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Child Headed Household

Rays of Hope Cultivates Water wise Children

It was most apt that the theme of the sponsored fun day for Rays of Hope’s Child-Headed Households (CHH) project, “Water Conservation”, came as Johannesburg’s longest drought in living memory continued unabated.Financial services company Deloitte Consulting took a team of enthusiastic employees to the Resource Centre at Ikhaya Lomusa, where they were met by more than 30 children, all eager to learn, play, be entertained and, of course, to enjoy some food. Trevor Page, a Deloitte partner, explained his company’s thinking about the day spent with CHH. “Deloitte is a worldwide company, and every year a day is set aside for employees to leave the office and work with less privileged and marginalised people. This happens in every country in which Deloitte has a presence. In South Africa, we take this very seriously. The particular division of Deloitte South Africa that is here today has chosen Rays of Hope’s Child-Headed Households project as their partners.” Much planning went into ensuring the day would be a success. The events included learning all about water, playing games, and having fun. Centered around the theme of water conservation, the children were divided into groups, and these were rotated around the core activities of understanding how wasting water can be avoided, how vegetables can be grown, and other educational activities While the younger children played games in the open, a giant “superhero” taught the older ones about the importance of saving water. The kids loved his costume and shrieked with laughter at his booming voice and vigorous arm movements. This energetic performance served to make the urgency of the conservation message sink into their minds.The older children also were engaged in two other water-related activities: learning about the precipitation cycle, and getting down and dirty doing some gardening. The sun blazed down from a cloudless sky and soon the gardeners, with Trevor Page among them, had worked up a healthy sweat. Behind the house a patch of garden had been prepared in advance – the ground had been dug up and the soil had been watered and fertilised. Planting time had arrived. Led by the Deloitte staff, the kids got to work digging, planting and watering away until finally all that one saw were several neat rows of spinach plants poking their fresh heads above the ground. “This little project is designed to last long after today,” said Trevor. “Keeping a vegetable garden going needs patient care, and that’s something everyone needs to learn. At the same time, the kids will remember how important water is to keeping plants healthy.” Under an awning and sheltered from the sun, other children gathered around as Deloitte staff taught them how the precipitation cycle works, starting with the evaporation of water from inland water and from the oceans, to the formation of clouds, and ending with falling rain.The subject of drought inevitably came up in these discussions and the children were urged to do everything they could to conserve one of our most precious resources. Trish Lockwood, Rays of Hope’s operations manager, confirmed that the day had been a success. “Our children have so little to get excited about, so the days they spend with corporate sponsors are very special to them. Also, because their thirst for knowledge is huge, lessons like water conservation really strike a chord. We are so grateful to Deloitte South Africa for making this day possible.”

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