A South African teenager, who takes care of her orphaned siblings, brought former United States president Bill Clinton to his feet with her commitment to bringing hope to the lives of other orphan girls in her community.
Seventeen-year-old Zethu Ngecza addressed the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York recently and received a standing ovation from delegates for her plans to establish support groups for children in her community.
Ngecza has cared for her younger sister Lungiswa (11) and her brother Andisiwe (15) in Kwazakele township in Port Elizabeth, since their parents died a few years ago. With the help of a local NGO, the Ubuntu Education Fund, Ngecza has not only managed to access a social grant to support her family, but also to stay in school so she can complete her education.
Ngecza says she came up with the idea of a support group for other orphaned girls because ”I want them to realise that being an orphan doesn’t mean it’s over, you can still make a difference,” she explains.
”I’ve been to New York because of who I am, even if I don’t have parents. So I want them to know that there is hope.” Girls will meet in a safe, friendly environment, to share the common problems they face growing up without parents, as well as ways to overcome them.
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) brings together world leaders from business, government and NGOs to find solutions to problems such as ethnic conflict and poverty. All CGI members are required to make public commitments to the cause of their choice. Ngecza’s commitment to start the support group, amid so many influential people, was one of the gathering’s most talked about moments.
Ngecza was invited to speak at the CGI’s mid-year meeting after representatives — who came to South Africa to meet with children whose lives had improved as a result of the fund — were struck by her confidence and bravery.
After they were orphaned the Ngecza children moved into a cardboard shack with their aunt and her five children. But their aunt moved to Johannesburg in search of work and Ngecza and her siblings were on their own once more. The children found rooms in the KwaNdokwenza hostel in Kwazakele where they share two bedrooms and a communal bathroom, dining room and kitchen with another family.
It was through Ubuntu that Ngecza met case manager Fezeka Mzalazala, who helped Ngecza piece her life back together. Ubuntu provided her with grief counselling after her parents’ death and she still has regular sessions with Mzalazala. She also goes to an after-school tutoring programme, where she is given extra instruction in subjects such as maths, science and accounting.
Ubuntu provides Ngecza and other vulnerable children in the townships of New Brighton, Kwazakele and Zeeplaas, with support such as food parcels, money for electricity and paraffin, and school uniforms.
In poor communities like these, life in a child-headed household forces many children to take drastic steps just to survive. ”Many kids, when they become orphans… resort to crime and some girls resort to prostitution,” says Ngecza. Her support group will help these children envisage a different future for themselves.
Ubuntu is an NGO based in Zwide, Port Elizabeth. For more information go to www.ubuntufund.org
