Interview from SOS Social Centre Arusha, Tanzania
19 Nov 2008
Hilary Atkins: I'm talking to Beatrice Nattitaj, who's the FSP [family strengthening programme"> co-ordinator in Arusha. How long have you been doing this?
Beatrice: Officially, from May last year [onwards">, but before that I was involved in a preliminary survey and community visit on the situation of the target families with some group from Nairobi.
Hilary Atkins: But before that, you were the educator at SOS Children's Village Arusha...so, how do you like this job compared to that?
Beatrice: ...Yeah, I like it, because it is involving children...and...on my previous post I was giving [support"> to children, but particularly on the educational part...but coming to the community, this community, I'm going deeper than education and training, going through their health problems, psychological problems, medical problems, and many, many other problems in those poor families, FSP [family strengthening programme"> is dealing really with the serious poor, and often children who are living with their aunties, or grandmothers, who are very old and poor...so, you can see these families are in serious problems...so, it's involving children, and I'm used to children...and it's better than even before...
Hilary Atkins: Ok, you're enjoying it...
Beatrice: I'm enjoying it; as I'm now really know what is going on in the community around us.
Hilary Atkins: ...and you have a day-care centre here...you have three classes for children from two to six...
Beatrice: Two to six...
Hilary Atkins: How many children do you have here at the moment?
Beatrice: At the moment, the day-care centre in Arusha has 75 children from two to six years...the children are divided into three groups...the first group is [for the"> two to three-year-olds, and they are the group called 'orange class'. I prefer to call this class 'crèche', because it has the childhood education, and on top it has a nursing knowledge, so I thought that it is good to have here, have this kind of care on this group. The other group is the 'papaya group', this is [for those"> from four to five years, and it's got a nanny certified on childhood education, so she's caring well in that particular place. And, the last class is the upper class, [for"> six-year-olds...this is the group now, which is seriously preparing them for next-year admission into primary-school class one...so, as you saw them...they are trying to write, how to do numbers, how to do simple numbers homework...
Hilary Atkins: So, this group, the older group will be going to start primary school next year in January...will the FSP continue to care for them?
Beatrice: Yes, FSP will be with them... and FSP, first of all, we are the ones who are going and ask for the chances this government school around us...furthermore, we are the ones who facilitate for all the educational support, so this support is continuous...we won't stop somewhere, we have to support...
Hilary Atkins: ...until they can support themselves, I suppose...
Beatrice: ...yeah, and there is some things we also contribute, like FSP is providing uniforms, two pairs of uniforms, school shoes, the school bag and pencils...and text books for them so they have a text book...but they're coming and borrowing it, we stamp the book, they borrow it, and when a child needs another book, he/she first has to return the first book and give to another, so, it's like having a mini-library where these children come and borrow books...so, FSP is contributing a lot, they're also contributing something like a lunch fee for their kids at school and some other little contributions.
Hilary Atkins: So, do they have lunch here at the day-care centre?
Beatrice: Yeah, they do, but...currently, I stopped it because of the shortage of water and the water system problems, and they're currently working on the system...
Hilary Atkins: But they have lunch...
Beatrice: They have lunch and they have to be here from 8am to 4pm, so they have breakfast, lunch, and evening tea.
Hilary Atkins: Oh, good! So, they do quite well...
Beatrice: Yeah, some of them recover from malnutrition, some recover from a very bad situation after this diet; they are being given tea with different things, like bread, egg, milk, juice...now they have improved, you can see them, they're happy, before, they we're really...
Hilary Atkins: So, the caregivers tell me about the caregivers here, what sort of situation are they in? The caregivers who look after the children at home?
Beatrice: The FSP has 88 caregivers, or, families, to care for...but all those families are living below the poverty line, some won't even have a meal within their families. They don't get access to educational support for their children, health support, shelter...so, this is why they are the target group of the FSP according to the policies from the FSP Manual.
Hilary Atkins: Are they mostly single mothers, or any child-headed families?
Beatrice: Yeah, there is a mixture of status. There are two child-headed families taking care of themselves; there are single parent whose husbands died, the majority are widows; some are grandparents who are very old and poor, and some are aunties or uncles who are taking care of their relatives...and some are mothers who are ill, like, we've got 25 mothers out of 88 who are HIV-positive, they are sick, they were businesspeople, but now they won't go to do the marketing and do all their business because of their weakness...so 25 mothers are sick, and they've already been doing a consultation at the hospital, where they get free medical services, like ARVs (anti-retrovirals). There's one lady who was in bed, but after being on the ARV programme and now she's up again and even comes with their kids, she is now active and can do something.
Hilary Atkins: ...she has four children...
Beatrice: ...she has five children, the youngest is two-years-old, he's at the day-care centre...
Hilary Atkins: So, they depend on her...
Beatrice: She was involved in illegal business, selling the local news...and she was caught by the police, she was in the police for two or three days...so, it's like...life is difficult for the children...and the other one, we found her in the kitchen...she's also very serious, we went to her home for a home visit and took her to the hospital, now she's ok, she's with us here, helping us. So, having that kind of support...it's in the power of women, especially, to disclose their status, because men are not open [to that">
Hilary Atkins: Do you expect in future to have medical centre at all, or are you going to work with the community medical centres?
Beatrice: I'm not sure, because it depends on what SOS [Children"> is looking for to have there. Myself, I can't say 'yes', because I don't know [about"> the plan, but if we had our own medical centre, it would be good, because it would have a big effect, not only to 88 beneficiaries, but it would also assist the community around us...so it would have a big impact on the community...so, we think that's good to have our own medical centres.
Hilary Atkins: So, SOS [Children's Villages"> is making an impact in the community now in Arusha?
Beatrice: Yes, absolutely. Especially in Ngaran, it has reached many, many children, many families...
Hilary Atkins: ...Ngaran being the area where the village is...so, it's getting a good reputation
Beatrice: ...and the demand is even...you can find a lot of people coming and crying and looking for help, but there are certain limitations to putting us into that.
Hilary Atkins: Ok, thank you.
Relevant Countries: Tanzania.