Sandisiwe started here at Sisonke School in January 2009. The interview that we did with her and her mother in December was one of the most emotional interviews I have ever had to do.

Her mother came with a letter from social services to explain that Sandisiwe was a child with special emotional needs who had suffered a great deal of trauma. Sandisiwe was very quiet and reserved and was unable at first to make eye contact with me. Her mother explained that during her school life she had been bullied terribly by both children and teachers.

Sandisiwe is a 12 year old girl who is very advanced in her physical development. However her emotional development is similar to that of a 9 year old. She suffers with a lot of physical ailments such as nose bleeds, headaches and earaches probably brought on by the trauma she has suffered.

My heart went out to her as she sat there curled up into herself barely engaging in the world around her. Her mother, Thobeka said she has chosen to bring her here to Sisonke School as she had heard that we are nice to children and take very good care of them. Thobeka said that Sandisiwe was her greatest concern and Sandi she wanted a place for her to be protected and loved. Thobeka explained to us that she has HIV and is very worried about dying and leaving Sandisiwe to face the world on her own. "I am scared for my baby" she said "before I leave I want to see her happy". I took hold of Sandisiwe's hand and gently told that we would take good care of her here and that she doesn't ever need to be afraid of school again. For the first time during the interview Sandisiwe looked up and made eye contact and in that moment every struggle and difficulty we had been through to keep this school going was worthwhile. As we finished the interview her mother said "thanks to God for this school, today you have given me hope".

Now approaching the end of our first term Sandisiwe is a different child. She is confident, happy and has the spark back in her eyes. She was nominated as the class leader and she shows a great deal of responsibility and care for her class mates. Just recently the children were asked to tell the stories of their lives and then write about it in the form of a newspaper article. To everyone's surprise, Sandisiwe was the first to volunteer to tell her story. During the next hour she recounted her story to the whole class who listened intently as she described the pain and ill treatment she had suffered. Her teacher, Sindile Nogwina, said that the class were moved in a way he had never seen before. They gave condolences and words of encouragement to Sandisiwe without being prompted. By the end of the lesson the children had decided that they wanted to do something special for Sandisiwe. They decided to put some money together to buy her a present. Then they wanted to go for a day nice out and give her this present. They said it was for Sandisiwe to heal the hurt of the past and look forward to a bright future.

Sandisiwe is part of a family here and as time goes hope on, we are confident that love will continue to heal and security will give her the confidence to develop into a self-assured happy young lady.

We are looking for sponsorship for Sandisiwe as her mother is only able to contribute a small amount each month.