Zianda Ndlovu is a little girl with emotional and physical scars. In 1998 Zianda's mother Portia covered her with newspapers, poured paraffin on them and directly onto her child, and set Zianda alight.
According to Zianda's foster mother Patricia Mtheku, the woman was arrested but the case did not come to trial and the mother is allegedly still free in the Daveyton area. Zianda remains scared that she might encounter her mother.
Zianda also has a sister Dilas Ndlovu who is being fostered with her. Dilas is four years old and mentally disturbed. The foster mother says that the little one has abcesses on her lungs and is frequently hospitalised.
Another sister Mbuto was born in 1995 but is not injured and is coping reasonably well.
All three children have been given the same birth date of October 10th (1993, 1995 and 1997) by the [unimaginative] social workers. They live with Given - a little boy aged four, who has been adopted by Patricia.
The foster mother was concerned that Zianda was not coping well at Siczikhele Primary School, in Barcelona, Davyton. Zianda is in grade 3 and should, at her age, expect to be in grade 5. She says her favourite subject is English and that her teacher is Doreen. Zianda is teased at school and, while the school insists that she wears a hat to cover the totally bald rear of her head, she always loses her hats.
Children of Fire gave Zianda a frog nightdress case, three toys inside for her siblings, sweets, and a book of fairy tales to read (brought in a collection of books from a nurse called Tina, from Essex, UK). The charity also gave her some counselling about the name-calling and ways to deal with it.
Zianda is having surgery on her head on 16th December 2002 at Johannesburg General. We explained to her how tissue expanders work, as this seems the most likely option given the nature and extent of her injuries. We also explained to her how ears can be rebuilt with cartilage, as she needs one re-made externally.
Zianda met Thomas Ranemane of UMashesha and has agreed to approach her school principal for a visit by the UMashesha team. Then the whole school can learn about prevention of fire, simple first aid, how to raise an alarm, how to stop, drop and roll and -- maybe most important for Zianda and the two other burned children in her grade at school -- the importance of tolerance of any disfigurement, of any disability, of any difference at all.