Seeking shelter in a safe and friendly haven.After spending two weeks in hospital guarding by the bed of her 18 month old baby girl, whose body was broken during a vicious attack by her own father, Maria* and her children, out of fear of further violence, did not return home. They instead returned to what has been their home on a previous occasion when the man they call 'my husband' and 'my father' became a monster. As they sit huddled together in the lounge of the Friendly Haven Shelter for Battered Women and Children, Maria, her 11-year-old son, 12-year-old niece and now physically healed baby, appear as if they are scared to let each other out of sight. But they have no need to be scared, the high walls and solid gates that surround the shelter would be a major challenge to even the most experienced intruder An attacker that gains, or tries to gain, unauthorized access to a system. See attacker, intrusion and IDS. . Do they feel safe here? "My children and I always feel safe when we are here. There is no fighting here," Maria says as her tears start rolling. The motherly moth·er·ly adj. 1. Of, like, or appropriate to a mother: motherly love. 2. Showing the affection of a mother. adv. In a manner befitting a mother. matron MATRON. A married woman, generally an elderly married woman. 2. By the laws of England, when a widow feigns herself with child, in order to exclude the next heir, and a suppositious birth is expected, then, upon the writ de ventre inspiciendo, a jury of women makes comforting sounds as she gently rocks in her rocking chair. Maria was a successful business-woman, with her own home, when she was informed by her pastor that he had found her a husband. Being a diligent and faithful member of her church she married the stranger without asking too many questions. Shortly after the wedding the beatings began. Being in the same room with him was enough reason for him to beat her and the children. It has been two years of hell for her and the children. Today, he has claimed ownership of her home, which they live in, and he forced her to give up her flourishing shebeen she·been n. An unlicensed drinking establishment, especially in Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa. [Irish Gaelic séibín, measure of grain, grain tax, bad ale, diminutive of séibe and clothes selling business. Because she, her son and niece are from a different ethnic group to him, he calls them derogatory de·rog·a·to·ry adj. 1. Disparaging; belittling: a derogatory comment. 2. Tending to detract or diminish. names. The last time the kids saw him he threw dirt in their bowl of porridge because they 'do not deserve' to eat his food. This is just one of the hundreds of tragic, frustrating frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: , scary and heartbreaking heart·break·ing adj. 1. Causing overwhelming grief or distress. 2. Producing a strong emotional reaction: heartbreaking loveliness. stories the volunteers at the shelter have heard since its doors opened in Katutura in the 1980s, when a group of interdenominational in·ter·de·nom·i·na·tion·al adj. Of or involving different religious denominations. interdenominational Adjective among or involving more than one denomination of the Christian Church Adj. women led by Reverend Ngeno Nakamhela started the project. It now is the Ecumenical Social Diaconate di·ac·o·nate n. 1. The rank, office, or tenure of a deacon. 2. Deacons considered as a group. [Late Latin di Action's (ESDA ESDA exploratory spatial data analysis ESDA Electrostatic Discharge Association ESDA Emergency Services & Disaster Agency (Civil Defense) ESDA Electrostatic Detection Apparatus ) main project. Over the past years they have renovated and expanded the shelter to provide a secure and safe place that can accommodate 14 people. Lizette Vries, one of the shelter's volunteers, told Sister Namibia that Friendly Haven is not only a safe space for abused women and children, but also for court witnesses who need special protection, and for lost and runaway children. However, the majority of their clients are women and children who have been physically, emotionally, verbally, sexually and/or economically abused, referred to them by the Women and Child Protection Unit and Lifeline/Childline. It is the only shelter of its kind operating in Windhoek. Services provided by the shelter include counselling and around the clock care by the matron. When asked what impact the counselling has on clients, Lizette, who is a counsellor herself, noted that most of the women have been victims of abuse for years and by the time they come to the shelter they have no self-esteem and at times believe that they deserve the abuse. "It is difficult to deconstruct de·con·struct tr.v. de·con·struct·ed, de·con·struct·ing, de·con·structs 1. To break down into components; dismantle. 2. that in a short space of time. But we do try our best to at least make them see that they do not deserve it and that there is a way out," she said. Most of the women who leave the shelter return to their abusive partners. Lizette explained that most are economically dependent on their partners and have children to take care of and thus see no other option but to return. "It takes a lot of courage for a woman to come here, and although they go back to the abusive home at least here they get a few days of peace, rest and care," she said. She told the story of a woman who was counselled by Lifeline for six years, through secret phone calls made by the counselling service because her husband monitored phone calls from the home, until she had the strength and courage to leave him. After negotiations her husband agreed to hand over her personal belongings personal belongings npl → efectos mpl personales and on the day of the handover n. 1. The act of relinquishing property or authority etc. to another; as, the handover of occupied territory to the original posssessors; the handover of power from the military back to the civilian authorities s>. there was a huge police presence. Despite days of counselling and safety as well as police protection she still had so much fear of this man that she fainted when she saw him. The shelter employs one staff member, the matron, while the rest of the workers are volunteers. There is a constant need for extra hands. A strategic workshop was held recently to look at ways of becoming financially sustainable, which is currently a challenge. The shelter does not receive any government grants and relies on individuals and local businesses for donations of food and other necessities. After the shelter was renovated and expanded two corporate companies donated furniture, curtains and bedding. The shelter is also working on improving its client support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services because, as Lizette explained, by the time women and children come to the shelter they are at the end of a vicious cycle Noun 1. vicious cycle - one trouble leads to another that aggravates the first vicious circle positive feedback, regeneration - feedback in phase with (augmenting) the input where a lot of damage has been done and thus need to receive a more holistic service. Plans are underway to make the shelter a more well-known place of safety while retaining strict measures of confidentiality. This, Lizette noted, is very important because if people know the location of the shelter it will be easier for an abuser to track down his target(s). "When people come here they are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. refuge. The last thing we need is an aggressive husband knocking on our doors," she explained. A man was recently sentenced to decades in jail after he was found guilty of murdering the relatives of his girlfriend, whom he was desperately searching for. The reason he could not find her the night he committed the murders was because she was at the shelter. Besides working closely with Lifeline/Childline and the Women and Child Protection Unit, the shelter also works with the Legal Assistance Centre, which provides their clients with free legal advice. The shelter also hopes to get a final year social work student from University of Namibia The University of Namibia is a university located in Windhoek, Namibia. Established by an act of Parliament on August 31, 1992, the university includes Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Economics & Management Science Education, Humanities and Social Science, Law, from next year, while Voluntary Service Overseas will assign a fulltime volunteer to concentrate on long-term fundraising, counselling and capacity building. When Sister returned to the shelter a week after meeting Maria and her children, they were gone. Sadly, they had returned to the violent husband and father they had fled from. In cases of abuse the following centres can be contacted for assistance: Women and Child Protection Unit Katutura State Hospital Telephone: (061) 221222 Lifeline/Childline Telephone and Face-to-Face Counselling Service Telephone: Windhoek (061) 232221; Ondangwa (065) 246252; Rundu (066) 255354 Women's Solidarity CCN CCN Cloud Condensation Nuclei CCN Church Communication Network CCN Conseil Canadien des Normes (Standards Council of Canada) CCN Critical Care Nurse CCN Certified Clinical Nutritionist CCN Community Care Network CCN Cyclin Headquarters Abraham Mashego Street Telephone: (061) 262275 Women Support Women Bet-el Church, Katutura (061) 269292 The Friendly Haven Shelter welcomes donations of any kind. The bank details are: Account name: Social Diaconate Action Young Women, Account number: 1609062655, Commercial Bank, Bulow Street, Windhoek, Contact Sister Namibia if you wish to make material donations. * not her real name |
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