tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53187649073928716912012-01-08T17:30:31.431ZLesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.comBlogger531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-70023257070582788242012-01-08T17:30:00.000Z2012-01-08T17:30:31.438Z

Let me pass this first blog of 2012 over to Lesego, one of our amazing Childline facilitators who has been training and reporting back on our 'Caring for Crèches' now for five years - "Once again, the 2011 Crèche Teacher Training was conducted in different areas within the province and it went very well.  The trainings were conducted in areas which really needed this kind of intervention. 

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-28877496539464493502011-12-08T11:19:00.000Z2011-12-08T11:19:32.306Z

I have very mixed emotions in December - here in the west, at the end of the month, we gather together as families, celebrate holidays, buy each other whatever presents we can afford and have fun with our loved ones. Doesn't matter what faith we are from, it is a time of celebration and getting together.  Then I have a moment to think about what it must be like for those who have little or

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-40475714584769460662011-11-16T18:15:00.000Z2011-11-16T18:15:13.066Z

On Sunday 13th 2011 November Channel Four in the UK broadcast a film featuring Dr. Chai Patel.  The programme is about people who have made a lot of money and go, incognito, to find and help struggling services http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-millionaire/4od - in my last blog I mentioned Chai as he has been such a great supporter of and believer in our work.  It was a terrific

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-19070845396487347802011-11-14T16:33:00.000Z2011-11-14T16:33:11.443Z

Everywhere I go these days I hear of funding drying up, people giving less and services having to close.  It is an endless sad tale of vital services suffering because donors are withdrawing their support and their money. Only this week we heard about another essential rape crisis centre in Cape Town that has lost critical funding from the EU which means they will have to scale down all their

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-15565374620071638052011-10-27T16:25:00.000+01:002011-10-27T16:25:14.873+01:00

I have heard so many times that rapists and perpetrators of violence against women and children in South Africa have no place in society, and that they belong behind bars. At yet another opening of a Thuthuzela [crisis] Care Centre a Minister stresses the need to increase and improve services aimed at protecting girls from rape and empowering young people in general. Thuthuzela Care Centres are 

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-28868006169696725662011-10-19T14:20:00.000+01:002011-10-19T14:20:11.936+01:00

If a mother protects her son who has been accused of sexual violence, does that make the mother a perpetrator of violence as well? If that same mother was raped several times in her life and nobody listened or did anything, and is therefore herself a survivor of multiple abuse, is she so inured to the horror of it all  that she can't see beyond the protection of her son .... after all, she was

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-4576291310995817252011-10-07T15:16:00.000+01:002011-10-07T15:16:04.579+01:00

We are a small charity but we have never been short of ambition, and we appear to be having some impact around the globe.  We are based in the United Kingdom (that’s where we do most of our fund raising) and our work is carried out in South Africa. But where are you, our readers? We have some statistics on visitors to our website, and there’s no doubt you are a diverse audience.  Half of the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-58759166121719245442011-09-26T17:39:00.000+01:002011-09-26T17:39:07.698+01:00

I'm on my travels again and this time to USA and Canada to drum up some support and to have a nice time .... one is working the other not quite so much! I have been travelling through the northern states of the US and the southern part of Quebec watching the glory of a New England autumn/fall unfold in front of us, and it is truly spectacular - I am a real autumn lover but I have never seen

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-73008691590055202982011-09-20T14:22:00.000+01:002011-09-20T14:22:05.189+01:00

In August on my recent visit to South Africa, I took 50 hand knitted individually designed teddies from some truly devoted women in and around the the south east of England. I managed to get them through customs ... although that is another story in itself .... and finally, on my last day, got them to the service south of Johannesburg where the ever impressive Antje runs, with our support, an

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-89315073214913768042011-09-09T13:20:00.000+01:002011-09-09T13:20:36.093+01:00

It's not often that I praise anything to do with the sexual and other abuse of small children, but today is different. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1862412233/my-piece-of-sky-memories-of-child-sexual-abuse I urge you to take a look at this book.  The link takes you to a site where you can [or not] make a donation to help get this book published.  Either way it is worth looking at the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-23795919175110170142011-08-29T10:21:00.000+01:002011-08-29T10:21:37.821+01:00

I know I've said this before, but our work isn't all unremitting gloom and doom so, on a lighter note, since I've been back in the UK and had time to look back on my trip and everything around it there are some real REAL positives that give us great impetuous to keep going when the times are tough.  Where I stay -  Melville House in Johannesburg - is a delight; Heidi is a gem,  the staff kind

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-92044280932186695142011-08-22T17:32:00.000+01:002011-08-22T17:32:33.182+01:00

So now I'm back, what are my reflections from far away? Things are still grim for thousands of people but on my travels I have met some astonishing people who have managed to rise above stuff that would sink many of us; somehow they haven't turned into abusers or criminals and will lead decent, good, ordinary lives.  I have met boys with the most appalling start and first few years in life

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-81178716677694650802011-08-19T16:55:00.001+01:002011-08-19T22:22:23.665+01:00

So, another trip to South Africa comes to an end. I visited our partners at Ekupholeni Mental Health and Trauma Centre – EMHC – run by the completely awesome and inspiring Antje, who seems to be able to expand the work every year despite overwhelming odds against doing anything at all. They’ve been operating for years out of tin huts and converted container lorries in the grounds of the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-69049103913415695702011-08-17T10:39:00.000+01:002011-08-17T10:39:55.532+01:00

Next stop on this visit to South Africa was Imisebeyelanga, where a support centre has been set up next to a police station because police are dealing with so many problems of domestic violence and child abuse. The long term aim is to have centres in each local police station, and have a roving social worker who can take children to places of safety and support carers. It was good to visit

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-3563264353430349582011-08-15T10:41:00.001+01:002011-08-16T07:07:27.366+01:00

I spent a day with our friends at COPESSA, a tiny charity striving in the face of tremendous difficulties in Protea Glen, a suburb of Soweto.  Projects get started here but volunteers drift away. I’m told local people are not interested in self-help projects; groups of young men just litter the streets, doing little. But there is one very happy story to report. Busi, who received one of our

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-86428547323799186422011-08-12T10:48:00.000+01:002011-08-12T10:48:49.459+01:00

As I travel around South Africa the stories of abuse continue. I was told about a woman who had a baby in hospital alone. She was laughed at during delivery for having no husband and when the baby was 3 hours old she was given her papers and told to go home.  She had no money so had to walk, still bleeding, trying to hitchhike to her home 3 days away. A man stopped and gave her a lift but he

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-87128364966130270732011-08-09T11:03:00.000+01:002011-08-09T11:03:58.900+01:00

Continuing my visit to South Africa, I spent some time with Lindy Harris, a new friend for us, who is trying to start a non-government organisation to develop crèches as proper businesses with trained people and structured programmes for children. Apparently, she first heard about the Infant Trust from discussions in Zimbabwe; we don’t operate there but it’s good to know our reputation is

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-62988800716423277922011-08-06T11:15:00.000+01:002011-08-06T11:15:01.819+01:00

There are vast distances to cover in South Africa but journeys are fascinating. After hours travelling past brush, scrub and a few shanty towns we reached the provincial capital of Limpopo, Polokwane. First stop was Childline for very difficult discussions about the crèche that should be fully registered by now but isn’t. There are simple things that should have been done in the past three years

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-1990381423281205112011-08-04T13:21:00.000+01:002011-08-04T13:21:37.962+01:00

I'm back in South Africa. The weather is cold, the land is vast but inspiring work is taking place. First off, a tough decision had to be made concerning our flagship programme, Caring for Crèches [C4C]. We have the funds to start a new crèche in west Limpopo but following a meeting with senior Childline officials it became clear this would be unwise. The existing crèche we fund is still not

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-4817000739018078732011-08-01T15:08:00.000+01:002011-08-01T15:08:13.516+01:00

As I pack my bags today for my next trip to meet our friends and colleagues in South Africa I wonder, apart from the extraordinary snow that has been falling across most of the country, what I will find.  Trust me, I thought this morning, leaving the blistering heatwave that has hit the south east of the UK to go to a country where the snow rarely falls except when I am visiting .... but there

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-12128932707822728532011-07-27T12:19:00.000+01:002011-07-27T12:19:24.720+01:00

I had an update today from one of our long-standing partners who do amazing work training community workers and volunteers, who then go on to help hundreds [probably thousands by now..] of vulnerable children and families. It is a stunningly successful programme run by the completely indefatigable and driven Germa and Rina at Imisebeyelanga; Germa is of mature years and too used to be a nurse but

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-64499503709938431752011-07-11T11:42:00.000+01:002011-07-11T11:42:26.320+01:00

Well now, just when you think you've heard it all, along comes something else from the courts that makes your head spin. This week a man was acquitted from raping a girl as he claimed he was asleep and therefore didn't know what he was doing and wasn't responsible for his actions. He seems to have had sex with the girl, then went to put the kettle on to make a cup of tea [!] and then had sex

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-76789788649036216222011-07-04T11:27:00.000+01:002011-07-04T11:27:24.250+01:00

This week I was going to write about Mr Malema and his actions stirring up gender and racial violence through his public rants ... but then I came across a story that changed my mind as this seems a bit more important today. I am always going on about the violence against small children , and I sometimes wonder if this makes people think it is only in South Africa that the rape of toddlers and

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-90677203009884968732011-06-28T11:54:00.000+01:002011-06-28T11:54:54.134+01:00

This morning I heard Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma talking about freedom. She was riveting and it got me thinking again about our own freedoms.... and basically how lucky we are in the west and in western democracies. I can go where I like, pretty much do as I want and, without hurting anyone, act in whatever manner I feel like. I can get drunk [I don't any more, but I could], wear what I want

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-38498795236716787522011-06-21T12:19:00.000+01:002011-06-21T12:19:48.920+01:00

I find these so called slut walks quite thought provoking and, despite much chat around my friends and family, difficult to decide where I stand. On the one hand there seems to be no doubt that women/girls dressing in a highly provocative way in public seems to be an invitation to some men [after all the word means to provoke] and therefore potentially puts the women/girls at risk, yet the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-20433602323402821692011-06-06T10:44:00.000+01:002011-06-06T10:44:37.461+01:00

Sometimes, working in the field of child abuse and child rape, it can seem like a never ending road of depressing and miserable stories - endless gloom, terror and appalling behaviour.... enough to make even the strongest of us feel there is no light.   This compounded by a sense that there is no-one at the highest level listening to what is happening to the most vulnerable can make even the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-24307267916904935432011-05-16T09:47:00.000+01:002011-05-16T09:47:05.044+01:00

I know that in South Africa as in many countries there is often a vast difference between what Government Ministers and Departments say [and sometimes do..] and the experience of those in towns and villages across the country so I suppose this comes as no real surprise. In an area just outside Polokwane in Limpopo Province, an area we know well, in the interestingly named 'Nobody' village,

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-76576762266745147742011-05-04T13:20:00.000+01:002011-05-04T13:20:03.061+01:00

... after all the celebrations in the UK, after all the pomp and wonderful pageantry has gone, now the wedding is over, the parties ended and the fever that has consumed large parts of the UK has died down; as the new Duchess resumes life as an officers wife so we all go back to work and our arduous task of raising money and convincing people that we have an amazing cause continues. I heard 

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-38361421011181166552011-04-26T10:00:00.001+01:002011-04-28T13:17:49.187+01:00

Today is a sad day, this morning I heard of the untimely death of a lovely lady who was a respected and highly valued colleague in South Africa. T [for I should respect her privacy] was one of the first social auxiliary workers at Childline SA to take on the role of trainer in our Caring for Crèches [C4C] programme.  She was a little bundle of energy and, despite never having been a trainer

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-22535179946101371342011-04-11T12:56:00.000+01:002011-04-11T12:56:24.644+01:00

Sometimes it takes a tiny thing to make a huge difference. We have been working with Ekupholeni Mental Health Services [EMHC] in a truly dire township south east of Johannesburg for six years now - the populace of around 2million people struggles with poverty, violence, massive unemployment, alcohol and drug problems and endemic abuse.  The workers at EMHC do amazing work with some very

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-7221540549695900502011-03-28T11:01:00.000+01:002011-03-28T11:01:49.718+01:00

Because I'm a real rugby fan [probably a nerd, truth be told ...] I tend to follow all the southern hemisphere goings on as well as those in the northern hemisphere; and for my pains I am an ardent England supporter. Because of the awful earthquake in Christchurch in New Zealand some of the Super 12 matches as well as the World Cup matches in the autumn will have to be relocated - this weekend it

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-54933089580525146112011-03-14T10:57:00.001Z2011-03-14T10:59:35.195Z

The Infant Trust has another really ambitious programme for the coming year as we work to stop the abuse of young children in South Africa. We aim to break the cycle of abuse by providing places of safety, raising awareness and changing behaviour. Training is probably the part of our work that has the longest and most significant impact so apart from the work with Childline we continue to fund

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-42762490648191513572011-02-28T10:04:00.000Z2011-02-28T10:04:33.627Z

I don't know if you've seen our new website yet  [plug for http://www.infant-trust.org.uk/] but on there you'll find a new film about our work which is intended to be both informative and interesting. On the film we talk about lots of things, but mostly we try to find ways to emphasise how bad the situation is, and I am occasionally accused of over stating the numbers of abuse. We know from

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-28353292781236037062011-02-23T14:06:00.000Z2011-02-23T14:06:18.568Z

I often think working in the field of child protection, in particular in South Africa where abuse is so prevalent and so common, that all things are negative.   Then sometimes I come across a story or two that show immense courage simply by talking about a personal experience and remember again the power of speaking out not just for the individual but for everybody. It must be so tough to

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-89844140910121990582011-02-14T17:41:00.000Z2011-02-14T17:41:09.792Z

One of the things we struggle with, with our partners in South Africa, is to get the police to take allegations of rape against young children seriously. It happens far more often than even we know about, that these crimes are reported yet the police do nothing.  It is always impossible to know if this is because rape is reported so often that the police can’t cope with the sheer scale of the

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-83007857794030797852011-02-07T17:59:00.001Z2011-02-11T18:05:55.834Z

Another trip to South Africa is drawing to a close. The information we get from Childline continues to cause concern. In one area people who attended our courses reported 115 serious cases of abuse against pre-school children in just one month. And there are many more homes with no adults where young children are looked after by older children. In some homes the head of household can be as

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-38366684552313127342011-02-05T16:20:00.000Z2011-02-05T16:20:52.998Z

Liz and I have been moving at a punishing pace, getting up before dawn and travelling for many hours to visit various projects. We met our friends at Imisebeyelanga and had a long chat about how training programmes are going. We heard many stories of casual and quite savage abuse against very small tots. There are many incidents of small children being raped by a father or stepfather and not

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-32321942929700043122011-01-31T21:31:00.000Z2011-01-31T21:31:51.330Z

Nelson Mandela is on the mend and Liz has flown in from the UK to join me, so things are on the up. We had an interesting meeting with our old friends at Johannesburg Child Welfare, who say the problem of placing traumatised children is not getting easier. Small abused children tend to exhibit very inappropriate behaviours, and are quite a challenge to care for. We discussed funding a programme

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-90191039810659330342011-01-28T09:29:00.000Z2011-01-28T09:29:06.746Z

All talk here in South Africa is about Nelson Mandela, who was admitted to hospital a couple of days ago. Journalists from around the world are flying in. Everyone is watching developments. I’ve been to see a thriving church with a charismatic Pastor who does outreach work in a township of much deprivation. The congregation seem to be predominately middle class and they appear to have no trouble

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-74703743723323048292011-01-27T15:24:00.000Z2011-01-27T15:24:53.549Z

Greetings from South Africa. It’s hot and humid here, but good to be back. There’s been a lot of rain. The land is wonderfully green and lush with flowers, plants and trees bursting everywhere. I am here to visit our projects. I want to encourage those who do great work stopping abuse, and I need to evaluate just how well our projects are doing. My first stop was to see Karen Lamprecht. She is

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-6473838287544369222011-01-25T10:30:00.000Z2011-01-25T10:30:43.778Z

I am back on my travels today. Its been a while since I was in South Africa and the football world cup has been and gone.  It was notable that during the football World Cup this summer, the country [and the media] worked hard to present a safer, friendlier face to the world and serious incidents were apparently kept to a minimum. Many people returned from their holidays having had a wonderful 

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-5153525253309274372011-01-12T11:32:00.000Z2011-01-12T11:32:37.930Z

You might remember that eight family members in South Africa are accused of forcing children, including two who were placed in their care as foster children, to appear in pornographic films. The children ranged from 4 years upwards.The suspects were arrested in early December last year and were amazingly denied bail last Tuesday whilst the police continue their investigation.This is a very

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-38709159037049261472011-01-06T18:22:00.000Z2011-01-06T18:22:27.068Z

Christmas is over, the presents opened, the rubbish gone and the slightly dusty tinsel removed ... and back to the real work. It's difficult sometimes when I'm enjoying the festivities and watching families enjoying over-eating and opening presents to remember what others lives are like.  This year, one of our wonderful fund-raisers, Liz, had a ladies evening and raised lots of lovely dosh so I

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-66513254446902558432010-12-17T12:28:00.000Z2010-12-17T12:28:19.145Z

When thinking what to write as we get near to Christmas and the new year I was going to pen some stuff about how many children are abused at this time of year, how the holidays always bring a rise in the numbers of abuse, how horrible it is that so many dread this time of year whilst we in the west are indulging ourselves with too much of everything ......... but NO. Instead I'm going to mention

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-55361073111946821382010-12-01T15:51:00.000Z2010-12-01T15:51:21.104Z

It seems, from a recent survey, as if the South Africa MPs are the most shocking example of immoral behaviour. From his survey Michael Savage has found that, of the 535 current [that's the current] MPs 29 have been accused of domestic violence, 139 have been involved in some kind of business fraud or corruption, 71 can't get credit cards, 14 have been arrested on drug related charges and 8 have

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-56380446543922141842010-11-18T13:01:00.001Z2010-11-19T16:16:02.420Z

The terrible events of last week - the murder of the young wife on her honeymoon from the UK - are a stark reminder of what it is like to venture into some of the most difficult and dangerous places in southern africa .... the poverty stricken and crime ridden townships.  Something like one murder every two days have taken place in South Africa over the last few years - just think what an

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-29767927200907683532010-11-04T15:23:00.000Z2010-11-04T15:23:21.125Z

A really interesting piece of news about vulnerable small children in Sub-Saharan Africa made its way to the BBC news this week. This item was about the negative impact that well-meaning people can have if they spend a short time volunteering in children's homes where abandoned, abused and vulnerable children are cared for. It is easy to see why a thoughtful, well-intentioned westerner might

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-66646069754690109382010-10-14T16:55:00.000+01:002010-10-14T16:55:16.583+01:00

I came across a story in the South African press recently that talks about children who have been raped by a car dealer / police reservist.  He is currently facing five charges of indecent assault, ten charges of sexual assault and nine charges of rape .... now how is it that these atrocities are reported in the papers and other media in South Africa all the time, and yet somehow the country

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-73562497824759688242010-09-27T17:35:00.000+01:002010-09-27T17:35:08.228+01:00

At the beginning of the month I was told of a young girl from Cape Town who had been raped, beaten and thrown onto a fire by a family 'friend' in 2006 when she was six years old, and who, despite all this, had miraculously survived. At the end of August this year [2010] she had picked up her life, moved to a new school, made lots of friends and then was in a school bus that was hit by a train

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-63765765193846089922010-09-18T17:20:00.000+01:002010-09-18T17:20:22.683+01:00

I am in the process of doing our annual report for last year, and it gives me an opportunity to go through all our finances with a fine tooth-comb ..... and I am reminded again of our amazing supporters.  Now, most of you who support us and our work I can write to and say thanks, but some of you clearly intend to remain anonymous. Well, that's OK if you want but there are some very generous

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-48932963797448203572010-08-29T18:08:00.000+01:002010-08-29T18:08:53.793+01:00

I posted an item on our quick updates page about how the numbers of abandoned babies in South Africa is rising, and I've been finding out more about this over the last few days and the stories are mind-numbingly horrific. We know there are lots of ways of abusing children and infants, but it seems to me that abandoning a new baby must be the worst thing any woman ever has to do.... imagine

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-47648179138103429972010-08-23T18:42:00.000+01:002010-08-23T18:42:37.934+01:00

I had the slightly un-nerving experience of being interviewed on Radio Five Live on Tuesday evening for the 'Up all Night' programme. We are funding an innovative programme to train traditional healers - or 'witch doctors' as our media likes to call them. Five Live were interested to hear about the programme - and I was very happy to talk to them, after all I can talk for ever and ever at any

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318764907392871691.post-54142652831254767162010-08-13T16:07:00.000+01:002010-08-13T16:07:08.451+01:00

Hello.  This is Lesley, Chief Executive of the infant trust...  I thought it was about time I had a blog to talk about things that are happening with us, and what is going on with our work. As many of you know I go to South Africa three times a year to visit all our partners, talk about and see all the projects and hear what is happening. The visits are both affirming and gritty as I come

Lesley Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14109864789875093294noreply@blogger.com0