iKhaya’s First Educational Toy Drive!

We are often asked how all of this started and I have been slow to write purely because sometimes these type of experiences happen in the privacy of our hearts and not in the public arena – however for many people, they want to understand our motives, understand who we are and mostly find out whether we are truly people of integrity. So this is our story.

This was not a project that happened overnight but was birthed years ago when Sean and I read a book on George Mueller – a remarkable man who transformed a country’s orphan crisis. Our hearts were stirred in the same way and as we talked we realized that something irrevocable had been done to our world perception.

In the years that followed, it kept resurfacing, dreams of children dying in their mother’s arms, poverty and the devastation in the lives of these special children.
It wasn’t until we had our daughter Savannah that we heard the call loud and clear. She was born with a genetic disorder called Trisomy 18. In fact we were told that she would not live longer than 48 hours. We spent 9 special months with her. In fact during that time, though we never knew when, we knew we would lose her.

What I found though was that as I held her, I thought to myself ‘this is what a mother feels like when they have a baby with an incurable disease – you know the most precious gift in your eyes could slip away at any moment’. We loved beyond the physical (her body was misformed and was a tiny 2kg – in fact she never got much bigger) and we loved her without restraint. We finally said goodbye to her 9 months later.

As we read newspapers about orphaned and abandoned babies our hearts cried for them as we considered these precious lives who deserved to be loved and cared for as much as any other child. Who needed the love and care of a mother’s arms, who deserved to be protected and seen as precious.

We started researching how to go about setting up a home for orphaned and abandoned babies with the support and encouragement of 2 very special people – Alex and Michelle van Laren (our then lead elders of the church Thandaza where we fellowship). They encouraged us to run with this project. After all the research, setting up a committee and meeting with other organizations we decided to take in our first baby in December 2007. This was a big decision as it would be into our own home. We had no finances, no staff, and could not wait any longer. Our first baby arrived and was the most precious child. In fact I had to restrain myself from adopting him myself.

Baby no 2 arrived in March as did baby no 3. By the time we took in baby no 4 we realized that this was no longer sustainable and was affecting our family life in a big way. With 3 boys of our own, homeschooling and running our own business, we were finding the pressure too much. We had at this point, hired one full time staff member and one part time one to help us at home.

Wanting to help us , Thandaza Covenant Church offered us a piece of their newly acquired land. It was a small 2 roomed house which needed LOTS of work but it was something we could work with, something that gave us a chance to regain some of our family life back. We built, we fixed, we painted – we moved all the babies and staff into the home in July 2008.

To say that is the end of the story is impossible as this is just the beginning. We are currently caring for 6 babies but we are in the process of setting up a home to care for 21 babies. The need is growing and the statistics are telling. Our heart is to make a difference in the lives of orphans in South Africa and worldwide.

Well it seems that lots of our readers have expressed concern that they haven't heard from us for such a long time but things have gotten so exciting, its been difficult to keep up with the newsletter, though I have tried to keep my blog up to date as best as possible.

So let me give you a quick run down of the current events that are shaking and moving this organisation:

1. We have been filmed by Heartlines for SABC2 for a documentary that they want to do on organisations like ours. It was exciting and the story of this can be read here .

As you can see from this short list, lots has been happening and if you want to keep up to date with the daily happenings, why not look at our blog . (I know that the last time I sent out the newsletter, the links did not work but better luck this time).

Now I know that a lot of you have emailed me to ask how you can get involved. Well read on and you could get some ideas. This list is not comprehensive but probably the most pressing. If none of these fit your profile, why not read about further ideas here .

SOME AREAS WHERE YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

1. Volunteer - if you are in the Richards Bay, Mtunzini, Ngwelezane or Empangeni area, why not come and volunteer an hour a week. The children love visitors. You can choose a time that suits your schedule. Bring your children, there are jungle gyms, sand pits and lots of toys to keep your children busy.

2. Vegetables and Fruit - we needs lots of these. We have volunteers who are ready to cook your donations into wonderful nutritious meals for our babies. Next time you pop out to your local store, consider buying a little extra.

3. Donations - Our bank details are: Account Name: iKhaya LikaBaba Bank: Nedbank Account No: 1303124955 Branch/ Sort Code: 13033040 Swift Code: NEDSZAJJ.

4. Invite us to Speak locally or nationally - We are trying to create awareness of what we are doing and the impact that companies or individuals can have in this organisation. If you are part of a book club, company department, school, church, homegroup or organisation - invite us to do a presentation. We would love to meet you, and over a cup of coffee share our vision and heart for children. (Our contact details are below)

URGENT NEEDS at the moment
Due to the generosity of the community with regards to baby clothes we are in desperate need of large plastic storage boxes, where we can separate clothes into age groups and gender. (you know what its like pink and blue) They can be bought at GAME or maybe you have some spare plastic boxes at home you wouldn't mind donating to us. It would add some order to the chaos in our home!

Companies or individuals who have made a contribution to iKhaya LikaBaba. No gift, service or donation is too small and we appreciate each one of these individuals:
Rene and Cobus Nel, Lythan and Justin Emslie, Patience ZIbani, Heloise Dent, Vanessa and George Patterson, Debbie Roberts, Megan and Mike Mills, Anne Henderson, Arlene Robertson, Paul and Niky Scherzer, Wendy and Andrew Oxley, Dr Lizzie Thirsk, Ngwelezane Hospital Ward B, Standard Bank Empangeni, Thandaza Covenant Church Youth Group - Element 26 , CARE Eshowe - Loueen Chittenden, Anne Fernandez, Leonie Tanser, Theresa Fernandez, JET - Empangeni, Builders Market - Empangeni, Vince and Michelle Reid, Kerry Rothcher, Vee Gekate, Coastline Electrical - Ben Burger and Karen Knoetze, Shabach Bikers, Zimbabwe Pensioner Support Group, Jo and Andrew Pienaar, Umfolozi Wood Creations, Abigail and Ryan Smith, Musawenkosi - Gavin and Elaine Charlton , Dr Andre Naude, IsiZulu Orphan Project - Kate and Chad Bain , Janet Harris, Dr. Jill Schermbrucher, Empangeni Baptist Youth , Kevin's Keys , Felixton College

At last the waiting is over - we are officially open as a registered place of safety for abandoned babies in Empangeni, Umfolozi, Zululand.

 

iKhaya LikaBaba received not one, but two early Christmas presents today, in the form of a four month old baby boy and a three week old girl.  He is a chubby, smiley, adorable, little boy, 

Upon arrival he enjoyed a bath and a fresh change of clothes amidst lots of excitement from his new foster brothers, Declan, Ethan and Chad.  Elinor and Jacqui were also happily distracted from their work for a while, and quickly got involved taking some photographs.

A little later, another much smaller bundle of joy arrived- our first baby girl. 

Needless to say, there was little else that followed that did not revolve around the receiving procedures that need to be followed when we take in an abandoned baby.  Inspections, photographs, a visit to the doctor for a general health check up and so on, not to mention feeding, changing diapers, playing and the sensation that the world had just turned upside down.  Our family of five had just increased to seven, and these two arrivals heralded the start of many abandoned babies that we expect to receive and place in families who adopt them.

Feel free to pop in and meet he and Rebecca for yourself.  We will post some photos on the website as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in getting to this exciting point of departure. We really appreciate the community of friends, family and team members who have painted, participated, partnered and purposed to share in this ministry of caring for orphans.

Love Sean and Melanie Grant