Child Welfare

Cape Town Child Welfare Internship 

Position:  Social Work / HIV&AIDS Counseling

Available positions:  1

Duration of Internship:  10-12 weeks

"Who feels the overall impact of HIV most? Surely it is the children; the children who are HIV positive and die before they reach their 5th birthday; the children who must care for sick and dying parents; the children who must cope with the tragedy of parental death; the children who must struggle to survive in an adult world that more likely than not will discriminate against them in all sorts of ways because they have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS … we need to change our mindsets and see HIV/AIDS not as an adult problem but as a children's problem" Graca Michel (CINDI Conference, 1998)

Imagine yourself working in one of Cape Town’s vibrant townships with a prominent NGO, assisting children and families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  Does this appeal to you?  Well then you should consider an internship with Cape Town Child Welfare, a civil organization that tackles one of the greatest challenges facing South Africa today: the survival, protection and development of children in crisis and at risk.

Founded in 1908, Cape Town Child Welfare is one of the most prominent and long-standing NGOs in Cape Town.  Its mission is to promote the wellbeing of children in predominantly poor socioeconomic communities in Cape Town by "protecting those in crisis and at risk, enhancing the capacity of families and communities to protect and develop their children, empowering children to claim their rights and accept their responsibilities, and networking with other service providers for the benefit of the children."

Child Welfare has several different ongoing projects. The Thembalabantwana Project is a community-based program that seeks to alleviate the plight of growing numbers of children infected, orphaned, and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, as well as develop the community capacity to support families and caregivers living with HIV/AIDS. The program includes a support group for HIV/AIDS mothers, most of whom have been abandoned by their partners because of their HIV status. It also provides Women Empowerment Workshops, a Support Group for HIV Positive Mothers and Fathers, a Care-Givers Support Group aimed at Grandmothers and elderly people caring for AIDS orphans, and multiple Children’s Groups that assist bereaved children in coping with the stress and despair associated with HIV/AIDS.  Lastly, the program also provides job skills training and income generation projects for parents and caregivers.

A second core program of Child Welfare is called Isolobantwana, which means “Eye on the Children" in the Xhosa language.  This is a community-based child protection program that advocates the collaboration of communities and formal resources when protecting vulnerable children. The program identifies children who are abused or at risk and then takes the appropriate course of action to assist these children, which may include removing young victims of abuse and placing them in temporary homes and safety shelters run by Child Welfare. The program provides counseling and therapeutic services to children and high-risk families. In addition, the Child Welfare team also runs community education and outreach programs, including public awareness drives, door-to-door campaigns, and workshops.

If you have a passion for helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and you are comfortable with sensitive issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, you should definitely consider an international internship with Cape Town Child Welfare. This internship is ideal if you are studying or considering a career in counseling, social work, or work related to HIV/AIDS. This internship will afford you the flexibility to focus on your area of interest and to work with a certain demographic (for example, children with HIV/AIDS), or with people of all ages: children, adults, and the elderly.  Some of your responsibilities may include:

   - Providing counseling to at-risk and affected children.  This entails communicating with the child's parents and school staff

- Assisting with Child Welfare’s empowerment workshops and support groups

- Helping to provide enabling counseling and psycho-support services to at-risk children and families

- Enabling families to access social welfare grants

- Assisting with the gathering of information and investigation of child abuse, intervention

services, and the management of caseloads.

- Helping to run emergency homes and safety shelters.

- Visiting sick children

If this sounds like something that appeals to you, then don’t waste a second and apply for an internship with Cape Town Child Welfare.  You really cannot miss this opportunity: it will be a life-changing experience, both personally and professionally.  Not to mention this internship will look fantastic on your resume!

 
Kids at a primary school in Heideveld.