Celebrating Mother's Day at Sizanani's Youth Club in Alexandra Township

by Sharon Mdaka (Vochelli)

In our new Youth Club in Alexandra Township, our main activity on May 13th was discussing Mother's Day and what it means to have a relationship with someone who cares for you like a mother does.  Our campers expressed their thoughts and feelings about what makes a good mother, and described a good mother as a woman who shows interest in, supports, and cares for children.  

According to our campers, a mother doesn't have to be someone who gave birth to you...it can be any woman who shows care, love, and guides a child's life.  Some campers who don't live with their biological mothers (some have died, some have moved away for work) mentioned that they look to their teachers as the mother figures in their lives.  

One camper, Sesethu, said that losing her mother was the most difficult thing she's ever faced.  She thought she would never find someone who would love her, but now she is grateful to have her aunt who loves her and takes care of her as though she is her own child.  

Our Youth Club campers then made Mother's Day frames to give the special mother figures in their lives.  They used the frames they created to express how they feel about these special women, and how they want their mothers to feel when they receive them:  special, important, recognized, and loved.