Hope Out Loud, Tremendous Hearts' fall fundraiser, is shaping up to be an incredible evening.  Join us and please bring your family and friends. Great food and wine has been donated by local restaurants like Fire and Ice in Cambridge. An inspiring performance by the Boston Community Choir and a silent auction will add to the fun.  The auction will feature award-winning South African wines, handcrafted jewelry, Patriots tickets, and celebrity-autographed gifts... with more auction items added every day.  All of the proceeds from Hope Out Loud will support the work Tremendous Hearts is doing in South Africa.  So come and enjoy the entertainment, do a bit of early holiday shopping while supporting a good cause.

Buy your tickets now!

Saturday,

November 6, 2010

First Parish of Watertown
35 Church Street
Watertown, MA

Pre-Auction Reception - 5:30

Silent Auction and

Music Event - 6-8:30

Tickets:

Individual Event $25

Family  Event $60

Reception & Event $75

In 2009, Tremendous Hearts had the honor of welcoming the deBesche-Stackhouse family to Cape Town. Johan deBesche and Sara Stackhouse, together with their children Zach and Violet and Johan's parents, Sarah and Austin, volunteered at the Sibongile Day & Night Care Centre in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town. Sibongile provides residential care for orphaned and abandoned children with cerebral palsy and other severe physical disabilities, many also suffering from HIV/AIDS.

A pediatric physical therapist, Johan recognized that in a country filled with vulnerable children, the state of disabled children is even more heartbreaking. The children's need for rehabilitation services is enormous. Loving caregivers are frequently untrained to give the children what they need to thrive beyond food, shelter and love, and the children have little to no access to schools and medical resources.

So, after much soul-searching and thought about the impact on their young family, Johan and Sara have decided to return to South Africa with their children for an 11-month project at Sibongile.

"We are blown away by the loving caregivers working with disabled orphans in Cape Town, and are thrilled to be working with them to develop physical therapy plans for the kids at Sibongile. So much is possible for disabled kids: with great therapy and healthcare they can thrive," Johan writes. "And for our family, it is a huge gift to get to work and learn from the folks at Sibongile and at Tremendous Hearts, and to experience South Africa this way. We are grateful for the opportunity and can't wait!"

Johan has already begun working closely with Sibongile and the University of Cape Town to develop his primary goals for this project. They include:

• Developing and implementing a plan of treatment for the disabled children at Sibongile
• Designing and implementing a training program for Sibongile caregivers
•  Establishing a clinical training program for PT students at the University of Cape Town to ensure that local experts are prepared and excited to work with these children
• Establishing a network of consistent, long-term care for the disabled children, leveraging his relationships with Sibongile, Red Cross Children's Hospital, and the University of Cape Town
• Publishing best practices, as well as a local Resource Guide for caregivers and medical professionals working with disabled orphans and vulnerable children in the Cape Town area
  

Tremendous Hearts is grateful for the family's commitment to our mission. Johan has applied for a Fulbright Grant to help fund his project, and we hope to make the transition to life in South Africa as seamless as possible for the entire family, so that Johan and Sara can make an immediate and long-lasting impact.

Tremendous Hearts has, at its core, a strong belief that volunteerism is a powerful agent for social change.  That belief fuels our mission to provide long-term volunteers to children's homes in South Africa to improve the standard of care and increase the number of children who are placed with family or in family-like settings. 

As an organization, we too have benefited from the spirit, energy, and drive of volunteers in the U.S. In fact, Tremendous Hearts was built entirely by volunteers.  For the last couple of years, we have relied on a group of talented, generous and committed friends and family to set up our financial systems, develop our website, write proposals, fundraise and produce events.  So as we begin to realize our mission in South Africa, we also want to highlight the amazing dedication and hours of work that they put into bringing the mission to life. 

For example, Matimba ya Ripfumelo is one of the most prolific groups of volunteers working in support of Tremendous Hearts.  Led by Teboho Moeno with support from Bernadette Colley, the singers and musicians that comprise Matimba have collectively given thousands of hours of their time rehearsing and performing concerts throughout New England to benefit Tremendous Hearts.

Founded by Teboho, Matimba ya Ripfumelo, which means the "power of hope" in Tsonga, has 16 South African singers, living in the U.S. Each has suffered losses because of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, and they want to fight back. The members of Matimba strive to educate people about the beauty of South African music and heritage. And they have been inspired by our work with orphans and vulnerable children - many suffering from HIV/AIDS - in Cape Town.

Matimba has entertained more than a thousand concert-goers with their unique mix of traditional and contemporary South African music and with their passion for the orphans and vulnerable children in their home country.

"During the last 18 months, Matimba has made an incredible contribution to Tremendous Hearts, says Joye Dickens, a Tremendous Hearts board member.  "They joined their voices, spirit and heartfelt desire to help the thousands of orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa through their partnership with us.  Not only did Matimba raise funds for Tremendous Hearts' mission but raised awareness about the orphan crisis in South Africa for many, many concert goers.  We are very grateful for their inspired support!"  

We are seeking volunteers for 2011 and beyond! If you are willing to commit to 6 months or more of service, please check out the application materials on our website.  Marilyn is working hard with several children's homes to establish new projects for the next year or so.  Thus far, she has identified specific needs in the following areas:

Medical - Nurse/Doctor/Physician's Assistant to assist homes in establishing child health management systems, including care plans for children in the homes and connecting the homes with local medical resources.

Counseling - Pastoral counselor/clinical social worker/psychologist to provide counseling to children and their care-givers.

Resource Development - Fundraisers/Marketing Professionals to assist homes with raising money for, and increasing awareness of, their needs.

Child Health and Well-being - Occupational Therapist/Physical Therapists, particularly those with pediatric experience, to advise homes and to provide therapy to children across a spectrum of issues.

If you are an experienced practitioner in one of the fields noted above, or know someone who is, and are curious about volunteering, please contact us at applications@tremendoushearts.org today!