Throughout the year, some incredible happenings have taken place through our Life Skills Programme – awesome events, teachings and community outreaches. Once again, this month we want to make special mention of one of the ladies who works behind the scenes of this programme. Judy Carter, our Home Affairs Liason works hard every month to ensure that every child and adult has an identity: in the form of a birth certificate and ID book.
In the month of November, 5 ID books and 2 birth certificates were obtained – this is an amazing feat when you come to terms with the chaos that is Home Affairs and the ‘cloudy’ backgrounds of some of the people that Judy helps every day.
More and more adults come forward in need of birth certificates (as without one, you cannot obtain an ID) and this task of getting them one continues to get harder as Home Affairs changes their processes. Late registration for birth certificates of people over the age of 16 also ends for good at the end of next year, making many people come forward needing help, some even elderly.
There was one occasion where a young mother tried to get a birth certificate for her child only to be told that the was listed as “male” so could not have given birth. She had a letter from the hospital for the birth of the baby with her ID number on it. The ID number specifies gender. i.e. ID number starts with your birth date, year, month, day if the next number is a 5 it says you are a man. I took her to Amaoti Clinic and saw the Matron who saw us immediately, did a complete examination and issued us with the necessary certificate confirming she is a woman. Home Affairs have now accepted all the documents.
Judy also took two children to Joanne Kalil Opticians as they were having difficulty reading in class. They both needed glasses which have been provided. These kids will now be more equipped in their learning! A big “Thank you” to Joanne for her support in providing the consultations and glasses for free.
We’d like honour Judy for all the amazing work she does with the people in Amaoti and thank her once again for all of her efforts in impacting a community!
Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:
DOMINO EFFECTS 