INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

All of these needs, from food to shelter, education, structure, and safety are the
basics of what the center considers “care.” The center is committed to ensuring that each
of the children receive the necessary provisions for each of these items. “When I take in
children,” explains Pastor Mike, “that is what I agree to provide for them for up to two
decades. I tell them that these will be things they no longer need to worry about as long
as they are at the center.” It is this commitment he makes, to the children, and often to
their family members, that he envisions as the primary need he must fulfill. As these
needs were supremely prioritized, there was no evidence that any child lacked any of
these basic needs.
Another non-negotiable for 5Cees was the religious motivation behind its work.
This is a different non-negotiable than the others listed thus far. It is not a resource that
the center secures for its children, instead it is the driving force behind their work, and a
beneficial one in a number of ways, as I will now explore.
A religious motivation: exposure but not coercion
In all of my conversations with Pastor Mike, it became clear that it was impossible
to separate his work with the center from his prior vocation as a minister. After all, the
5Cees grew out of a soup kitchen that was initially a community outreach of Christ
Church Hillbrow, a church attended by many of the children, and one that lends a portion
of its name to the center. The connection was far more than a nominal or historical one.
Pastor Mike and many of the center’s staff spoke in a way that revealed that their
commitment to the center was one intertwined with the practice of their religious
convictions. Hanging in staff offices and painted on the sides of the building were short
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