INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

shelter, a top expectation of the center from the children was a dedication towards their
own learning. This was especially pronounced in the schedules and daily rhythms at the
center. Children would be engaged in some sort of academic activity six days a week,
sometimes as much as fifteen hours each day. The center also dedicated as many of its
resources as possible, including employee hours, towards giving each child a chance to
receive an education at the most suitable school for him or her, and to receive any extra
tutoring or learning interventions that might be necessary. I witnessed all of this through
Nancy’s constant consultation with outside psychological counselors, Warrick’s
disciplinary approach to supervised study time, Marc’s two hour circuit to drop each
child off and pick them back up at school, and the simple fact that most of the time I
would ask a child what everyone was doing, I would be answered with the word,
“studying.” The center’s steadfast commitment to education was its method of ensuring
that its support would not simply be a short-term solution, but a long-term vehicle of
empowerment.
The amount of time that studying occupied out of a child’s schedule meant that the
remaining hours needed to be carefully budgeted among rest, play, eating, hygiene, and
other various needs. As a result, children’s schedules were always highly structured. The
routines seemed to serve a purpose of also keeping the children motivated and too
engaged in different activities to have the time or energy for more potentially destructive
behaviors. From a psychological standpoint, this also provided them with a stability that
may have eluded them prior to moving into the center. Listed among Maslow’s basic
physiological needs is homeostasis, the idea that humans need a certain level of
predictability in order to function healthily. Providing this for a child who may have not
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