The heart behind Hope Cup

Golf and sport legends converged on Ballito to take part in the Hope Cup last Monday, a fund-raising golf day for the Ingane Yami children’s village.

The village, nestled in a valley near Marianhill toll plaza, is a home for orphaned and abandoned children set up by the Kloof Harvest Church.

A lucky few, including myself, were offered a helicopter flight to the village the morning of the golf day for a first-hand look at the beneficiaries of the event.

I joined young professional golfer Brandon Stone and Kloof Harvest’s photographer Eileen Paxton near the tee of Simbithi country club’s 18th hole and anxiously awaited the arrival of our airborne lift.

The helicopters touched down neatly on the grass and the pilots came out to greet us. After a quick brief, Eileen and I slotted into the helicopter while Brandon caught a lift with the other chopper.

Our pilot, Alan Palmer, remarked that we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day to fly. With relatively no wind and the sun beating down, we lifted off and headed down the coast towards Durban. What a way to start the first working Monday of the year!

As we were flying no higher than 1000 feet, the familiar land marks of the North Coast stood out to me. The haunted house next to Beach Bums bar, Umhlanga’s towering apartment blocks and the Moses Mabhida stadium were awesome to see from above.

We flew directly above the Umgeni river and headed inland, arriving at the Marianhill plaza in about 15 minutes.

Palmer completed a few fly-byes while Eileen and I snapped some aerial shots of the village before we landed. We were greeted by a few excited children that call Ingane Yami home.

We were taken on a quick tour of the village and peeked into one of the houses that homes six children and their house mother.

I am confident that the children will be able to lead normal, if not exceptional lives, with the facilities they have been given.

So far eight children live at Ingane Yami and there is space for 22 more. There are also plans to build 20 new homes in the future, once the current block is fully occupied.

Kloof Harvest’s founding pastors, Roger and Yvonne Greig, spearheaded the project and the first cluster was built two years ago.

As we took off on our way back to Simbithi, I looked down at the village in contemplation. With the support of the Kloof Harvest Church, the little village is sure to change the lives of those it cares for.

I was very grateful that Craig Robertson, who owns the helicopters, organised the flights and I was humbled by what Ingane Yami is doing. Visiting the village and seeing the children enjoying their lives tells a story on its own.

I took photos as a few of the children played football on the grass with Brandon. If happiness could be judged by a smile, theirs was a perfect ten out of ten.