Support from community members and the strength of children has motivated Childline staff to keep going. According to Childline Gauteng director, Lynne Cawood, the non-profit organisation (NPO) honours the counselling staff who have been tirelessly serving on the lines during the lockdown.
“We are heartened by the many children who phone to: thank the counsellors; say a prayer or sing a song; asking the counsellors to please take every precaution to prevent Covid-19; and wish the Childline mothers a Happy Mother’s Day,” Cawood said.
The director shared a list of success stories by the NPO:
- We supported the Inter-faith Day of Prayer called by President Cyril Ramaphosa and many callers phoned to pray for the children and families in South Africa, uplifting our counsellors.
- An angry young boy called to swear at the counsellor and when she asked if she could pray for him, he apologized and spoke to her about his problems.
- Food parcels have been distributed to hungry clients.
- The sister of a young boy who was bullying him was persuaded to stop this behaviour.
- Three cases of gender-based violence resulted in the abusers being arrested. Cases of gender-based violence where women were not willing to lay charges were dealt with by the counsellors who threatened that we would lay charges if their behaviour persisted, resulted in apologies to their partners.
- Children wanting to go to school were referred to online educational channels.
- A young boy abusing substances was successfully referred to a church rehabilitation.
Cawood said, “We continue to be inspired by the resilience of our children, the high levels of care from community members and the support we receive from our extended Childline partners in finding solutions for every caller.”
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