Volunteers help build a village for abandoned babies
The structure for the greenhouse was put in place and secured, and the garden readied for seedlings.
Toiling under the winter sun, St Martin’s Village volunteers worked tirelessly on Saturday, August 5, living up to the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” as they were helping a village to upgrade its facilities with general maintenance around the house and assisting in the vegetable garden.
The structure for the greenhouse was put in place and secured, and the garden readied for seedlings.
The vegetable garden would allow the home to not only provide food for its own table, but also generate funds, as the produce could be sold to the community at large.
The need to become more self-sufficient has become very important, after several non governmental organisations suffered several setbacks due to financial constraints, because of poor financial support by the government.
In April, four staff members from Morester Children’s Home were retrenched, due to financial difficulties, and some of the children had to be moved to the other children’s home in Ladysmith.
Another shock was when Morester Children’s Home was recently told to vacate its premises by November of this year.
Thembilihle Child and Youth Care Centre closed its doors in May, with the children in its care being moved to other facilities.
Also in May, Khulisa Social Solutions shut its doors not only in Newcastle, but in the entire KwaZulu-Natal region.
With these difficulties, St Martin’s Village was ensuring it could continue caring for abandoned and abused babies, regardless of the worrying situation.
Pastor Thomas Beneke was exceptionally pleased with the proceedings of the work on the maintenance day.
“It was the first time we held a maintenance day and we are still learning, but I am happy with the way it went,” Beneke said.
He thanked everyone who assisted, for the effort they made with the upgrading of the various projects.
Other stories on the site:
- St Martin’s Village in Newcastle is a place of hope for abandoned babies
- Building a brighter future with St Martin’s Village
