Newsletter - July 2006

NEW ACQUISITIONS FOR THE SANCTUARY

The Total number of houses at the Sanctuary has grown to 6! Four of the houses are complete whilst two are still in the process of being completed. One of the completed houses has been converted into an on-site office for our Director: Child Welfare & Security, Mama Lumka and her Supervisor, Bongiwe. It also serves as a meeting place for visitors to the Sanctuary.

Mama Lumka with the children

A section is functioning as a sick room and the extra room is being used as a store for linen, groceries and donated goods, which are controlled and monitored by Management. The installation of an Intercom System, which was kindly donated by W C Communications from Somerset West and the kind efforts of Mr Chris Eveleigh, has facilitated the smooth running of the whole program at the Sanctuary to a great extent.

Playing in one of the houses

One of the other new houses is already functional, thanks to funds donated towards the running costs by the Rotary Clubs of Lincoln and Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada. Our grateful thanks go to these people, especially to Debbie Klassen who represents our project in such an enthusiastic and untiring way. Three houses are now in use, housing 18+ children, each with a housemother and two caregivers.

In the meantime, the grounds have been improved by the laying of brick paving at the entrance, also interlinking the houses and the installation of a new electronically operated security gate. This has been a vast improvement especially as we are now experiencing the rainy season in the Western Cape, which can be quite daunting. Another bonus has been the construction of a netball field for the children. It is already being utilized almost every sunny day. This was all made possible through a very generous grant from The Transnet Foundation.

New netball court

Thanks to a very generous donation from Kim and Peter Hewitt from Australia, we have been able to procure a container that is being utilized as a safe storage place for garden tools as well as for donated goods. We have also been wonderfully blessed by a 5 year commitment to the Trust from The Lloyd and Carole Carney Foundation from the USA, funding a single house for $30 000 per year for 5 years (a total of $150 000). Funds will be sent on a quarterly basis. Our thanks go to Charlene Kendal who brought our project to their attention. This is a wonderful gift as running costs are always our main concern. We regard ourselves as extremely fortunate for the support of so many wonderful people from all over the world.

OTHER BLESSINGS

Chris and Rosemary Petty, a delightful retired couple from the UK, have been spending some time at the Sanctuary and offering their services on a weekly basis. This has been such an encouragement to all who are working with these vulnerable children and we are very grateful to them.

Security gate and new brick paving

We have also been receiving many gifts of lovely knitted jerseys, foodstuffs and other clothing items from a great number of kindly donors. So much love and caring have gone into these gifts and we can only express our extreme gratitude towards these wonderful people, as the work at the Sanctuary is totally dependant on this kind of input.

Unfortunately there is not space in this newsletter to mention all the loyal and kindly people who support us on a regular basis. We regard them as partners in this project as they have all been at our side for a number of years. These include:

Foschini; The Methodist churches of Rusthof, Gordon's Bay, Nomzamo and Lwandle; Feedback Food Distributors; Imibala; Steffi and Thomas Curry; Strand and Lwandle Police Departments (Captain Mthakathi); Social Workers; Community members from Asanda Village and Zola; Prima Box (Nadia); Reinette & her Bible Study group from The Helderberg Dutch Reformed Church; Helen Marshall; Mrs Nothnagel; Marcy Gardenhire and her American friends and many others.

We are grateful that we have so many partners in this project as the Sanctuary would not have grown to the extent it has without all these helping hands.

OUR LITTLE ONES

Presently the children at the Sanctuary range from 2 months to 14 years. Three of them attend the Educare Centre during the day, while the smaller ones are cared for at the Sanctuary. Our youngest little one, Aseza, was abandoned at three weeks of age and brought to the Sanctuary by the police. She has changed from a tiny, little waif into a happy, chubby baby, absolutely thriving on all the attention she gets from "her large family". The children are all happy and secure - a huge difference to the lives they would have been leading had they not been fortunate enough to be brought to Ikhayalethemba Village, the Home of Hope.

Should you wish to know more about our projects please contact either Chris Willmot or Mama Lumka; see our Contacts page for phone numbers and emails.