Nazareth House needs helping hand
NAZARETH HOUSE in Cape Town is broadening its network of compassion on social media in a bid to raise awareness of the work it does.
Gayenor Milne, general manager of the institution, said those running it had decided to use social media to attract a wider audience, especially the younger generation.
Nazareth House has offered sanctuary to abused, abandoned, terminally ill and severely disabled children for more than 130 years.
But with R7.5million needed every year to run the home in Vredehoek, it has launched a new digital fundraising campaign called 94 Children & You.
It already has a Facebook page, but Milne said offers to donate money should go to www.94children.co.za
The home receives R1 200 per month grant per child from the Social Development Department, Milne said, adding that nappies alone cost R120000 per year. Nazareth House also runs homes in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Zimbabwe.
“Our expenses also include our staff of nurses and caregivers. We also provide occupational therapy for the children who are often severely disabled. We also provide transport for children who need to go to hospital. This is besides the formula and food they need,” said Milne.
Many of the children at the home were referred by hospitals who could no longer take care of them.
“Some kids can no longer be cared for in a medical environment and they are just sent to us to be made comfortable. We provide a dignified space for them, where they don’t have to spend their last days in a clinical environment.”
One of the home’s young patients who spent most of the first year of his life in hospital because of parental drug abuse and neglect, was still a baby when he came to Nazareth. He has since made a remarkable recovery.
Another young patient who came to Nazareth as a baby had hydrocephalus, a condition that causes water to build up on the brain. The boy, who also had Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, as well as being HIVpositive, was not expected to survive. But two years later, he is going strong.
Helen Nkonyeni, one of the 40 caregivers at the house, said: “We just give these children love, something they didn’t often get before.” nicolette.dirk@inl.co.za @ladynikki2