Helping Reunite A Learner With His Father

Perhaps it’s the experience she has gained from working at organisations like Nkosi’s Haven that gives UCS’s social worker Jane Mwase the innate ability to spot a troubled child and provide the right kind of care.

If it weren’t for this nurturing spirit, a Matric learner at the school would probably not have been reunited with his father. “He was having problems coping in his classes when I discovered, in a session with him, that he had never met his father. This was upsetting him and distracting him,” says Jane.

Sadly, the learner’s mother was refusing to tell him where his father could be found. Jane decided the best solution would be to hold some sessions which included the boy’s family. Through sheer determination and lots of care, progress was made and Jane helped father and son reunite. “It was a heart-warming moment when we discovered the father had been looking for his boy and desperately wanted to meet him. To this day the learner still contacts me every time he goes to visit his father to tell me that he’s been to see him,” she remarks.

It’s not only the academic achievements that make UCS a thriving inner-city school, it’s also the successes where learners have overcome social and emotional challenges that give it a compassionate reputation.