Article February 22, 2010 Issue

BRINGING THE CHILDREN HOME IN SOUTH AFRICA

A foster mom shares her experiences caring for four young girls.

BY CORAL VAN DER BURGT

I never intended becoming a foster mum. If you had told me a month before I met our first foster daughter, Shirley, I would not have believed you.

When she was nine Shirley was brought to our Sunday School by a cousin of hers. She had never been to a Christian Science Sunday School before, and I was her teacher. When she came again the following Sunday, she told me her mum had passed on during the week.

My heart went out to this little girl, and instinctively I knew that I had to be there for her. In the weeks and months following her mum's death, Shirley stayed with several families and then went to live with her dad. This situation was not ideal as Shirley, who proved to be an above-average scholar, was traveling three hours by kombi taxi and walking ten kilometers (about six miles) each day just to attend school.

About the author

Coral van der Burgt and her husband, Adrian, live in Wilro Park on the West Rand, half an hour's drive from central Johannesburg. They raised two children of their own and have become foster parents to four children, one of whom they later learned was HIV positive and eventually passed on. We invited Coral to share her story of unconditional love, of victory over grief, and especially the lessons she has learned in a country that has nearly two million AIDS orphans.

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