The Starfish Parable

Rosina Masia bought this shack for this child to live with
his sick mother. (Photo: Starfish Greathearts Foundation)

An old man had a habit of early morning walks along the beach. One day as he looked down the shore he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young woman and she wasn’t dancing, but instead was reaching down to the sand, picking up starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.

“Young lady, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” he asked. She replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out, and if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.” He replied, “But there are millions of them. What difference can it possibly make?” The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it in the sea, past the breaking waves saying…

“It made a big difference to that one!”

Overview

In 2009, Steamboat made a two-year commitment to its third Special Grantee, Starfish Greathearts Foundation, an international charity responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Starfish aims to empower communities to deliver professional and sustainable services to children made vulnerable or orphaned (OVC) by  HIV/AIDS. Starfish partners with non-governmental and community based organizations at the grassroots level to deliver basic care needs to the most vulnerable children.

Steamboat’s investment in Ruta Sechaba Pele or “Teach the Nation First” mobilizes the efforts of a committed group of people in Maboloka, a small community in the North West Province of South Africa. Ruta Sechaba Pele provides care and support for 325 orphaned and vulnerable children, with eleven care workers.

Ruta Sechaba Pele’s work is guided by the leadership of Special Grantee, Rosina Masia, who has headed up the project since 2007, after acting as Finance Manager of the organization beginning in 2002. It has been Rosina’s dedication and hard work that has ensured that more children receive quality care at Ruta Sechaba Pele and that many of the older children have now registered for foster grants, as well as obtained crucial legal documents to apply for school fee exemptions and scholarships for higher education.

Timeline

• 2000: Ruta Sechaba Pele (RSP) started with twelve volunteers and twelve orphaned children who came to the center every day, but did not attend school. Volunteers donated their own money to buy food for these children.
• 2002: RSP registered with the Health Department. Volunteers went to local schools to register the children so they could get an exemption from school fees to attend school.
• 2003: Rosina Masia was appointed as Finance Manager of the project. The Home Based Care program was launched to care for AIDS patients who were bedridden. In caring for these patients, the volunteers saw that the patients’ children needed care during their parents’ illnesses and after their deaths; 32 volunteers supported 12 of these children.
• 2004: RSP received their official registration certificate. RSP launched the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program and took in more children every day; 22 volunteers supported 20 OVC.
• 2005: Care workers were hired and received training and workshops - such as project management, financial management, and administration - from an organization called Seboka; 16 Care Workers supported 35 OVC.
• 2007: Starfish met Rosina who had just been appointed as the Manager of RSP. Starfish provided funding for the project that year; 13 Care Workers supported 141 OVC.
• 2008: Starfish funded the project for a second year and the project also received office equipment, school uniforms, and blankets through the support of Starfish. 14 Care Workers supported 322 OVC.
• 2009: Steamboat made a multi-year commitment to fund RSP; 14 Care Workers supported 325 OVC.
  

The world is confronting a crisis never before seen globally. Southern Africa has become the epicenter of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and South Africa is witnessing the world’s largest AIDS epidemic: the highest number of people living with HIV (29%) and up to 1,000 adults currently dying as a result of AIDS every day. According to the Actuarial Society of South Africa, it is expected that between five and seven million people will die from AIDS in South Africa and that more than 2 million children will be orphaned and made vulnerable by 2010. Currently, approximately 450 children are orphaned every day, and Starfish estimates that more than 90% of these children are not HIV-positive.

These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary means to ensure that parentless and vulnerable children are given the opportunity to become healthy and productive citizens of the country. As a result, Starfish has made a strategic decision to scale up its operations in a manner that ensures holistic support to as many children as possible.

The emerging community-led response is internationally acknowledged as the most effective means to meeting the considerable needs of orphaned and vulnerable children. However,  organizations operating from within communities require tangible assistance to provide quality support services. Therefore, Starfish Greathearts Foundation funds, supports, and capacitates community-led organizations to provide direct services to children within their care and reach.

Story from a child who is currently cared for at Ruta Sechaba:

Rosina Masia

Special Grantee, Rosina Masia
(Photo: Starfish Greathearts Foundation)

My name is Rosina Masia. I'm 37 years old and a single parent of a little girl who is 15 years old, named Karabo. I'm staying in a two roomed shack house with my girl who is in grade 10. Maboloka is a rural area 35km away from Brits town. I completed high school in 1995. Unfortunately I did not have money to complete my studies. I worked in a restaurant for a period of a year. Afterwards I attended an administration course at Soshanguve College for a period of three weeks, and in 2007 I attended a project management course for a period of a year.

In 2002, I was recruited to Ruta Sechaba Pele. By that time the organization was not going anywhere. There was no office, no office equipments such as computers, desk, or chairs. The people who were in the organization then were only holding meetings every Wednesday not knowing what to do. I met with three of my colleagues and we then started to organize and make the organization a success.

I got so interested because I loved working with children since I was young. Some of the businessmen donated some food so we can be able to cook for the children. We donated some money from our own pockets so we can be able to register the organisation.

In 2003, I was appointed as finance manager which I did for five years before being appointed to run the project in 2007. I thought this is going to be difficult for me but fortunately enough, I am coping.

We face many challenges every day. These are the main ones:

• Not being able to support all of the children who are orphaned
• Shortage of food parcels
• Needing more money to motivate our volunteers
• Not being able to help all our children to further their studies after completing high school. As a result some of them join the project as volunteers, dealing with youth programs.
• Not having our own transportation for transporting children to and from school

What motivates me most is to put a smile on the children's faces and make changes in their lives. I am doing it for humanity.

Caretakers with a few children
(Photo: Starfish Greathearts Foundation)

The purpose of Ruta Sechaba Pele is to provide quality and sustainable health services and social support to the most vulnerable groups within the community of Maboloka in South Africa. By providing these services, Ruta Sechaba Pele has helped prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS in this rural village, where most people are unemployed. The program provides support and treatment to those infected with HIV/AIDS, as well as education and awareness to family and community members. These services are much needed, as there is only one clinic, two community halls, and ten day care centers for all the town’s 37,000 inhabitants.

Steamboat Foundation's Special Grant gives Ruta Sechaba Pele the means to provide comprehensive support to 325 orphaned and vulnerable children. The funding from Steamboat increases the frequency these children receive hot meals from once a week to daily. The grant is also used for encouraging households led by children and grandmothers to plant their own food gardens, which provides a sustainable source of nutrition to the neighborhood.

For many of these children, education represents the only long-term and sustainable way to build independent lives. Older children, who had to abandon education to care for younger siblings, can return to school knowing that their siblings are being cared for at Ruta Sechaba Pele. The program also assists children in obtaining identity documents and birth certificates, which they require when applying for foster grants.

The program’s leader, Rosina Masia, has ensured that the project meets all the reporting requirements of Starfish Greathearts Foundation, which will qualify it for more annual grants. Rosina and her team have recently acquired their own piece of land and intend to house the project in their own building in the near future. They have fifteen passionate volunteers, and have recently formed a Children Support Group that takes children on educational trips. Care workers receive training through the help of Starfish and an organization called Seboka, which ensures a more efficiently managed project and higher quality care to the children.

Ruta Sechaba Pele is an organization that is vital to the future well-being of this community. It both provides employment opportunities and is an inspiration to the community. The following story is from a boy who graduated from the care of Ruta Sechaba Pele in 2008. It is a testament to the impact that Rosina and her care workers are having with the children and the community: