Baphumelele Today

Through hard work, determination and the help of the community and overseas friends, Baphumelele has rapidly expanded into the Baphumelele EDUCARE CENTER, the Baphumelele CHILDREN'S HOME, the Baphumelele WOOD WORKSHOP and recently into the BAPHUMELELE SOUP KITCHEN.
HEALTH CARE is an important aspect of the home and is continuously being addressed and upgraded where possible.
Beyond today's objectives there are further long term goals.

BAPHUMELELE EDUCARE CENTER

From humble beginnings in 1989, the BAPHUMELELE EDUCARE CENTER today provides Waldorf-based playing and learning for over 230 children aged between three months and six years. As some of the children are malnourished, breakfast and lunch are provided. Currently there are 13 teachers and two cooks, and some 35 children of the Children's Home attend school there. The Center is funded independently by the Department of Social Services, supplemented by fees raised from the parents. The children from the Children's Home however are attending free of charge.

BAPHUMELELE CHILDREN'S HOME

Founded in 2001 as a place of safety, the children's home was officially registered in May 2005 as an orphanage with a capacity to accommodate up to 106 children. The Home aims to provide orphans with a stable, loving and permanent home and to provide them with health care. It also serves as a place of safety to assist children in crisis 24 hours a day. These children are either orphaned or abandoned, often abused and infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Baphumelele is still the only orphanage in Khayelitsha to accommodate children above the age of eight.

The Home houses a fluctuating number of children, between 70 and 100, ranging in age from newborn to 19 years old. At present the children live in three separate buildings (see Building Master Plan) under cramped conditions. They are cared for by women (see PEOPLE) from the community who love them as their very own and who are supported by volunteers. (see CONTRIBUTE)

BAPHUMELELE WOOD WORKSHOP

The workshop is well equipped and provides skills, training and employment opportunities for members of the local community. It produces articles which are sold to raise funds. (see SALES)

HEALTH CARE

Because a number of children are infected with HIV (including a number of babies who have a combined infections of HIV and TB) there is a strong sense of Health Care at Baphumelele. These sick children are taken to various existing facilities, including the Health Clinic in Khayelitsha, which is visited two or three times a week.

The current system requires that anyone in need of attention arrives at the clinic early and queues for what might be an entire day. Caregivers and volunteers make sure that the children get to the clinic, where they will receive their immunisation injections, medicines and TB tablets.

There are also visits made to Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, which is the center for anti-retroviral drug treatment. Unfortunately, this is an aggressive treatment, requiring that the patient remains quite sturdy and able to withstand the severe side effects. For this reason good nutrition is essential in aiding the treatment and alleviating the discomfort.

The Red Cross Children's Hospital caters for the very sick children, usually referred to them by the Health Clinic, and it is essential that someone stays with the sick child for the entire period of his/her hospitalisation.

Since February 2005 Baphumelele is visited every Monday and Thursday by a volunteering doctor and two nurses. The nurses prepare the medicine syringes for 4 days at a time ensuring accurate dispensing and training caregivers to administer the medication. The doctor remains on call during the rest of the week.

LONG TERM GOALS

Financial
The financial goal of the Baphumelele Children's Home is to attain viability and self-sustainability through its training and income generating programs (see also SALES), ongoing Government subsidies and the Sponsorship Program. The home currently relies heavily on donations in order to be able to offer the services it provides to the community. These come in a variety of forms, so while Baphumelele receives some donations of food and clothing, the daily running costs can only be covered through financial contributions at this stage.

Cluster homes
The Building Master Plan details the planned development of the present premises as a series of cluster homes where children will live in manageable age groups with their caregivers and with attention to the particular needs of each group.

Respite Care
Another of Baphumelele's important long term goals is the building of a new centre for teenagers infected with HIV. These children are often neglected and rejected by their parents upon contracting HIV, and this new respite care centre would serve not only as a place to receive food, medication, health education and counselling but, most importantly, love and support. At the moment some NGOs hand out weekly food parcels in the community, yet despite these contributions, these parcels are not effective enough in combating the problem. There is a strong awareness that the correct nutrition is a prerequisite for medication to be effective, however, with the continual abandonment of sick children, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide these children with the correct nutritional foods.