As mothers across the country bask in the glow of Mother’s Day, Afisha Bal is desperately pleading for help for her three young children.
All under the age of ten, the children have not been able to go to school as Bal struggles with the agonising dilemma of putting food on the table or sending them to school.
While their friends go to school, Bal tries to teach her children at home, but the youngest two still cannot read.
With no free early childhood centres available and preschool fees beyond her reach, Bal said their dreams of having an education seem to be a distant dream.
Her two eldest children are enrolled at the California Government Primary School but Bal said because she cannot afford transportation, they have attended school just seven times for the term.
The family’s one-room plywood house is nestled at the base of a steep hill, a stark reminder of the uphill battle they face each day.
Breaking down in tears, Bal revealed the depths of her despair saying she had reached her limit.
“I love my children but sometimes I feel I could just pack up and take them to a home. I can’t feed my children. Sometimes there is nothing to cook. If not for my ageing father, my brother, or if not for my friend, we would have nothing,” she cried.
She added: “It’s hard, I can’t take it, it damaging me mentally. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, months now I’m feeling like this. Sometimes I don’t eat. My daughter says I have to be strong but I want some help.”
With no running water or electricity, the family uses solar-powered portable lights which they charge outside. A neighbour gives them water but they have to fill it to cook and wash.
Bal uses a basin to wash her dishes and they have an outdoor toilet and bathroom.
“The children sometimes have to go outside to use the toilet and when they get wet, they get sick. That’s why I leave a potty inside the house,” she explained.
Bal said she went to the Social Welfare department to ask for assistance but was told she needed proof of address. With no phone bill, light bill or internet bill, she could not provide any documentation.
“I cannot get child support either because I have to know the addresses of their father but I don’t know where he is,” she added.
Bal said some may judge her by asking why she had three children.
“It happens. A man will treat you well in the early days. I learnt that now. I have been damaged and now I have decided not to go down that road again. I will just live for my children,” she sobbed, wiping away tears.
She said her home is also infested with ants.
“Right now because of the water that comes down the hill, the house sinks and is resting on the dirt. The ants come all over the house. I have to use pitch oil (kerosene) and spray it all over to keep out the ants,” she added.
Guardian Media contacted Minister of Social Development Donna Cox who said she immediately dispatched a team to investigate. Anyone wanting to assist the family can call 284-0672.
