Saturday evening, I was playing a version of pictionary with my six year old host sister (she, using a stick, would draw something in the dirt, and I would have to guess what it was) when I heard a noise. It was coming from the pile of logs. When I went to investigate, I found a kitten. It was an orange tabby, probably less than a week old, its eyes barely open. It was the same color as one of our two cats. Further observance of the log pile found another kitten, the same age, this one pure white. It was the same color as the other of our two cats

In rural South Africa, it is very rare for children to be raised by both their mother and their father. Because of many factors, lack of employment in rural areas, the commoness of multiple concurrent relationships, the age of sexual debut and other, most children are raised by their grandmother. Their mother and sometimes father, live and work in the nearest city and come back when they can. The grandmother usually has many grandchildren living with her, from many of her children. This situation also has a monetary benefit. In South Africa, if one is raising your own child, one receives 250 rand a month per child from the government. But if you are raising someone elses child, you receive more than 1000 rand per month per child. Sometimes one of the mothers also lives with her children and the grandmother. And in one family I know, the father lives with his children and his mother. But in the village of bundu, I only know of one family where the children are being raised by both of their parents.

My first instinct when I found the kittens was to bring them to their mother. However, when I brought them to her, she seemed startled, but not interested. My host mother brought a large bowl and put a blanket in it and made the kittens a new home. Their mother ignored them. I started to get angry at the mother. I grabbed the mother by the neck, and held her down in the bowl, and guided the kittens toward their mothers nipples so they could feed. "You are a bad mother!" I yelled at the cat. "This is what happens when you have sex. You have to live with the consequences! You can't abandon your children!"

In rural South Africa, the kids take care of each other. They play together after school, a mix of ages, no adult supervision. The older ones help the younger ones out. Kids take on much more responsibility here than in america. One of my favorite sights has been watching my six year old neighbor teach his three year old cousin how to ride a bike. However, grandmothers, who have huge houses full of children can only do so much. As many of my fellow volunteers found out, children can be dropped off to live with their grandmother at any age, without any warning. Grandmothers have to triage. So kids seem to grow up without very much adult supervision or help. Makes it much easier to fall through the cracks. Especially since many of the children, most usually the girls, run the household, starting as early as ten. A fellow volunteer told me about how when her host brothers mother left him at his grandmothers for a year, to follow a man, he failed several classes. It takes a toll on kids.

When I was holding the mama cat down to feed her kittens, I misunderstood directions from my host mom. My grip slipped and the cat ran off. After chasing her for awhile, she evaded our grasp. Its been 24 hours and she hasn't come back. We wrapped the kittens up in a blanket and hoped for the best. When I was chasing the cat, before it got too dark to see my host mother told me "You can't make her into a good mother. She abandoned her kittens." I knew that, instictively. But I also knew these kittens needed food and the only way to get it was through her. I didn't want these kittens to die because she was a bad mom. Not under my watch. But she evaded us. The stores were closed, the khumbis had stopped running and there were no shelters to take them to.

When I woke up this morning, the kittens were dead.