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THE END OF APARTHEID IN
SOUTH AFRICA WAS MEANT TO SIGNAL A NEW BEGINNING FOR THE 'RAINBOW NATION', but
the transition to a freer society has been painful. Political violence in many
areas, for example, has been replaced by violence within communities - and
families . Nealo is into gardening, and not just because he loves plants. The 12-year-old from Marion Ridge, near Durban, goes to a community garden to get away from his troubles at home. "My dream is I'd like to have a place with flowers, a big house, a big pool," he says, standing in the garden he helps to look after. "I'd plant my things and put in mineral salts to get good soil. And my family mustn't smoke and mustn't drink and must go to church." " If there's no devil and no drugs, our world is going to be better. I've never tried smoking or drinking and I don't want to try. If you try it, you get used to it, and then you and your poor wife have a fight and you can kill someone. If there is no fighting, you can go everywhere you want." That's a strange speech to hear from a small boy - a love of gardening mixed with a strong condemnation of social evils. But listen to the rest of Nealo's story, and you'll understand why he goes to a children's gardening club to get some peace and some space. Drugs, drink and violence are a problem both at home, and in the neighbourhood where he and his family live. His parents avoid drink and drugs, but his older brothers and sister keep getting into trouble. Tragedy has struck the family many times: an older brother - one of twins - was brutally murdered in a nearby township and gang trouble is suspected. And Nealo's teenage sister jumped out of a high window. Nealo doesn't want to go down the same road. That's why the gardening club - run by a local grassroots organisation called the Pinetown-Highway Child and Family Welfare Society - gives Nealo a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. "Some people think this place is not nice." he says, "but this place is nice. Do you know why? Because there are not so many gangs and drugs here compared with the other townships." Understanding local needs - and developing innovative ways of meeting them - is the key to helping children like Nealo. That's why Save the Children works closely with trusted grassroots organisations who understand local problems and local conditions. Such partnerships help us to work for a better world for children - whatever the circumstances. Learning about plants and growing vegetables may not seem important to us. But for children like Nealo it's a form of education and escape. As Nealo explains: "I know how to plant and to hoe. I like to work with people - you make new friends to go out with. And when they ask about plants in school, we know the answers." |
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