House of Many Blessings, Two

House of Many Blessings, Two

Writer Elaine Davie

There is something heart-wrenchingly sad about babies being abandoned at birth.

Handicapped by the loss of a mother’s love within the first few days, weeks, months of their lives, what can the future possibly hold for them? But then, in Zwelihle, there’s Izibusiso, the House of Many Blessings; a promise of hope.

Responding to a need on the ground where teen pregnancies, child neglect and abuse were the order of the day, Izibusiso was the brainchild of Rina Hugo, former Manager of Hermanus Child Welfare. She roped in Glenda Furst to drive the project in partnership with the United Church of Hermanus, and a dream turned into an act of faith. A small, basic house on a relatively large plot in Zwelihle was identi- fied and acquired, the house was extended and equipped, the property securely enclosed and planted with grass.

After two house mothers had been trained, Izibusiso was launched in 2009 as a group foster home and place of safety for babies and toddlers up to the age of six years. Since then, 148 children many of them seriously malnourished and ill when they arrived, have been given a new start in life. By law, a maximum of six chil- dren may be accommodated in the house and they remain there until suitable ‘forever’ homes can be identified. Many have been adopted by families outside of the Western Cape and even the country, but most of these remain in touch with Izibusiso, frequently sending progress reports and photographs of their children.

While it was originally managed by Hermanus Child Welfare, in 2021 the project was registered as an independent Non-Profit entity, while retaining its close relationship with what is now known as Hermanus Child and Family Services. The enduring characteristic of Izibusiso has remained the love and care with which the children are surrounded.

Apart from the carefully chosen and trained housemothers, who run the house like a normal family home, a group of women volunteers called the Izibusiso Angels spend time playing with the children, reading to them, organising birthday parties, taking them on outings and generally behaving like the doting aunties most children would love to have. At the same time, the community surrounding the house is proud of its presence and members feel a strong sense of responsibility for the safety of the children. Local businesses and private donors have also played their part.

For example, Glenda says, “Abagold paid the home’s monthly electricity bill from the begin- ning (and with the clothing and blankets of six babies to be kept washed and ironed that was a considerable sum), as well as taking care of occasional maintenance work. The company’s nursing sister was also available whenever we needed her. There are otherstoo who havew remained committed to the welfare of the children through the years.

However, as time passed, it became clear to the Izibusiso Board of Trustees, now under the Chairmanship of go-getter Sheila Lyle, that de- mand for a place in the house had outstripped its capacity. As an enthusiastic member of the Lighthouse 2 Lighthouse hiking group, she was able to motivate them to step in and step up to make the establishment of a second Izibusiso House a possibility. Two challenging walks later – hundreds of ladies walking hundreds of kilometres – R700 000 had been raised, enough to buy another property about three blocks away from the original one, renovate the house and extend it.

On 22 June, the opening of Izibusiso Two was celebrated, with its first three babies already installed. The youngest, a baby boy named Sinenjongo, had arrived at the beginning of the month aged seven days. Like Izibusiso One, it will be able to accommodate six little ones under the care of two trained housemothers. As Sheila comments, “Furnishing a house from

scratch is not an inexpensive exercise, but apart from a few items like a fridge, washing machine and tumble dryer, we are indeed blessed to have had all the essentials donated to us.”

The comment made by Rev Bevan Sylvester of the United Church was that in this broken and wounded world, Izibusiso was an inspiration, healing the life of one child at a time with love, grace and compassion.

For more information about Izibusiso, visit its website, www.izibusiso.org or email info@ izibusiso.org