St Martin’s Village opening soon

For some families, the day a baby is brought into a home is the best day of their lives. A painted nursery filled with Teddies and toys, new clothes and a warm, cosy crib awaits the little bundle of joy.

However, some babies are not fortunate enough to have the blessing of a family.

Some are abandoned and thrown away.

And some babies do have families, but are being abused by their families.

The reality is, not enough people attempt to help these babies, and those who do survive, more often than not, end up abusing drugs and alcohol, turning to crime and later become abusive themselves.

The Evangelical Lutheran Congregation have joined forces with the community to create a safe and loving home for babies in need, called St Martin’s Village.

Pastor Thomas Beneke approached Marianne Ehlers in October 2016 about turning their vacant farmhouse into a home for abandoned, abused and handicapped babies.

“We were searching for a need in the community we could fulfil as a church, and the need to help babies kept arising. After much prayer and deliberation, the idea of St Martin’s Village took shape when Mrs Ehlers gladly agreed to rent their farmhouse to us, and has actively been involved in the project since,” said Pastor Beneke.

Mrs Ehlers said she loves the idea of the farmhouse being used this way, and envisions an alluring village with bountiful vegetable patches, beautiful gardens and happy children playing on the 46 hectares of land they will use for the village.

“Farmers have showed a lot of interest in helping us plough the lands and create a sustainable home. We also have a borehole on the premises which will help in cutting down municipal costs. We will try to run the home as efficiently as we can to ensure we stay running for many years to come,” said Mrs Ehlers.

She is extremely grateful to the PRO and marketing manager, Brenda Oelofse, who worked very hard on the project since day one.

“Brenda has been doing all the running around and planning to ensure the village opens on time, and without her dedication we would not have came this far,” she said.

The proceeds of R65 000 from the church’s recent Christmas market will be used to start the project, to cover rent and running costs for the first few months.

The project will be run as an independent NGO once established, to reach out to a broader audience and conduct the organisation in a transparent and accountable manner, making donations tax detuctable.

St Martin’s Village is in the process of being registered as a Child and Youth Care Centre and a Non-Profitable Organisation. The home plans to have 10 babies at a time between the ages of 0 to 6.

After the age of six, they plan to find homes for the children so more babies can be taken in.

Apart from kitchen appliances, furniture for the home, baby clothing and toiletries, the home still requires a lot of baby equipment, such as wooden cots, prams, bedding, humidifiers, thermometers and so on, which the team hopes to collect before the opening of the village on March 1.

A stork tea will be held at the house on February 19 at 12pm to introduce the home to the community. It will be in the form of a bring and braai picnic, and donations of baby products can be made.

The organisation also hopes to establish a community based set income from individuals of R50 to R100 a month to cover monthly expenses, as many projects like this fail as a result of escalating running costs.

Clinical, financial, fund-raising and marketing, and pastoral will ensure the smooth running of the facility, and volunteers are still needed to serve in all the committees.

Interested parties can contact Brenda on 071 516 6382 or Pastor Beneke on 081 387 9152.