But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that send out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17v7
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18v14
This year much effort has been expended working towards the re-opening of the Home after the fire disaster in June 2015.
After the architect had drawn up plans for the new unit to replace the damaged boys’ unit, discussions were held with him and the engineer, the outcome of which indicated that it would be more expensive than we had originally estimated. A meeting of the Board was held and it was agreed at that point that funds which had already been raised should be used to repair and renovate the existing buildings, including the replacement of the damaged unit with a therapy unit, and we should then aim to apply for re registration by the end of December 2016 with a reduced number of children. Once further funds had been raised the new unit could then be built and application made to increase the registration. In fact, the whole [process of renovation, and working towards meeting the norms and standards turned out to be much more time consuming than envisaged, and so re-application for registration was not done by the end of this year.
One of the delays was that the investigative task team informed the District Department of Social Development in August 2016 that they should have started with a survey to establish whether a Home is even required, and should it be at Mseleni?! We were not expecting this, as we had been previously told that the Home was temporarily closed while we addressed any problems which were picked up. DSD then undertook the survey, the results of which were not released until ***, and then only in draft form, and were not willing to work with us until that process was complete.
However, much progress has been made.
SIM International & SIM UK launched appeals both of which have raised significant funds. The renovations and rebuilding are completed. This includes the renovation of what was previously the house for the senior care worker, and will now be used as a care workers’ office, manager’s office, staff room, staff ablutions, & store room for craft, linen, spare clothes & school supplies. All the buildings now have the required fire exits and the panic hardware for opening the doors has been installed. Since ease of exit in case of fire meant that security was compromised as the children could exit easily whenever they want, we also had to fit alarms which will go off whenever the fire exits are opened. Some of these exits are also the regular entrance and exit doors to the buildings, so there also had to be an over-ride on the alarms for daytime use. And all this had to be set up in such a way that the children cannot turn off the alarms themselves. Complicated! But done! A bore hole was installed giving us an improved water supply. Inspections and consultation with the municipal fire department led to the conclusion that in order to comply with regulations we would need to install 7 fire hose reels and also put in an alternative water supply for them. This meant the construction of a massive 9 metre high tower to support two 10 000 litre water tanks, which then had to be piped in. This was a very expensive, and lengthy job. We also installed a lot more fire extinguishers, added some more fire blankets, added more fire signage, and installed 42 smoke detectors. At last we were given a certificate by the fire department that we were up to standard!
We have added personal fitted cupboards for 40 children, which have shelving and hanging space, and are lockable. This will improve their privacy.
The unit which was damaged in the fire has been rebuilt and converted into a therapy unit which will be used for individual counselling and group therapy unit, and is also equipped for play therapy. There is also an office for the social worker, and a store room.
We have used the time while the Home has been closed to get all the Care Workers trained. Seven of the staff who were already employed in the Home, plus a further seven who have been recruited with a view to being employed when we reopen started their training in December 2015. They did two weeks training in each month, and it was quite intense. The trainer from the National Association of Care Workers was excellent. The training has now been completed. The staff are enthusiastic and keen to put what they are learning into practice. In March we had a visit from Chris Maphosa of the Today for Tomorrow Project, along with Mama Elizabeth and another lady from Swaziland. It was great to be able to gather most of the care workers together to have a workshop with Chris and the ladies giving a refresher and some more training on these materials which we use with the children.
A need for the social worker to be trained in therapeutic programmes was identified in the turn-around plan drawn up with DSD, and the District DSD undertook to organise this. However, it never happened, so we went ahead and have organised this training ourselves. Thabo, our social worker, comments that it was extremely useful and he also is looking forward to putting what he learnt into practice.
The menu has been revised and approved by a dietician. All the policies have been revised and improved.
The generator (powerful enough to supply the entire property and with automatic switch over when ESKOM goes off) has been installed. The wiring of all the buildings has been upgraded, and checked and a certificate of compliance issued. We had a volunteer day in March when a happy crowd – some local, some from further afield, some old & some young! – joined together to get a lot of the initial painting done. Since then, Sandile and Bhekizenzo did a great job to finish what is left. All the units have now been repainted, & necessary renovations completed The wiring of all the buildings has been upgraded, and checked and a certificate of compliance issued. Repainting of most of the units has been completed. New beds and fire retardant mattresses have been purchased.
We have been able to get letters of support from several of the Traditional Councils, Mseleni Hospital, the local Municipality and the Municipal District. 6
At a meeting in January the Board decided that it would be very helpful to have Mrs Nosihle Mabika back as part of the team in order to assist with moving the process forward. She was invited to be interviewed for the position of manager of the Children’s Home, and having done very well at the interview, has been with us in that position since the beginning of February. It is great to have her back.
We are sad to be saying goodbye to our Treasurer, Mrs Gerda Viljoen, who has served on the Board for a number of years. But we are happy to have been able to appoint a new Treasurer, Mr Sebenzani Biyela. In view of the fact that our constitution was not in line with the requirements of the Children’s Act and also because DSD had some issues with the way Lulisandla Kumntwana and Mseleni Children’s Home share the same Non Profit Organisation number, it was decided that the constitution should be revised. A new umbrella organization called Mseleni Care and Compassion Ministries has been created, and the old Board has become the Council for this. The ministries of Mseleni Care and Compassion Ministries are now Mseleni Children’s Home, with a Board selected from the Council, and also Lulisandla Kumntwana and Ebenezer Early Childhood Development Centre. The current Council is very motivated and supportive and a great encouragement.
The Rotary funds for the equipment for the ECDC were released, equipment was purchased and the ECDC started functioning in January 2017. During 2016 there was a fun day to advertise the ECDC. Unfortunately it was extremely cold, so not well attended, but those who were there really loved it.
Enrolment since the ECDC opened has been disappointingly low, but what has not been disappointing is the very high standard of work by the staff. They have created a fun and stimulating programme and the children at the centre just love it, and they are learning huge amounts. We are so impressed with what is being done, and look forward to this programme being there for the preschool children of the Home, if, God willing, we get up and running.
The children are in groups according to age
Each week there is a different theme. When the theme was “TRANSPORT” they made school buses.
Lots of the young people who left the Home in recent years are going on with their education. Nokwanda, Mxolisi, and Eric continue to work towards a qualification in Tourism. Mdu is doing Hospitality. These are all at the level where they will get the equivalent of a Matric together with the vocational qualification. Isaiah is working towards a Diploma in Electrical Engineering. Tholakele completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Developmental Studies and is now working towards her Honours. Nontobeko completed the study part of her Diploma in Human Resource Management but has not been able to do her in-service training. She has now diverted somewhat and has been learning to bake and decorate cakes and has the beginnings of what looks like becoming a very successful business. She is a born entrepreneur and also very talented with the cakes! S’no (the daughter of our care worker who we so sadly lost in the fire) is doing very well doing a B Tech in Child & Youth Care. Hlengiwe, who has been working for some time now as a clerk at a hospital in Durban, delighted us all by getting married to a lovely Christian man from Zimbabwe in December. She was also baptized recently. Sandile is working part time at Mseleni Hospital in the therapy department mending wheelchairs and also part time at the Children’s Home doing maintenance and looking after the grounds. Through the generosity of a church in the UK, a house has been built for him in the local community, and when it has been furnished and water laid on, preparations will be made for him to move in. Bhekizenzo has still not been able to get work as a fire fighter, but he is heading up a team of volunteers from our local community. The idea is to set up an emergency first response team. The fire fighters from the municipality are based quite a way away and it takes at least an hour for them to arrive here, so there is a need for a quicker first response. Bhekizenzo is working very hard training up these volunteers. S’li wrote her final school exams this year (she was at special school in Durban). She won a trophy for being the most helpful and generous pupil in her school – voted by the other pupils! She succeeded in getting a pass at matric good enough to get her into university. She went for an audition at University of Cape Town to study drama. She did very well, but competition was tough and she did not get a place. She also was not able to get in at UKZN because her English mark was not good enough. So we decided she would spend this year at home with us working on upgrading her English. We enjoy having her here, and she is enjoying being at home. In addition to working on her English she is volunteering in the Mseleni Hospital therapy department, and doing a great job there. The plan is that she will go to study for BA in Live Performance & Film Production at AFDA in Cape Town, starting in 2018.
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