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What We do
Many people ask with Disgust & Horror: “How can a mother abandon her child”?
There is no easy answer to this. Unless you have walked a mile in their shoes you have no moral high ground to judge. Every mother has her own reasons for doing so.
Some of them have been raped, sometimes even by a father, brother, other close relatives, teachers, people they should’ve been able to trust. Instead they were betrayed, fell pregnant and are petrified. Many of them don’t even report the rape out of fear of the perpetrator, their community or their families. Can you imagine what it would be like to have to look into that innocent little child’s face and be reminded of the terrible ordeal you had to go through when that little child was conceived? To be reminded every day whilst trying to love and care for that baby is something that only the strongest of strong would be able to do. A very small percentage are university or scholar students who fell pregnant accidentally, have no family support systems and realise that they cannot keep the baby.
They want to give their children better opportunities in life than they can provide at this stage and they want to continue their own studies to make something of their own lives too. Unfortunately the only option for a desperate, uninformed, confused, single mother, is abandonment. Some moms leave their babies at hospital. Others just dump them in a dustbin or flush them down a toilet . Some leave them in a bag to suffocate to death or simply throw them in a veld for wild dogs to scavenge on. Therefore we try to educate mothers experiencing a crisis pregnancy and provide options counselling so that they can make an informed decision for them and their
Babies
Then the matter of ABUSE… there is absolutely no excuse for Abuse or Neglect & perpetrators should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. It is so unfair to see what Babies & Toddlers have to suffer at the hands of adults.
This is where NBZ makes a difference
Special Care Babies
We often receive Babies who need Specialised Short Term Care. These Little Ones are either Premature Babies or LBW (low birth weight). These babies are very small and need constant care and attention as there are many medical implications that can arise. “Kangaroo Mother Care” or KMC is very important for Premmies for various reasons. This means that these babies are wrapped against your body in a soft material “Thari” almost 24hours a day. With the proper loving care these babies pick up weight faster, develop better, grow stronger and if there are no other medical complications they are either reunified with their families, placed in Foster Care, ideally Adoption where there is no family, or sometimes placed in Children’s Homes.
We also care for Infants with more severe Special Medical Needs such as Drug & Alcohol Addicted Babies, FASD, Hydrocephaly’s, CP, Gastrostomy Tube Babies, Severe Abuse, Young Rape Victims.
We always need medical professionals to join our team of volunteers to assist with these cases.
The Baby Haven
Putting Children First
Due to the increasing numbers of abandoned, neglected and abused Babies in need of love, care and protection we opened the Haven in Laudium on the 14th of May 2009 in order for us to accommodate more of these little ones. We understand the financial implications of running a Home like this but how can you put a price on the lives of these children who have been deprived of so much. The Haven incorporates all the areas of care and nurturing in a loving homely environment.
Unearthing Impactful Outcomes
Our staff compliment at the Haven comprises of 6 Full time Housemothers, 2 Cleaning Ladies, 2 Social Workers (1 is also the Haven Manager), 2 Relief Staff, 1 Cook and 1 Driver as well as a few long term, dedicated Volunteers. There are periods during
the year where we also accommodate International Volunteers who live on the premises with us in order for them to dedicate themselves 100% to the children. All of our Staff & Volunteers are crucial for the effective running of all our projects! We urge you, if you know of any willing sponsors to contribute towards Salaries, please inform us. Investing in the first 1000 days of a child’s life is crucial.
In 12 years we have Loved & Cared for more than 750 Babies & Toddlers at the Heaven
Baby Walls
SA does not have Safe Abandonment Laws in place. In 2008 we launched our 1st “Baby Wall”. A wall with a slot where desperate mothers can safely leave unwanted Babies rather than dumping them in dustbins, toilets, pit latrines, parks or streets. We want to offer desperate mothers and destitute Babies a safe alternative & an opportunity to live
"The Baby Walls"...
This structure is basically a wall with a big post box where unwanted Babies can be left anonymously, no questions asked. As many of the Babies we work with come from Sunnyside this was the perfect area to have a facility like this. The Sunnyside Baby Wall was officially opened on the 10th March 2008 & Atteridgeville in Jan 2010. Unfortunately, due to unclear legalities stipulated by DSD we were forced to close the Atteridgeville Wall before it even had the chance
to save a single Baby. The 2nd Sunnyside Wall opened 18 July 2017.The Baby Walls are not as busy as many people would think but to date we have saved the lives of many vulnerable Babies, Moms & Families.The Walls have been controversial as some people believe we are encouraging mothers to throw their Babies away. Even if our Walls just saved ONE little life it would have been worth it. As long as we are making a difference in these children’s lives who didn’t even ask to be born, did not ask to be brought into this horrible cruel world, then so be it. We also provide comprehensive Options Counselling for moms who choose Save Abandonment.
70 Babies saved thus far!
Because They Matter
Angel'Z Home
For more than 4 years this was just a Dream. As of August 2018 this amazing growth opportunity became a Reality with the help and support of Kinderfonds Mamas, DGMT, NBZ Board & Friends
Our Baby Home in Cape Town is named after a very special little girl, Angel, who taught us all so much about Life and Love. specifically just for short terms babies who are adoptable or need Special short term Care. This is a small home looking after 6 Babies (at a time) to ensure 1-on-1 care round the clock. We provide Short Term Temporary Safe Care & Emergency Care with the main focus being Intensive Therapeutic Programs for Neonates only. We have Loved 11 Babies. And 7 of the little ones were long term placements who stayed far longer than they were supposed to initially. Seeing that we are only legally allowed to take in 6 Babies at a time, this limits our capacity to help more Babies more often. We are exploring every possible avenue to be allowed to take in more Babies at a time so that we can help more children who so desperately need New BeginningZ.
We would like to be able to take in 12 Babies at a time as we have the capacity and Resources to do so Efficiently and Effectively. We are in CT to render a very unique program for FASD & Tik addicted infants., as well as any other special little ones who need the NBZ Magic Touch.
New HoriZons ECD Centre
This unique Early Childhood Development Centre is one of our community programs based in Iterileng Informal Settlement (new stand) – the new section.
We opened in March 2013 with the help of SANZAF, New Horison’s Cycling Club, Kinderfonds Mamas and various other sponsors who put up a brick & mortar structure for us making it the FIRST properly built crèche in the community. We even have our very own flushing toilets & running water!!! The centre accommodates 34 Children between the ages of 0-7 years from 07:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday. FREE of Charge These children are from the most disadvantaged families in the community (based on in-depth interviews & screening processes). If not for our programs & sponsors these children would otherwise not have had the opportunity to experience any sort of early learning opportunities before enrolling for Gr 1.
We provide Education, Enrichment, 2 meals per day, 2 snacks, milk & infant formula, bottles, nappies, toiletries, medication, clinic visits, social & medical referrals and many more services thus excelling far beyond ordinary day care centres.
After Care
Youth Develoment
Through our work in the various communities, especially Iterileng Informal Settlement we come across many desperate and destitute children in dire need of assistance. Two of our focus areas are Prevention and Early Intervention. A number of children need short term intervention whilst other might require long term, intensive assistance and we offer this in various ways. Some of the services include School Enrolment, Emergency Food Parcels, Educational Programs, Statutory Work through Social Workers, Mediation, Placement, Court procedures, Grant applications etc.
Our After Care Program serves 84 children from Gr 1 to Gr 12 Monday to Friday assisting with Homework, Assignments, and Exam preparations. With the help of Vodacom we run Computer Centre for the children, staff and other vulnerable community members. Our Holiday Programs reach over 300 children from the
Iterileng Informal Settlement. One of the aims of our After Care program is to assist children and families with a wide range of services to ensure children stay
within their families and thrive despite the negative impact of abject poverty and lack of service delivery in the area. We also run a very successful FrontBall program and 3 of our children have competed internationally already.