Home
Children, community and the Christian message - a case study
What was the contribution of South African Christians to the wellbeing of children during the first decade of the fully democratic South Africa? Johannes Malherbe explores this issue through a case study of the position of children in a particular community.
In June 1994 president Nelson Mandela pledged that his government would “put children first”. Under his guidance the government committed itself to implement a “National Plan of Action for Children” and ratified both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights of the Child.
Read more: Children, community and the Christian message - a case study
Children in South Africa and the world
Summary:
Global changes have immensely negative implications for children worldwide as well as for the children of Africa and South Africa in particular. Manuel Castells’s trilogy on the information age: economy, society and culture, is used to substantiate this. From a sociological viewpoint, Castells explains how the information era led to information networks that have transformed the economy, and led to network-based social movements, which, in turn, are redefining the formation of social identity. The article offers a statistical picture of children in the world and in South(ern) Africa. It then outlines the way in which information has changed economic processes, the power of networks and the reformulation of identity. All this is leading to the demise of “patriarchalism” – i.e. the typical patriarchal family structure. The shocking implications of these global changes on the life and future of children are then explained in detail. Church and theology are challenged to do something to address this dilemma.
Article details:
Authors: Dr. Jan Grobbelaar & Prof. Jurgens Hendriks (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa)
Title: Wat gebeur plaaslik en globaal met kinders? (What is happening to children in South Africa and globally?)
First published in Praktiese Teologie in Suid-Afrika 21(2), 2006, pages 1-32.
Language: Afrikaans
The death of a child
Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing...
And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.
Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voice answer: "Where He is? This is where - hanging here from this gallows..."
That night, the soup tasted of corpses.
Elie Wiesel, Night
Hand of hope
In August 1999 a pioneering surgical procedure was performed on a 21-week-old fetus in the womb. The purpose of the operation, performed by Dr. Joseph Bruner and Dr. Noel Tulipan at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, was to fix the spina bifida lesion. Their procedure involved temporarily opening the uterus, draining the amniotic fluid, partially extracting and performing surgery on the tiny fetus, and then restoring the fetus to the uterus back inside the mother.
New book on African childhood
ChildNet is proud to announce the publication of the book "Saved by the Lion?" by Dr. Johannes Malherbe. In this book voices from all over Africa and beyond, past and present, discuss the interaction between African children and outsiders. Together they grapple with the allegation that Mama Africa is unable to nurture and raise her children. A rich store of information about, and a good introduction to key issues of African childhood, this book is a vital resource for anyone living and working with the continents greatest asset its children. For more information - see www.savedbythelion.com
Early learning opportunities vital for National Senior Certificate Success
South Africa needs to invest in early childhood development (ECD) programmes, address the existing weaknesses in its education system, and introduce effective ECD policy in order to improve the matric results.
Click here to read article by Eric Atmore, published on 17 January 2012 by SANGONeT.
Eric Atmore is Adjunct Associate Professor of Social Development at the University of Cape Town and Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development.