Visit: African Hope Trust Safe House (IT2171/2009)

Recently we had the privilege of attending the opening ceremony for the African Hope Trust Safe House in Masiphumelele.  After many months of planning,setting up a trust, drawing up plans, interviewing for a house mother,  - they started to build and now this beautiful house is finished.  The housemother Rachel is just an inspiration and already their first little one clings to her legs and follows her everywhere she goes.

Though the first house is complete this is by no way the end of this project's vision and goals.  They are starting to build their second home in June 2011!  We were amazed at their progress is and how they hope to impact the lives of orphaned and abandoned children in the area.

As you can see, Sean all dressed up for the event! That doesn't happen too often:)

Of course the newspapers were present (as they should be at such a special moment) and I decided to include their write up of the event in the False Bay People's Post written by Daleen Foche

The African Hope Trust, a Christian-based NGO that aims to address problems faced by vulnerable children and orphans in the Fish Hoek Valley and surrounding areas, opened the first of two safe houses in Masiphumelele last week.

The two houses, which opened on Saturday 21 May, aims to create a home environment for vulnerable children who have no family.

Each house will accommodate six children and have a house mother who will take on a parental role. The houses are situated in Skinna Road, Masiphumelele.

The completed house already has its first resident, Simphiwe, a 20 month old boy who cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony on Saturday.

The principle around the workings of these facilities are based on an internationally recognised model, developed by Home from Home, an established foster care group where the house mother is encouraged to raise the children "as her own". 
Don Sayers, a trustee of African Hope Trust and facilitator for the two homes, says construction on the second house will start next week.

He explains the trustees of African Hope Trust opened one house at a time to ensure that they can handle all the challenges that come their way.

"So far it has been a very easy process,' says Sayers.  

He says children can stay in the home indefinitely, or until a family member adopts the child, or the child's own home environment changes for the better.

Sayers explains that the African Hope Trust follows Department of Social Development guidelines when accepting a child into a home.

"It is very tempting to receive every child that comes to us", he says.  But Sayers says only children with no other viable accommodation alternative will be accepted.  Sayers has experienced first hand that some parents just refuse to take responsibility for their child.

The African Trust Fund is sponsored by several churches in the United States and Canada.  It will also receive a small grant from the Social Development for each child in its care.

Sayers says the homes need volunteers willing to donate their time.  He says, like any other mother, the house mother sometimes needs to be in two places at once.

He says they need people who are willing to look after the children when the house mother takes a child to the clinic or does other chores.

For more information about the safe houses and the African Hope Trust, contact Don Sayers on 084 900 6898 or Bill Eames, the chairperson of the trust, on 072 220 1115.

I have gotten to know some of the team and they are truly remarkable people.  They have a passion to serve our local communities and they are soooo organised.  I don't remember being this organised at this early stage.  My children have fallen in love with this home (I think they miss the children of the previous home we helped with) and so they have decided that they would like to volunteer on a weekly basis.  I love the fact that they want to do this and I know that Don and the rest of the team are going to need all the support they can get.  I believe that fostering a desire to serve in our children is so important in their understanding the worth that others have -putting aside their own desires and needs for the needs of others!