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The Heart Beat
As Tremendous Hearts' first long-term volunteer, I've been thrown into the deep end! I arrived in Cape Town on July 9th and have spent the last month volunteering with Home From Home, a local non-profit that provides cluster foster care to more than 100 children in 7 communities in and around Cape Town. Many of their children are orphaned and HIV+; all are from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to attending the monthly meetings with staff, each home's housemother, and the home's community partners, I supervised move-in day at two new homes in the township of Vrygrond and helped write a business plan for the organization to submit to the provincial government. I'm also supporting Home From Home by researching local and international funding prospects and providing support and guidance to a couple of their housemothers/parents.
In relocating to Cape Town,
I'm learning first-hand the challenges that our volunteers will face. From
learning to drive on the left side of the road, navigating through the often
unmarked streets in the townships and deciphering the classified advertisements
for flats, I'm gaining valuable insights to develop Tremendous Hearts'
volunteer orientation program. At times it's been overwhelming but the
satisfaction of mastering how to get to and from one of the homes in
Khayelitisha or finding the flat that will be my home for the next year is
exhilarating.
One of the most
important but unmet needs for Home From Home is having more
volunteers to serve as mentors for the pre-teen and adolescent
children. I have heard countless stories of a volunteer
committing to be a mentor, showing up for a month or so and then
vanishing leaving in their wake a child, who has already experienced
more loss than most American adults will have in a lifetime, with yet
another broken bond to overcome. These stories just strengthen
my resolve to ensure that Tremendous Hearts' is sufficiently funded to bring over our first team as soon as possible and that our volunteers never
break a child's heart by vanishing. I hope you will join me and Tremendous Hearts in our mission to provide long-term skilled volunteers to serve in organizations like Home From Home and Sibongile. Your prayers, volunteer time, and frequent flier miles are most welcome. But most importantly, we need your financial support to bring our mission to life! I hope you'll consider making a gift by clicking here today. |
 Service Days at Sibongile
Johan deBesche and Sara Stackhouse, their children Zach and Violet, and Johan's parents, Austin and Sarah deBesche took two days from their family vacation to serve with Tremendous Hearts at Sibongile in Khayelitsha. Sibongile provides high quality physical, emotional, and spiritual care to
children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. Johan, a physical therapist, spent two long days evaluating more than 20 children and providing their carers with suggestions for improving their physical condition and intellectual development. He also gave a workshop for the carers on techniques they could use on their own to help their children thrive.
Having a volunteer with Johan's gifts and skills, even for a short visit, was a huge benefit to the children and the team running Sibongile. Johan's substantial experience working with children who are deaf or hearing impaired allowed him to easily recognized that one of the boys, Jordan*, has a significant hearing loss that might explain some of his behavior and lack of speech development. This information was a revelation to the Sibongile staff and they are now scheduling Jordan for an evaluation so they can correct his hearing, which should improve his ability to communicate and learn.
Johan and Jordan's story illustrates the need for skilled volunteers, particularly those who can make a long term commitment. Just imagine what could be accomplished at Sibongile with a physical therapist committed to a year of service!
 While Johan was working with the children and their carers, the rest of the deBesche/Stackhouse family built a much-needed sandbox outside
for the children to play in. We had to move some plants, work around the winter rain and wind and borrow some tools to complete the project, but the big smiles and laughter of the children and the carers when it was done were a great reward. We're grateful to Zach, Violet, Sara, Austin, and Sarah for their help building the sandbox and to Andy Votaw for his virtual design and engineering advice! If you'd like to become a Sandbox Sponsor to help cover the cost of the supplies and toys for the sandbox, please click here to make a donation.
* We've changed the child's name to protect his privacy. |
Power of Hope Concert Series
Following their successful fundraising concert for Tremendous Hearts in April, Boston's premier South African ensemble, Matimba ya Ripfumelo will present a fall concert series to continue their support for our work in South Africa. The first concert is scheduled for Saturday, September 12 and is co-sponsored by Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge, MA.
A second concert has been scheduled for Saturday, October 16 at 6:30 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the North Hampton United Church of Christ in North Hampton, NH. Check the Tremendous Hearts website for additional dates and locations! Click here for more information and to purchase your tickets. |
