Mandela Day: iThemba Lethu needs your help

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iThemba Lethu believes that every child deserves to live a life filled with hope and opportunity, and their team works to provide vulnerable children with a safe place in the midst of the traumatic circumstances they find themselves in.

Two transition homes have a maximum of six children. They provide a stable, loving environment for these abandoned children to experience love and healing from the trauma they have experienced. 

Many children are found days after abandonment - malnourished, unwell, and frightened. Some of the children have serious developmental issues due to neglect. 

While providing care to these precious children, iThemba Lethu work alongside Child Welfare organisations to reunify them back into their families. If this is not possible, the children are placed into their new forever families through a thorough adoption screening and matching process. 

Every child deserves to grow up in a loving and safe family. The home's role is to make a traumatic time in their lives as safe and stable as possible, by providing for their needs and, as such, restore hope and destiny in their lives.

iThemba Lethu have the first and only community breastmilk bank in South Africa where donor moms donate their excess breastmilk which is then pasteurised and used to nourish the little ones.

The resulting impact on their health is remarkable!

iThembu Lethu also runs an HIV prevention programme in schools in Cato Manor where they work with 2,500 children to break the cycle of vulnerability and risky behaviours. 

This is achieved by providing mentoring, life skills, and leadership programmes, helping the youth (between Grade 5 and 9) to understand their worth and the opportunities they have for their lives - giving them a hope-filled future and working with their families and schools to create resilient family units and safe communities for these children to grow up in.

Every contribution the home receives goes a long way to changing the lives of the children that they have the privilege to care for…

What about partnering with the home for 67 minutes on Mandela Day?

There are various ways you can get involved.

• Spend some time at the home playing and cuddling the children (between 0-2 years) and assist the staff with caring for the children
• The home is in desperate need of security gates to secure the transition homes and office, as well as curtains/blinds for the following:

-2 x sliding doors (1.8m x 2.1m)

-2 x doors (0.84m x 2.1m)

-1 x window (1.1m x 0.87m)

-1 x window (0.54m x 0.54m)

• Gents – take your toolbox and assist with some maintenance on the grounds and in the houses (painting and general maintenance etc.)

• Flooring in one home is very old and needs to be redone: lounge carpet area 4.75m x 4m and dining room area 4.3m x 3.3m

• Furniture is needed for the homes: 1 x Dining room set, 1 x couch, 1 x television set and 1 x babies room curtain rod (2m x 90)

• Nappies, nappies, and more nappies are urgently required!

• Formula (Nan 1 and 2) is always needed and is the biggest cost in caring for the slightly older children

• The home is always looking for regular volunteers to help look after the children in the transition homes during the weekends or afternoons
• some of our children have developmental issues so any occupational therapist volunteers would be extremely helpful to their development

If you can help, please contact iThemba Lethu below:

[email protected]

Serve: 031 261 7723 (Chat to Melissa)

Communicate: [email protected]

Learn more:    www.ithembalethu.org.za

Engage:         https://www.facebook.com/ithembalethudbn/

Inspire:         https://www.instagram.com/ithemba_lethu/

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