Birth Certificates

Phayo, Bayanda and Machawe - aged eleven, seven and five, respectively, are siblings that come from the Malindza community in eSwatini. They live with their parents and grandmother. Both of their parents are unemployed, but their father does piece jobs whenever they are available. They live with their grandmother who owns the home because they cannot stand on their own as a family.

When we met them, sadly, none of the children were attending school. The Program Coordinator informed the Children’s Cup social welfare department that all three children spent their days playing at home while their peers were in school. We learned that this was due to the fact that they did not have birth certificates and the school was not accepting their enrollment request. Upon further investigations with the family, our team discovered that their mother did not have her own birth certificate as it had been burned in a fire years ago.

Our team spoke with the mother about the importance of having her children in school and asked if she had attempted to replace her documents. She stated that to do that she needed her maternal aunts and needed help reconnecting with them. (In eSwatini, maternal relavites play a key role in obtaining a birth certificate for a child.)

Children’s Cup helped her reconnect with the necessary relatives and paid for the replacement of her documents with the understanding that she would then push for her children. When the mother secured her documents, she wasted no time in applying for all her children. The children’s father prioritized paying for the birth certificates with each piece job he got and now all three children are happily attending school.

The children are doing quite well in school and Phayo, who is in the 3rd grade, has made it clear that when she grows up, she would like to be a chef. There is a change in the morale and atmosphere in their household as the children are very excited about attending school.

The whole family is very grateful for what God has done in their lives!

~Shorayi, Children's Cup Associate Program Director & Social Welfare Specialist