“My mother… she is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her.” (Jodi Picoult)

The Abraham Kriel Children’s Home Nylstroom (AKK) celebrates Mother’s Day on 9 May 2021 with the rest of the world and pays tribute to the indispensable role that mothers have played in our lives. According to the spokesperson of the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home, Marlene de Villiers, the home also focuses on children acting as mothers.

A mother is the primary caregiver of her children. This means that mothers are first in line to ensure that the child’s basic needs for housing, food, clothing and protection are met. However, this caring role extends much further and is much more complicated. A child’s social and emotional development as a person begins with the relationship that exists between him/ her and his/her mother. This bonding relationship further impacts on the child’s cognitive development.

The unfortunate reality is that not all mothers are always there physically and emotionally for their children. Illness, relationships in which violence and conflict prevail, alcohol and drug abuse, inability to cope with the pressures and demands of life, a difficult world of stress, violence and a struggle to survive, often lead to mothers not being able or willing to enter the lives of their babies or children.

We see the consequences of an absent mother daily. Children who are neglected stop trusting people. Their first life lesson is that they are dependent on themselves. They had to learn to hide quietly in the corner of the room when parents fight because the booze is finished, or lay quietly at night waiting for the footsteps in the hallway…

“However, these children are not without hope. There is help at safe havens such as the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home Nylstroom,” says de Villiers.

Children’s homes across South Africa are confronted daily with the reality of neglected children. We see little people with a lot of pain and sadness looking for answers to questions that no child should struggle with. Assisting these children requires strength, caring and a lot of love and patience. This is why the AKK wants to dedicate Mother’s Day 2021 to each of the home’s house mothers.

According to De Villiers, trained childminders often find themselves in the position of substitute mothers for not just one, but twelve children. They must change these children’s distorted image of a mother and the world into an image where trust and hope prevail. “It feels like an impossible task, but at the AKK Nylstroom it is tackled daily by 21 house mothers”.

Mothers in the communities who are softened at the edges, with a spine of steel; you can also help to raise the 170 children of the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home. There are various programs at the home through which the children can grow and develop into successful young people. These include the host parent programme, mentoring programme, volunteer programmes, as well as homework and financial aid.

“Let’s think of those who try to be mothers to broken children, brought together by circumstance in one house,” concludes de Villiers.

SMS your NAME and “Mother” to 39236 (R15 terms and conditions apply) to support our mothers who make a big difference in our children’s lives.