another child leaves the village of hope to return home

another story of hope

it's always sad to say goodbye, especially to a child who has become so loved by the staff at the village of hope, however in our sadness there is joy as we know that we have done everything possible to not only stabilise a child who has been placed with us with either complex medical or social problems but also worked so with our local social workers and the child's family to ensure that a successful placement, often to a home which caused the issue which resulted in the removal of the child in the first place, is made with confidence.

this post therefore contains a great story of new hope as over the weekend emma took one of our dear little three year old boys back to his family home, this is incredible and exciting news as he was in such a poorly state, requiring specialist hospital care this time last year. we are so thankful to our house moms, key staff and the persistence of our team to ensure that he received such wonderful care whilst he was with us and that we were able to place him back with his own family who now know how to care for him and meet his needs.

wonderful news of our 29th home placement

opening her memory box

yesterday we experienced the end of one of the most amazing stories that we have seen at the village of hope and what we trust will be the start of the next part of the story for our wonderful 5 year old girl who has been with us since almost the opening day back in early 2009.

...in fact this little girl, who is HIV+ and also suffers from foetal alcohol syndrome, has spent most of her life within the thembalitsha projects, we were blessed to provide a home for her after our sister project, thembacare athlone, had stabilised this little one who came to us needing to take her fluids via a tube into her stomach.

her development has been a joy to watch, from her first day at pre-school to the time when we found a long lost great aunt who said she was willing to provide a stable home for this little girl following the death of the mother from AIDS earlier in the year.

the work that was done not only my mommy maz but also sister portia from thembacare grabouw, who has been visiting the great aunt to ensure that she is happy with the complex ARV medication that needs to be given every twelve hours to make sure she stays healthy and well, and our the social worker from thembacare in athlone, has enabled this family reunion to happen in what we never dared to dream would be the best outcome in this situation.

the staff and volunteers made her a memory box for her to remember us by which she opened once the court had made the placement legal.....it doesn't really need me to say that we will miss this little bundle of fun, as will all her peers, here at the village of hope but we know that God has an amazing plan for her life, a new school and family and we pray that she fulfils all the exciting things he has  for her to enjoy!