KWA ZULU NATAL PROGRAM

Lean on Me Baby Home

The Lean on Me Baby Home is situated in the Kwanyuswa community of KwaZulu Natal and provides loving care and shelter to abandoned, neglected and abused babies and children from 0-3 years of age. The home is able to accommodate up to 20 babies at one time. The babies are cared for by two qualified housemothers. Lean on Me hopes to help these children and babies reunite with their families and in cases where this is not possible, help to get the child fostered or adopted.

Lean on Me Trust Update PDF

The Dream Centre

The Dream Centre is a palliative medical care centre situated in Pinetown. The centre cares for HIV/AIDS patients who are in the terminal stage of the disease. The centre has a holistic approach towards the care of its patients and their families. Their services include medical staff, social workers, spiritual healers and bereavement councilors. Despite these services, the patients are still in need of some simple human kindness and compassion. Many of the patients at the Dream Centre have been ostracized from their original communities and do not receive any visitors during their last days of life.

Lean on Me has answered their call for comfort and companionship. The Lean on Me volunteers visit the centre twice a week and spend some quality time with the patients by either playing card games with them or helping them to write letters or simply by talking to them. Lean on Me also takes the patients regular small gifts such as fresh fruit, magazines and toys for the younger patients. In addition, the volunteers also bring fresh flowers from a local flower shop that was willing to make a donation to the patients' wards at the Dream Centre. In the future, Lean on Me hopes to bring even more happiness and joy to the patients of the Dream Centre by organizing some form of regular entertainment and activities.

Lean on Me's Siyajabula Children's Home

The Lean on Me Siyajabula Children's Home is situated in the Lower Molweni community. This children's home, whose name translates to "House of Joy" is a joint initiative by the Lean on Me Trust and members of the Molweni community. The home is being constructed by local builders and Lean on Me volunteers and it is expected that the home will be completed by the end of 2004. The Siyajabula Children's Home is just a small part of the bigger picture that Lean on Me has to help this desperate community, where there is an obvious lack of resources and facilities.

The children's home that is currently under construction will house 8 young AIDS orphans and a full time housemother. Our long-term goal is to construct a number of these children's homes to form one large children's village. Also in the plans are a children's hospice and a vocational training centre. There are so many opportunities in this beautiful community. Lean on Me volunteers have been assisting with the actual building.

Savannah Park Children's Home

Savannah Park Children's Home is a home that has been set up for children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS or have been removed from abusive households. The home is run by the Highway Child and Welfare Society and offers a safe haven for 6 children ranging from 3 - 17 years of age. The children are cared for by housemother who is employed by the society. Due to the small number of children, there is a wonderful family atmosphere that one can feel as soon as you enter the home. Unfortunately, the home is in need of some serious repair and maintenance work, as the society does not have room for such things in its stretched budget.

Lean on Me has volunteered its services once again and a major renovation project has begun at the home. Current volunteers have been busy attending to the urgent repairs that are needed around the house. Furthermore, they have been helping the children with their homework and helping the housemother to get through the huge amount of daily chores that she has to deal with. Lean on Me would also like to arrange some fun activities for the children of Savannah Park in the future, as the children do not often get treats like this.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that is dedicated to providing descent housing to people who are unable to afford their own home. In South Africa, there is a huge need for descent housing with so many of our people living in makeshift shacks. Habitat for Humanity realizes that providing someone with a house means much more than just shelter. It also gives families a sense of pride and fulfillment and allows them to be recognized in the community.

The Durban branch of Habitat for Humanity has three building sites, all of which Lean on Me volunteers work at regularly. Volunteering with Habitat gives volunteers a unique opportunity to help a homeless family and meet new and interesting people at the same time. The families who will eventually move into the house are required to help build that house. In this way volunteers are able to work side by side with the family whose house they are building!

In May 2004, Lean on Me is participating in the first South African Women's Build hosted by Habitat for Humanity. The aim of this event is to build 12 houses for 12 woman headed families in one week, with all the building and hard work being done by women volunteers. Volunteers and staff from Lean on Me are looking forward to the event, which promises to be filled with sweat, tears and happy memories.

Projects for the Future

• We wish to get sponsorship of antiretroviral drugs and immune boosters for the children
• We wish to get sponsorship of building of extra rooms
• We wish to continue with the maintenance of the building and create a better children friendly home
• We wish to fund the older children's tertiary education
• We wish to help create satellite homes to enable us to reach more children that need help