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The Esperado Children's Haven

A Devastating fire at at the Esperado children's Haven at Lows Creek in South Africa was the reason that we began the charity, that was November 2002 but the establishment of the Haven began back in January 1996. Sophia Jardim an Africana lady, who was already doing charity work in her community, one day visited her local hospital to see if any help was needed with children whose parents were either sick or busy working and unable to visit their children. What Sophia discovered shocked her, she had no idea that so many sick, abused or simply homeless children had been indefinitely abandoned in that hospital. Some because of mistreatment by the death of the parents or the collapse of the extended family. Since then Sophia has fostered and adopted abandoned children in her home. At first this was in Barberton but as the family grew she was able to purchase the Esperado farm at Low's Creek. Over the years 116 children have been looked after educated and cared for by Sophia, a lady who could have chosen a comfortable life as a suburban house wife but instead committed herself to looking after children who had no prospect in life other than poverty. Over the years we have helped Sophia in many ways, buying equipment, providing transport, and helping with finance. The problem for Sophia and others like her is that South Africa is a modern economy where costs have risen over the years. There is very little State support, so Sophia and her family face constant hardship.

Swaziland

In 2009 we assisted the Catholic Regina Mundi Mission at the town of Piggs Peak in Swaziland with children's education and then with the building of a classroom at the St Peregrines School. At that time Swaziland had one of the highest incidence of AIDS in the world and an estimated lifespan of less than 40 years. Young children who had lost both parents were left to bring up themselves and their younger siblings. A home economics facility. Fully kitted out with kitchen units, fridges, cookers, sinks etc was required to teach children to survive and manage a home. This was a hugely expensive job for us but with the generosity of a local jersey company and help from the overseas aid's committee of Jersey the job was completed, a resounding success.

The Komaticare Centre

Komatipoort is a small town about 10 kilometres from the world famous Kruger National Park. Adjacent to the town is the small township of Orlando. Orlando is a place of varying degrees of poverty mostly of it very severe. The people there live in any thing from small block built houses to tin shacks. In 2003 a small pre-school was established by the local church. It's beginning came about when very young children from Orlando were found scavenging on local rubbish dumps. The "Komati-Care Centre" is a registered non profit organisation and at present 60 children from 3 to 6 years of age attend five days a week getting a little education, lots of play and two healthy meals a day. We were asked if we could help in any way. Our first project in 2014 was to build a Jungle gym in their playground. Since then we have built a new classroom, re-furbished the kitchen, put a security fence around the Centre and recently added some swings. In addition we provide funds for the purchase of food. For our latest projects visit the "Latest News Page"

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