14 Dec 2017
We were overjoyed to receive contact from our dear friend Sr Sally Duigan at the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa who kindly provided us with some updates as to how our most recent fundraising donations have been put to use.
“Holy Family Care Centre; the children and staff have benefited enormously from the funding received from MSC Mission Office Ireland. We are so grateful.
Holy Family was struggling to care for our children particularly as we were admitting many young children and babies. We did not have a dedicated nursery and used our sick bay temporarily to accommodate the babies. Thanks to MSC Mission Office Ireland we now have a purpose built building where we can care for our babies and most vulnerable children aged up to two years. We continue to admit young children living with HIV / Aids from the surrounding villages who have been neglected and/or orphaned and require specialized care and monitoring.
Limpopo Province where we are situated is the second poorest province in South Africa. We are still seeing children malnourished, undernourished and stunted in their growth. This is often irreversible as good nutrition is necessary to nurture growth in their first five years. Our new food preparation area is ideal for our nurses to prepare special formulas for the babies and fortified foods for our malnourished young ones.
Infection control is so important and our new building functions with separate appropriate areas for sleeping, bathing, changing nappies and food preparation area. We are truly blessed to be able to provide a high quality of care.
Currently we have 17 children in our crèche – our youngest is 6 months old. Many of the children are living with HIV/Aids. The new extension accommodates for graduated learning and playing groups. Our Crèche teachers have different rooms to utilize for children age groups – toddlers up to 2 years, 3 to 4 year old group and pre-school to prepare for school each year.
The older boys now have a proper showering area with private shower recesses. The area is much easier to clean and the boys have inside access from the dormitories. This project was long overdue and has only been achieved through your financial assistance.
Our old staff accommodation of four rooms has been refurbished much to the delight of the staff. The showering and bathroom area has been rebuilt and is of a much higher hygienic standard, again an area that was in great need of attention.
It is with much gratitude and love that we at Holy Family Care Centre thank you for your generous donations which has allowed us to overhaul some old and much needed work. In addition the new areas in the crèche and the new nursery have been a huge success functionally and has improved the quality of care the children receive.
Above all we continue to give our children love, security and care in the hope they will thrive. We want them to have the energy to enjoy playtime, be able to learn and live a happy life.”
With love and Gods blessing,
Sr Sally Duigan, all the children and Staff.
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Some of the main upgrades made at the Holy Family Care Centre include:
- New Boys Ablution Block – New washbasins, mirrors, four new individual shower recesses with shelves and hooks for towels and clothes.
- New Nursery – This new nursery is able to accommodate up to eight babies (including any special care toddlers under two years living with HIV /Aids).
- New food preparation area.
- Children’s sick bay.
- Installation of a linking corridor from the nursery and clinic through to the crèche.
- Crèche extension and installation of an Education Room.
- Indoor play area.
- Refurbished outdoor crèche play area.
- Staff ablution area – Three new showers and one toilet. Existing bedrooms refurbished – painting, new wash basins and cupboards, lighting, overhead fan, curtains and power points.
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