This post was written by Isabel Khumalo, SFAC’s HR and Admin Officer, for Global Kinship Care Week.
In true African style it begins with a story.
Appropriately for a reflection on Kinship Care, Isabel called on her cousin, Mathopa Moeti, to craft the beautiful tale.
A huge thanks to both Isabel and Mathopa for sharing their words, thoughts and talents with us.
For the best experience, we recommend clicking on the video below to listen to Isabel tell you the story!
A Story from the Heart of Africa — for Global Kinship Care Week
“It takes a village to raise a child.” — African Proverb
Come closer, my friends. Lean in, as we do beside the fire when the stars blink awake. I have a story for you — one that begins, as all African stories do, not with “once upon a time,” but with “this is what we know to be true.”
The Moon-Child
There was once a village at the edge of a red-earth plain.
When the moon climbed the sky, its silver light spilled over every hut, every acacia tree, and every dreaming child.
In that village lived a girl named Nia — her name means purpose.
One dry season, a long and merciless drought came. Her mother fell ill; her father travelled far in search of work. But though Nia’s small home grew quiet, the world around her did not fall silent.
For in that village, no child ever stands alone.
Her aunt came first, carrying roasted maize and laughter.
Her grandmother took her in, teaching her the songs that summon rain and peace.
Her older cousin shared her school uniform, patching it with love. The neighbour’s son walked her to class each morning, while the headman called her “our daughter.” Even the goats seemed to know she belonged to everyone.
And so, though her parents were gone, Nia was never an orphan.
She was woven into the cloth of her people — a thread held by many hands.
That, dear friends, is what Africans call kinship care — the quiet, enduring practice of family beyond bloodlines and bureaucracy.
The Spirit Beneath the System
Long before words like child welfare or adoption act were written in any law book, African communities lived by Ubuntu — “I am because we are.”
It is a way of seeing life that says: your child is also my child, your sorrow also my sorrow.
Kinship care is not charity; it is continuity.
It is how families stretch across hardship and time — a natural safety net that catches children when storms of illness, poverty, or loss sweep through. In Zimbabwe, when parents migrate for work or are lost to sickness, kinship care ensures that aunts, uncles, and grandparents step forward without hesitation. It is so common that most children grow up, at some point, in the home of a relative — not as outsiders, but as kin.
The Drumbeat of Culture
But kinship care is more than survival — it is identity kept alive.
When children grow up among their people, they inherit not just shelter, but self. They learn their clan names, the stories of their ancestors, the rituals that mark belonging — the taste of home-brewed porridge on a festival day, the rhythm of drums calling the community to dance, the whispered prayers to the ancestors that remind them: you come from somewhere sacred.
In South Africa, for example, children in kinship care are guided through African spirituality — ceremonies that teach respect, moral discipline, and connection to those who came before. Through these rites, a child learns what it means to be part of a tribe, a lineage, a history older than any written law.
So when Nia’s grandmother taught her to greet the ancestors at dawn, she was doing more than raising a child — she was anchoring a soul.
That, too, is kinship care: the preservation of spirit through belonging.
When the Wind of Change Blew
Then came the time of colonial rule.
With it came laws written in foreign tongues and ideas that care must wear a uniform — must live in buildings with white walls and iron gates. Customary family care was branded “informal,” “unofficial,” “lesser.” Orphanages rose where once stood family compounds, and the song of Ubuntu grew quieter under the noise of modernity.
But here’s the twist in our tale:
Generations later, the world began to circle back. Research confirmed what grandmothers always knew — that children thrive in families, not institutions. Now, through the UK FCDO’s Global Charter on Child Care Reform, nations are being urged to support kinship and family care.
(At SFAC, we believe kinship and community care are critical to care reform. Valuing communities and families as a strength is an essential part of nurturing a child’s sense of identity and belonging. and that’s why we have co-signed the charter.)
It seems the wisdom once dismissed as “old” is now rediscovered as essential.
The Lesson for Our Shared Tomorrow
For Africa, this is both healing and a challenge. Healing, because the world is finally speaking the language of community. Challenge, because centuries of disruption cannot be mended by policies alone.
If the new global movement truly listens — listens with humility — it will not impose, but partner. It will fund family strengthening, not bureaucracy. It will recognise that care is not invented by law, but lived in love.
The Moral of the Story
When next you hear the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” know that it is not a quaint saying from a distant land. It is an instruction — to all of us.
For whether you stand in an African village, a European town, an Asian city or a remote farm in Australia- wherever you are, every child needs more than two hands. They need a circle — a kinship — that teaches them who they are, and that they belong.So tonight, as the moon rises over this island and over Nia’s faraway village, let us remember: the light that raises one child can brighten the whole world.
*FCDO stands for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office