Matthew 6 v 25-26 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 

I asked God to meet certain needs at iKhaya and this month I have been overwhelmed by His provision that I was brought to tears… a few times! When I reflect on just how blessed we are, I am brought to my knees and humbled by His hand over us. We serve a mighty King and He takes care of our every need. 

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and every person who gives so willingly and selflessly into the lives of our kids. Be it repairs to bicycles, home maintenance, quality time with the kids, providing clothing or treats, medical treatments, shopping or general day to day hands on help, the list is endless, and every effort is appreciated and noticed not just by us but by our Heavenly Father too.

Welcome to Daniel!!!

Daniel is a delightful little lad who arrived from Destiny House to live here with us. He has settled in beautifully with his house mom and dad, Ellen and Honest, and the house family. This brings the number of iKhaya kids to 5, the maximum in iKhaya 3. The good news is that there is a prospective adoptive family in our area for Daniel and we look forward to seeing their relationship blossom.

Birthdays

We celebrated 2 kids’ birthdays in April. Lwandile turned 2 and Daniel 3 years old. Thanks to BWA Zululand, our kids get spoilt with a birthday cake and a gift for their birthday and we are able to celebrate their birthdays together with a small party.

Outings

To kick start the April school holidays our school going kids visited R&B Ranch, just outside Empangeni. They enjoyed horse rides, a picnic lunch and loads of play time together outdoors. The kids have also enjoyed some FUN, SUN and SEA again this month with a trip to Alkanstrand and to KZN Wildlife in Mtunzini.

Campout Party

Bryce chose to celebrate her 12th birthday with the kids of iKhaya. We had a sleepover birthday party at the Youth Hall at Solid Ground Church. Despite the adrenalin rush keeping the kiddies awake beyond lights out; great fun was had by all!

Out of the mouths of babes…

Thabiso is just 3 years old but is bright and never misses a beat! He came to me to report that they (the kids) don’t like it when Patience (a Caregiver) is on duty as she is mean to them especially at night. I decided to probe for further information and asked why. He promptly advised that, “she is mean because she cooks gem squash; AND makes us eat it!”

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With Love

Loressa Neale

Coordinator

Thank you for your interest in iKhaya LikaBaba and for taking the time to visit this site. Should you wish to partner with us in any way please visit the “Get Involved” page.

Settling In
This month has been great for Nishi and me. We have faced many challenges but have come out tops! Although Wendy and Janet held the fort in the absence of a coordinator, and did a sterling job at that, it’s been somewhat settling for the staff and kids to know that they have someone “permanent” leading them once again. For me the best part is the love the kids so willing lap up and impart in return. Their little smiles and embraces are enough to melt any heart!

March 2015 Outings
Our preschool aged kids had two outings in March. One, a trip to the beach, and another, a visit to a local farm, R&B Ranch, just outside Empangeni. The pictures themselves say it all. They had a blast!

Asanda turned 6 years and Sphelele 5 years old in March and with grateful thanks to the Zululand BWA the kids enjoyed cake and received great gifts. What a blessing and treat!

Small Talk
Who doesn’t enjoy the quirky chirps from the mouths of babes!? Well I thought I would share some of these delightful comments here with you.
Alwande was looking at photographs of my father’s 70th birthday cake on my cellphone screen. She asks, “Why did you take such a small picture. There won’t be enough cake for everyone”.

Samke and the girls were cooking on Sphelele’s new toy kitchen received for birthday. As they played the smell of supper cooking wafted through the air. Samke calls out, “Loressa, we are cooking! Can you smell it?”

I greeted Jabu calling her a super star. Khaya, who is just 3 years old, overheard me. So I explained to him that Jabu did amazingly well at school this term so we should call her super star. I asked him to say hello super star and this is his interpretation, “Hello duper dar”.
Thank you for your support and care. Please keep in touch through us via email or our Facebook Page.

Thank you for your interest in iKhaya LikaBaba and for taking the time to visit this site. Should you wish to partner with us in any way please visit the “Get Involved” page.

“Great news all round”

February has been a hot and busy but incredibly fruitful month in the iKhaya household. It brings us great joy to announce our new Coordinator Loressa Neale, who formally commences at iKhaya in March. Loressa is no stranger to iKhaya and has been involved with the staff and children as a regular friend and visitor, for a few years. Upon hearing that Loressa was taking on this role, one of the staff’s immediate response was, ’Oh, Loressa-the one who loves the children so much.’ Not only does Loressa already know each of the children personally, her heart has been drawn towards orphaned children since she was a teen. She is incredibly excited about this opportunity. ’’I am excited and love this place. With God’s grace and His guidance I know this will be a blessing for me and my girls and especially for iKhaya.”

Loressa, Kaylee and Bryce

In the same breath we would like to introduce Nishi Naidoo who is taking on the role of Personal Assistant to Loressa. Nishi has started at iKhaya this month and has been incredibly busy and is making great inroads on stocking, organising and overseeing various administrative duties at iKhaya, with great enthusiasm. Nishi loves the interaction with the little ones in the mornings and often takes a moment to engage with them in their play and routine.

Nishi and Melkom Naidoo

We have just been notified by our Department of Social Development that we have full authorization to increase our numbers of children from 15 to 20 in the new financial year! We are delighted by this news and the timing is impeccable. We are confident that with this amazing team of ladies, along with our Social Worker, House parents and Caregivers that we prepared for this imminent season of growth which awaits the iKhaya Family.

Please keep in touch through us via email or our Facebook page.

Thank you for your interest in iKhaya LikaBaba and for taking the time to visit this site. Should you wish to partner with us in any way please visit the “Get Involved” page.

iKhaya LikaBaba is a hive of activity at the moment as everyone prepares for the school year ahead. The three ‘new’ volunteers along with the staff of iKhaya are excitedly putting the last touches on the stationery, uniforms and bags in anticipation of school next week. Seven of the children will be attending from this year and the younger children have been counting down to this day for a while, very eager to join the others.

Christmas was a special time for iKhaya as they celebrated with the family at the Christmas Church service and a braai afterwards with some special visits from families and friends of iKhaya. Thank you to those who so generously blessed iKhaya with groceries and gifts for the children and staff, and especially for taking time to come and visit and play with and read to these little ones. Some gifts came from as far as Canada, Germany, Holland and America! It is such a privilege to have faithful friends who love the children deeply and still keep open the channels of communication even as the years roll by!

Helga Budal was warmly welcomed to iKhaya and she oversaw iKhaya 3 for a couple of weeks which enabled our houseparents to take some leave and to travel to Zimbabwe to visit and celebrate Christmas with their extended family. We had the pleasure of meeting up with Tormod once again as he joined Helga for some time at iKhaya.

The children continue to be an absolute blessing to our Community as they meet up with and ‘bump into’ familiar folk in and around town. Their affection for one another and their deep joy and zest for life brings perspective to one, as we see their struggles and see how far they have come.

One little boy, after a sensitive process was re-united with his father in early December. He is doing well and sounds like he is settling into his family under the close watch of his father. Another little boy is presently on a 3 month visit with his family and is also settling well and has had a good Christmas as a family. Two of our little girls have also spent some time with extended family and we are expecting them back this week. In addition to this some of the children have had outings and visits to local families within the church and community.

We have enjoyed the benefits of having a qualified Social Worker placed at iKhaya from last year and it is very clear to us that having our Social worker committed to and working for iKhaya LikaBaba has meant that more children have been placed within suitable families, through reunification. This means more children will be able to be placed within the communities, from which they come, as extended family take on the role of caring for their children. This in turn creates more room for more children who are needing to be placed safely in iKhaya LikaBaba. Our Government – The Department of Social Development have kindly funded the monthly salary for our Social worker and continue to monitor our progress and assist us where possible.

In April last year we were privileged to be a part of an international adoption. Although many tears were shed, on releasing this little lad, we have had the joy of seeing his progress as he is settling into the new family and American culture. His Christmas was very different this year and whilst we all sought out water and shade and sand and sun, he enjoyed playing in the snow-a far cry from Empangeni’s Summer heat!

Please keep in touch with us via e –mail or our facebook page.

Thank you for your interest in iKhaya LikaBaba and for taking the time to visit this site. Should you wish to partner with us in any way please visit the “Get Involved” page.