Door of Hope and their daily operation
Since the start of lockdown, Door of Hope has taken in 23 new babies, four of who came through the baby box, and one baby was left at their gate in Glenvista.
A further six babies were brought in by the police, five babies were brought by their mommies and the rest of the babies were collected by Door of Hope from the hospital.
Operations director Nadene Grabham said the pandemic has put so much strain on many families and that they have seen too many sad stories of babies found abandoned across the country during this time.
“Sadly, many of these babies were found dead. One of our babies was found in a veld near the train station, one was left in a hole on the side of a highway, one was found in a plastic bag in a rubbish bin and one, barely a few hours old, was found naked on a sidewalk.”
Grabham added, “These are all heart-breaking stories and we do not know what will push any person to leave a baby somewhere to die. How far will starvation, no home, extreme poverty push a person? But we are not here to judge, we are here to change lives,” said Grabham.
She said they do that by giving abandoned babies a hope in a bright future and that moms in need must remember they can drop off their babies at Door of Hope.
“Anyone can be a life changer and if you want to know how you can get involved, you can visit our website (www.doorofhope.co.za/lifechanger) for more information.
“We also want to take this opportunity to thank the Glenvista community and those from surrounding areas for helping us to keep our heads above water. Your donations of infant formula, nappies, toiletries and cleaning products have been most helpful,” concluded Grabham.
A day at Door of Hope
Grabham explained their daily operations.
A normal day starts at 7am where they immediately start bathing the babies and do the first feeding of the day (bottle of milk or cereal for the older babies) at 8am and then it is playtime until 9.30am.
They nap from 10am till noon when they get their next bottle and then playtime until 1.30pm.
“Lunch for the ones over six months old and nap time from 2pm to 4pm,” she said.
Apart from set feeding and play times, they cater for bathing time as well as storytelling time with time set aside for outdoor activities as well.
Lunch is from noon till 3pm and then whatever activities is set for the day up to supper – all in all a full day for the caregivers at Door of Hope.
Adoption
Grabham said the process is not as easy as people think, but it’s worth the wait.
“We work through a child protection agency who specialises in adoption. They do the screening for approval of parents and then match parents with a child.”
She told the CHRONICLE adoption agencies charge different fees that are regulated.
“Information on adoption and listed adoption agencies can be found at www.adoption.org.za
“In South Africa, adoptions have to be done through an accredited adoption agency or accredited adoption social worker,” she said.
Although there are days, sometimes even weeks, in which no babies arrive at the centre, certain months seem to show an influx.
“There is no pattern when it comes to babies coming to our doors, except for September and January when we get quite a few babies.”
Abandoned
“When a baby is abandoned and left in our care, the first thing we do is a general health and body check. We take a photo of the baby and anything the baby may have arrived with. We then feed and bath the baby,” said Grabham.
There are many pregnancy crisis centres all over South Africa that desperate parents can contact. We have an emergency number on our website as well as Facebook messenger.
“If the mothers contact us and they are not in Johannesburg, we put them in touch with an agency in their area. When a mother comes to our home, we do counselling first and then arrange a meeting with the social worker. “If the mother’s final decision is adoption, the social worker goes through the procedures and the family then signs consent for adoption.”
However, when a baby is left abandoned there is no information on the family.
“Having an abandoned baby, the parents most likely want to remain anonymous. It is very seldom that families come back for a baby who has been abandoned somewhere unless it was left in a hospital.”
Graham explained if a baby is left safely in their baby box, even with no information, and a person comes later claiming to be the parent, they ask for various forms of evidence and a DNA test.
“Social workers get involved wherever possible. We then reunite the baby with the family. “If a mother, who has brought her baby to our home through the door and is part of the adoption process, then decides she does not want the baby to go for adoption, social workers do a home visit and counselling wherever possible.
“After the procedure, we will reunite the baby with the family. Once a family has signed consent for adoption, they still have 60 days to change their mind,” she said.
