iKhaya LikaBaba is a non-profit organisation based in Empangeni, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The name iKhaya LikaBaba is an isiZulu phrase that means “House of the Father”.
Initially iKhaya was established in response to God’s call to respond to the number of babies that are abandoned in our area due to poverty related issues such as HIV, poverty, teenage pregnancy and the like. iKhaya affords the shelter, love, and the quality of care these children deserve. Our primary goal is to have them restored with their families, or placed in adoptive or foster families whenever possible. However, we accept that there will be many for whom these options cannot be realised and we are committed to raising them to adulthood and providing a family within the body of the church because “God sets the lonely in families”. Psalm68:6a.
We provide excellent care that is individualised according to each child’s needs. Our full time staff consists of a Coordinator, an Assistant, Social Worker, House Mothers, Child & Youth Care Workers and Caregivers. We also host full time volunteers who generally come to us from other nations and serve iKhaya as their ministry to Christ for a year. Local volunteers who consist of registered nurses, occupational therapists, doctors, physiotherapists, and maintenance assistants also serve iKhaya in the time they have available. Our aim is to provide well-balanced physical, social, and emotional care aimed at developing each child to his or her full potential.
iKhaya is located on the campus of Solid Ground Church and is a ministry of the church. iKhaya is overseen by a Management Committee (Mancom) made up of members of Solid Ground Church. iKhaya’s constitution requires that there are at least three of the church’s elders on the Mancom because it is the churches view that the solution to poverty lies in the practice of good governance.
Family: Caregivers and volunteers work hard to foster a sense of family by spending quality time with each child individually and by participating in group activities with the children. The children have their own beds, cupboards, clothes, and personal belongings in order to give them the sense of ownership, belonging and individuality. However, the children are taught to share and take turns, just as they would with siblings. At iKhaya every child is loved and shown how to love.
Holistic and Comprehensive Care: This includes medical testing and treatment, clothing, nutritional diet, childhood development assessments and outings and recreational activities. Staff are qualified first aiders and trained to care for children with HIV and AIDS.
Education: iKhaya likaBaba's admission age is children from birth to 3 years of age. We aim to ensure that developmental games, activities and play create an environment rich with learning experiences and as close as possible to the environment that these children would have experienced in a stable loving home. We run an educational play group for the children who are not yet at formal school. Those who are ready attend local schools in Empangeni at age appropriate levels of preschool, primary and high school which includes remedial and special needs facilities as required.
Recreation: We take the children on many outings as possible to experience life outside of iKhaya, to establish and hone their social skills and to simply have fun. Their favourites are trips to the beach, animal farms or to see wild life and to go swimming. At iKhaya, they enjoy an indoor play room as well as two outdoor playgrounds with jungle gyms, a sandpit and trampoline where they are encouraged to use their imaginations and create play scenarios of their own.
Community Relations: iKhaya LikaBaba has established relationships with the Department of Social Services, Child Welfare, Richards Bay Child and Family Care, the Police, private and public clinics, doctors, psychologists, hospitals, schools and so on to ensure that each child is given due protection and holistic care and developmental opportunities.
Restoration, Adoption and Foster Care: We work closely with each child’s assigned social worker (case manager) and with adoption agencies. Our primary aim is see children reunited with their family. When circumstances are not conducive for reunification we then pursue placing children into loving foster or adoptive families as soon as possible.
Long term Care: The best model we have seen for the long term care of children is the establishment of “cluster homes” where small “family” units are created by placing up to 6 children in a separate building with a full time parental couple or house mother employed for that specific home. To date we have built 2 cluster homes, one designated for boys and the other for girls. The main house/ transition babies’ home caters for the younger children and babies who are cared for by caregivers and Child and Youth Care Workers on a shift roster basis. We aim to use the cluster home model to care for the children who will be staying with us long term or through to adulthood.