Youthspace can make a real difference in the lives of individuals in need
An interview with Emily Molefe of Corporate Communications, Siemens South Africa, who oversees the Youthspace program
Emily, Siemens South Africa’s Youthspace project runs five homes. How did it all get started?
Youthspace began in response to the many risks facing South Africa’s youth: poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, overcrowded homes, unemployment, domestic violence and peer pressure, to name a few.
We launched the project in 1994 as a social investment initiative. The first home was a rented apartment in Johannesburg. The local welfare office pitched in to help find street children to live there. By the late 1990’s, the program had grown so much that we purchased our very first house in Mayfair, Johannesburg. At the moment, it is home to eight boys between the ages of four and 18, with two full-time housemothers looking after them.
Given the success of the first Youthspace house, we gradually expanded the project to other major cities across the country. Thanks to the project, these children now have a real shot at positive, long-term change in their lives.
Where does Youthspace get its financing? Who runs the project?
Caring Hands Youthspace gets all its financing from Siemens South Africa. The program owes its success mainly to Siemens’ partnership with provincial Departments of Social Development as well as local non-profit welfare organisations that can contribute their expertise and handle the day-to-day running of the homes.
How do you decide which children will live in the homes?
Social workers choose the kids according to background and current social and economic circumstances, with help from the Department of Social Development.
How many children live in the homes?
We have eight in Johannesburg Mayfair, 60 in Soweto Emdeni, ten in Cape Town Tereo, 16 in Port Elizabeth Maranatha and ten in Kwa Zulu Natal Malvern.
The Youthspace kids live together with their housemothers in a stable and caring family environment.
Do you have an age limit?
The children in the Mayfair, Soweto, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth homes range in age from two to 18. In Kwa-Zulu Natal, they are between the ages of 18 and 21.
Can you give us an idea of the daily routine in a Youthspace home?
The children go to school and do their homework every day. They have household chores to do, which can range from washing dishes and doing laundry to meal preparation. Once a week, they meet with an appointed social worker. They also enjoy extra-curricular activities like soccer and netball.
What kind of problems do the housemothers have to deal with?
The program’s welfare partners select the housemothers. By law, they are supposed to look after no more than five children full-time. So a house with ten children needs to have two housemothers. By keeping the homes small, we make sure that the children have a stable and caring family environment. The housemothers face all the usual challenges that arise when their young charges navigate life as teenagers and young adults.
What future plans to you have for Youthspace?
We want to see these children become fully functioning members of society with the education and emotional maturity they need to shape their own futures and that of their communities. We rely on valuable input from our welfare partners to reach this goal.
Do Siemens employees get regularly involved in Youthspace?
Absolutely. Our employee volunteer programme is growing all the time, with a focus on the Youthspace project. The program encourages employees to give of their own time and help make Youthspace a success. By getting involved, employee volunteers have a chance to actively embrace the Youthspace concept instead of just experiencing it at arms length. The activities performed by our employees include social outings for the children, maintenance of the houses, monetary contributions to the running costs and even extra academic lessons where required.
Household chores like meal preparation are part of the daily routine as well as doing ones homework and playing.
What guidance or advice do you give the children after they leave the homes and are on their own?
The philosophy behind the Youthspace program is that Siemens doesn’t just provide financial support and facilities. Instead, we work together with our welfare partners to identify and prioritise key areas of need in order to find the best way to meet the children’s specific challenges. Siemens is always ready to provide assistance over and above the immediate parameters of the program and we see our relationship with the children leaving the house as an on-going one. One of our main future goals is to help many Youthspace children find jobs at Siemens through our various training and development programs.
Do you think other Siemens companies could look to Youthspace as a model for their own corporate citizenship activities?
Yes. I feel that Youthspace is a sustainable model that can make a real difference in the lives of individuals and communities in need, especially in countries or regions whose socio-economic challenges are similar to those of South Africa, where we have proven the programme’s success.
The interview was conducted by Karin Hofmann