When Rae Bagus begins to tell the story of what led to her starting lilChoices, her face falls. It’s still a difficult event for her to accept.

“I was working at the SOS and a father called me to ask if I could find a place for his daughter. She was 21 and pregnant. And he was a high-profile Indian businessman.”

The man insisted that his daughter either be sent somewhere to have the baby or have an abortion something the girl was deeply opposed to.

Despite not working with young women that age Bagus asked the father to give her five days to come up with a solution.

“Before the five-day deadline I called. I hadn’t been successful but I wanted him to know I was working on it.” It was too late. “The deed is done was all he said,” says Bagus.

The man had forced his daughter to have an abortion.

“All I could say to him was you just killed two people. Your daughter because she’ll have to live with something she didn’t want her whole life and your grandchild.”

Bagus asked him if he’d thought about the reality that the baby may have been his only chance to have a grandchild. “Then so be it,” was all he said.

 “I came up with the idea for lilChoices as a result. I realised just how terrible the plight is of young women who for one reason or another find themselves pregnant and then abandoned.”She registered the organisation but didn’t start working with young mothers- to-be until a couple of years later.

The organisation has helped over a dozen mothers bring their babies to term in a safe, and warm environment.

Through her partnerships with social workers and private adoption agencies, Bagus has helped scared moms take control of their destinies and that of their children.

“LilChoices is actually just what the name says. Girls have a choice. They don’t come here having to have to give their babies up,” says Bagus.

“They have the choice of keeping their babies. Keeping their babies is a little more challenging because the moms come here with nothing most don’t even have any skills that would allow them to provide for their children.”

What the organisation then does is it puts the babies into foster care for a period of two years. Moms are allowed to visit and bond with their children.

The girls use the two years to rehabilitate their lives gain a skill, get a job and find a place to live.

“When we’re happy that she’s able to take care of her baby we will place the child back with her. If at the end of the two years she needs more time we will give it to her but we will not place her baby back with her  until we’re satisfied that she’s rehabilitated her life.”

Despite the amazing work she’s doing the challenge remains daunting. Expenses like paying for food, medical care, housing and basics for the mothers like toiletries and clothes all fall on Bagus. “Some of them arrive here with just the clothes on their backs,” she says.

“It would be great to find a sponsor to help us carry the load.”

To donate or help with sponsorship contact 011 672 8051/082 782 6018 or email director@lilchoices.org