Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Morning Star Children's Home

This morning Elizabeth took me on a tour of the children's home where she works. It was started 11 years ago by a lady, Joan Adams, who had a dream to open an orphanage. This is a day care centre for children who are HIV positive. They range in age from toddlers to teenagers, and are bussed in in the mornings, and taken home again in the evenings.
Everything in SA has security gates - even the entrance to the care centre.
This is a wall where all those who have died are remembered - each star represents a child who was cared for at this centre.

Each child that attends the day care centre gets bathed once a week, and checked by the nurse for any signs of symptoms that might have been missed during a normal school day. This little boy, Pule, developed cerebral meningitis as a side effect of the HIV virus, and was left crippled. He used to crawl wherever he went. Here he is trying out his new leg braces for the first time today. Here are 2 little toddlers. A volunteer teacher from the UK, who is teaching a class with learning difficulties. A pre school class singing a gospel song before starting the day's lessons. Elizabeth standing next to the vegetable garden. There is also a "project" where mothers of the children are taught to sew and thus generate an income. These ladies were often social outcasts and unemployed, but now have dignity and a means of supporting their families. They presently have an order from one of the schools to make uniforms. They also make the most beautiful bags.
The thing that struck me about the centre was that it exuded an atmosphere of happiness and hope, rather than doom and gloom. I was reminded of the Scripture "Christ, the hope of glory".

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