INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

This flow of thought most accurately reflects the situation that the center is in. It faces
numerous complexities and ambiguities, but cannot remain merely philosophical about
how to respond. The needs it faces are urgent and require a commitment to action.
5Cees as an Organization
5Cees is an organization in addition to being a community, however it is unique
because a large portion of its employees live on site and there is a less pronounced
distinction between professional and personal realms than what is found in many other
organizations. The staff of 5Cees can be divided into three types of employees. There
were the care mothers, those who provided direct care to the children through
interpersonal bonding, cooking, and immediate caregiving. These care mothers lived on
site. Another group of employees included live-in workers, such as facilities managers,
security guards, bus drivers, and other custodial staff members. Finally, there was the
staff’s top-level administration consisting of a social worker, a manager, a director of
education, and the staff’s founder and overall director. The two latter workers lived on
site, whereas the others did not.
Many of the children came from backgrounds of economic instability and
uncertainty over where basic provisions would come from. Although the center is able to
provide them with much more security than their homes of origin, it should be noted that
the center itself also faces a challenge in ensuring that resources are sufficiently available
and correctly managed. The center faces many of the obstacles common to nonprofit
organizations– maintaining donor relations, successfully enacting fundraising campaigns,
and often having to weigh one need over another. The center’s finances are largely
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