflects a compulsion to continue the task, a need to persist that is very 
strong but also the sense of responsibility is one of virtue, a value repeated later on line 6 where 
she states that she believes what she is doing is really right.  More than values, Julia talks about 
                                                             
136 Life History: June 30/08. Julia from Home from Home: Middle aged woman of English origin, social worker and 
founder of Home from Home, based in Wynberg head office and a number of settlements, particularly Khayelitsha 
101 
 
the feelings and emotions that some up in doing this type of work.  Line 8 refers to ?wonderful 
rewards,? line 9 about the ?lovely side,? line 11 about it being ?exciting,? line 12 about the ?worry 
at night? and also that ?the other side is good.?  So a part of Julia?s motivation and persistence 
comes from a sense of duty, of responsibility for the task taken on, but there is also an emotional 
side to what motivates her to continue in this work, the feeling of being virtuous and of positive 
feelings from her work.   
 There are when there is a lot of stress and she wonders why she continues, but she 
attributes to her Roman Catholic upbringing a penchant for doing ?what?s right? regardless of 
whether it is good for you. 
1 Julia: it?s definitely not an easy world to work in, it can be very, especially now,        
2 very stressful, we question time and time again what the hell were doing but you 
3 do it because you know it?s right so and also think a sense probably from my      
4 catholic background of doing what?s right, you do the right thing regardless of   
5 whether its ok for you... I don?t know if you know much about the catholic faith   
6 and how we are... yeah so we do things sometimes that are... if you stop and       
7 think about it its destructive so you just do what you feel is right and it makes us 
8 feel good, or makes me feel good I suppose137 
 
So we see again a direct link to religion and continued altruistic behaviour.  Not the explicit way 
in which Seraj seems to experience it, but still a strong impulse, and one that Julia is aware of.  
She knows that she could possibly be more financially successful with far less stress in another 
sector, yet continues her ?good work? because it is the right thing to do and it makes her ?feel 
good.?  On line 4 we see that she ascribes her motivation directly by her beliefs in ?doing what?s 
right?, and continues her work both from a sense of duty towards the project that she has started.  
Line 5 through 8 she talks about a catholic culture of doing right regardless of if it is wrong for 
                                                             
137 Interview June 30/08: Life History Julia 
102 
 
yourself, give her understanding that it is a catholic ethos and her religious belief that doing the 
right thing should be done regardless of challenges or problems that it present to oneself.  
 A visual representation of the cycle I am describing here would look something like this: 
   
The starting point is belief.  Belief can directly influence action as we saw with the example of 
Seraj and his work at Vision Children?s home, or it can bring up emotions which push them to 
action.  The emotions in question can be complex, in some cases guilt or shame about the 
conditions of others, in some cases dissatisfaction with one?s own life, in some cases a strong 
sense of empathy for the suffering or situations of others.  These actions then reinforce both the 
positive emotions, the idea of ?feeling good? and also give the actor a sense of virtue, of not only 
feeling good but of having ?done good?, or of ?being good.?  These positive emotional and 
virtuous feedbacks reinforce the beliefs that resulted in the initial behaviour and encourage 
another repetition of the cycle. 
 Christy prays each day when she gets up.  She prays before she goes to bed.  She prays 
for strength when work is difficult; she prayed for guidance to accept her job as director of a 
103 
 
children?s shelter; she prays for the children in her care.  Christy knew from a young age that she 
was interested in social work.  She studied it at university, she worked for the government in 
Grahamstown when she graduated, and she moved to Homestead when she wanted to return to 
Cape Town after the death of her father.  The process by which she came to be working in CSW 
was not direct, she did not experience a calling or particularly strong desire to work with children 
in particular, but it presented as an opportunity.   However the thing that comes across most 
strongly when talking to Christy is that she not only truly believes in what she is doing and cares 
deeply for the children in her care, but that it is with god?s help that she is able to continue.  She 
is fond of the scripture ?The lord won?t test you beyond what you can achieve? and frequently 
refers to god in conversation, reflecting her belief and reliance on strength from god.  The most 
pertinent aspect of Christy?s belief and involvement with religion are her statements that she 
believes god gives her the strength to continue doing this work.  When things are particularly 
difficult, when the children are being ungrateful, or when the work load is out of control Christy 
prays and asks for strength, it is her belief that sustains her over the long term and allows her to 
deal with the present.  Her own pattern of belief/action/reaction is slightly different from the one 
described above.  It was not her beliefs that brought her to work in children?s social welfare, but 
rather her beliefs are what sustain her in the daily routine.  She relies on the positive feedback 
that she receives from acting in a manner in line with her beliefs, the sense of virtue and the 
positive emotional response to doing the work to offset the negative aspects of her work. 
 Madison also finds the strength to continue to do her work through her belief.  As a 
woman who runs a foster home with six children, she has an incredibly busy day.  She typically 
gets up early to prepare the children?s breakfast and get them ready for school.  She spends the 
104 
 
day cleaning, preparing lunch, doing laundry, preparing supper, working with the children to do 
their schoolwork and getting the children to bed.  She has little time for herself or her own needs, 
often finishes working late in the evening.  She talks about working late, showing me a pile of 
laundry and saying ?You see when they sleeping and there?s no time there?s no rest you see thins bundle  
I must do it at night you see I mean I must pack them in their drawers and then I pray and go sleep there 
ten o?clock.? Madison uses her belief in a manner not dissimilar from Christy.  It gives her 
strength to continue and keep working.  It also forms an important component of her life in that it 
makes up part of her daily routine, that even after a long day of work she takes the time to pray 
before bed demonstrates its importance for her. 
 These examples illustrate the interplay between religion and belief and the routine daily 
actions of the individuals in question.  As was expected, belief acts as the main motivation that 
causes these people to continue their daily routines, to act for the benefit of the children over and 
over again.  It can be as direct as the ?God Says? therefore ?I Do,? or it can a more subtle 
interplay between beliefs, empathy, emotions and ideas of virtue and ?doing right? that cause and 
reinforce the desire to help others and to work with children in this sense.  That so many of the 
people found working in this field have strong religious beliefs regardless of whether they are 
working with faith based organisations or secular ones only further proves that it is these 
religious beliefs that spurs individuals into these altruistic behaviours and actions. 
 
 
 
 
105 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Appendix 1: Interview Guidelines 
Semi Structured Interviews Towards an understanding Children?s social welfare 
Basic Background information desired 
- A/S/L  (Age, Sex, Location) 
- Name and nick name? 
- Phone, email, contact person 
- Origin (ethnic and cultural/geographical) 
- Current residence 
- Occupation (rather ask at the below section about how they began to do what they are 
doing now?) 
- Religious Background (Specifically raised as?) would not ask for background rather 
ask ? is religion important for you?  This allows them to answer much more openly  
 
List of possible interview question:  
1) Where did you grow up? 
2) Where was your family from originally? 
3) How did you come to be in Cape Town? 
4) When you were growing up can you remember if there was anyone taking care of 
children the way you are now? 
5) Tell me a little about the place you grew up?   
6) And when was that? 
7) What was it like growing up in ________ during the ______? 
a. With (Whatever interesting information I may have gleaned by now) 
8) Are you a mother (or father)? 
a. What does being a mother (father) mean for you?  
9) Did you always plan to have a family?  
10) How is it that you came to care for other children?   
a. Did you make that choice yourself? 
110 
 
b.  How old were you when you first started taking care of children?  
11) How did all of this come about (indicating to orphanage)? What was the progression from 
the beginning to where you are now? 
a. Have any of your children moved on?   
b. How long do children usually stay with you? 
c. Do things often happen the same way with the kids, or is it different every time? 
12) Can you tell me about the first time you worked with children?   
a. How did it come about? 
b. What happened? 
c. Was it difficult? 
d. Has it gotten easier to take in children with time? 
13) Where do you find the children, or how do they find you? 
a. What is the background of x, y, z? (Pick a few children) 
b. Is there a common theme to the children?s situations, or do they come from a 
variety of backgrounds? 
14) How do you manage to keep this place running? 
a. Who cooks, what do you usually feed the kids? 
b. Who takes care of the cleaning? 
c. Who watches the children? Is there some sort of instruction or structure to their 
day? 
15) Does the government give you any support for what you?re doing? 
a. Do they give you any problems? 
16) How about the local community? Are there people from around here who have helped 
you in raising the children? Who? 
17) What do your neighbours think of what you?re doing?  
18) How has fostering and working with children changed in the time since ?94 
19) Would you take any child that came to you? 
20) Do you seek to get the children in you care adopted? 
21) What differences do you see between fostering children and arranging for their adoption? 
22) What about the idea of raising children and a child?s sense of Identity 
111 
 
23) What do you think about the current fashion in international adoption? 
24)  Madonna and her Malawian child? 
 
General Themes to be discussed: (These are not questions as such, but general areas of 
conversation) 
- How do children find you / get to you? 
-  Where, or what background, are they coming from? 
- Relationship with others in the area who foster 
- Relationship with the community support as well as conflict 
- Family? Have their own children and relationships with them 
- How did you first start fostering children?  
o Was it something you decided to do? 
o When you started did you think you were only taking in a kid or two 
o What was it like when the very first kid arrived at your home? Tell me about 
that day. 
- Most memorable / interesting / tragic stories  
- Self reported motives for fostering.  
o Personal Motives 
o Religious Motives 
o Social / Cultural indicators 
- How do you run you place?  
o Community Support? 
o Gov?t Assistance? 
o Church / Temple / Mosque / Religious Organizations? 
o Other foster homes and the interrelations between them (I suspect this is 
critical) 
- Nature of children fostered  
o What makes a child an orphan, or eligible for fostering? (Madonna) (Abuse) 
112 
 
? In an African context, or an Indian (or whoever I?m talking to), how is 
it possible to not have relatives to take you in? (This is the kind of 
situation where I would be tailoring my questions to the particular 
context of my informant, be they Hindu, coloured, Zulu, or whatever.  
It is most likely that I would refer to specific neighbourhoods rather 
than a particular ethnicity because the two often, but not always, have 
an explicit correlation. 
o Geographical or cultural (tribal?) Origin of children.  Once again, I?m looking 
to see if there is a prevalence of ?taking care of one?s own? 
o Racial/Cultural aspect of fostered children  
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Appendix 2: Consent Forms (Recording, Secondary, General) 
 
Recording: 
I/We     agree to participate in the research as it has been explained to me 
by Andrew Lipinski, and to allow Mr. Lipinski access to my/our home, or facility where 
observations will be made regarding the activities and behaviours of the foster carers, the 
children, and others who are present.  His research and activities are to be explained to those who 
are present and their verbal consent to be involved must be given if Mr. Lipinski is to use 
information gathered regarding that specific individual. 
I/We understand that these observations are to become the property of Mr. Lipinski and that they 
will be kept confidential and that appropriate measures will be taken to insure that they will not 
accessible to others in a format that could identify me/us or my/our affiliations. 
I/We agree to this research based on the understanding that: 
1) My/Our participation is entirely voluntary; I/We may withdraw at any time, without 
penalty. 
2) My/ Our privacy will be respected at all times, no one besides Mr. Lipinski will be able to 
associate any data collected regarding me/us or my/ our activities back to me.  
Confidentiality is of primary concern. 
3) At no time will any of the data collected be passed onto any other organisations. 
4) I/We may request to see the data that has been collected regarding me/us and my/our 
activities, as well as being entitled to a copy of the final incarnation of this research.  Data 
regarding other participants is of course confidential, and thus will not be made available. 
5) I/We are at all times free to refuse to answer any questions. 
 
I/We       agree to participate in this research with full knowledge of 
its purpose and intent, under the conditions stipulated above. 
Date:    Andrew Lipinski       
  
Date:              
114 
 
Secondary: 
I    agree to participate in the research as it has been explained to me by 
Andrew Lipinski, and in doing agree to participate in interviews, and to have these interviews 
recorded by Mr. Lipinski. 
I understand that these recording are to become the property of Mr. Lipinski and that they will be 
kept confidential and that appropriate measures will be taken to insure that they or transcripts 
made from the recordings are not accessible to others in a manner that could identify me or my 
affiliations. 
I agree to this research based on the understanding that: 
1) My participation is entirely voluntary; I may withdraw at any time, without penalty. 
2) My privacy will be respected at all times, no one besides Mr. Lipinski will be able to 
associate any data collected regarding me or my activities back to me.  Confidentiality is 
of primary concern. 
3) At no time will any of the data collected be passed onto any other organisations. 
4) I may request to see the data that has been collected regarding me and my activities, as 
well as being entitled to a copy of the final incarnation of this research.  Data regarding 
other participants is of course confidential, and thus will not be made available. 
5) I am at all times free to refuse to answer any questions. 
 
I      agree to participate in this research with full knowledge of its 
purpose and intent, under the conditions stipulated above. 
Date:    Andrew Lipinski       
  
Date:              
115 
 
General: 
This research is regarding the reasons and motives that people have for fostering children as well 
as, were possible, the means by which they are able to foster.  I am focusing primarily on people 
who foster children who are not related to them, through faith based initiatives. 
The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of 1) why it is, or what encourages 
people to foster children who are not related to them, and 2) how are they able to manage 
fostering multiple children? 
I am approaching you in the hope that you will be willing to participate in my research.  I am 
interested in you because of your involvement with an individual or organisation that is 1) 
fostering children not related to them, 2) fostering within the system and structures put in place 
by the government, and 3) affiliated with one of the faith based organizations that I am working 
with.  
This research will consist of allowing me to observe the daily functioning of your home or 
facility, as well as conducting one (1) or more interviews with you.   You participation is 
voluntary, and you can withdraw at any point.  The interviews will take approximately 2 hours 
each. 
This research is conducted towards the completion of the research report portion of a Master?s 
degree in Arts, Discipline of Anthropology, at the University of the Witwatersrand, 
Johannesburg.  It is conducted with the knowledge and approval of the university. 
Should you choose to participate in this research the following information is important for you 
to know: 
1) Your participation is entirely voluntary; you may withdraw at any time, without penalty. 
2) Your privacy will be respected at all times, no one besides myself will be able to 
associate any data collected regarding you or your activities back to you.  Confidentiality 
is of primary concern. 
3) At no time will any of the data collected be passed onto any other organisations. 
4) You may request to see the data that I have collected regarding you and your activities, as 
well as being entitled to a copy of the final incarnation of this research.  Data regarding 
other participants is of course confidential, and thus not available to you. 
5) You are at all times free to refuse to answer  
 
I      agree to participate in this research with full knowledge of its 
purpose and intent, under the conditions stipulated above. 
Date:    Andrew Lipinski       
  
Date:              
116