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Mary's House of Hope, Worcestor, South Africa

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Mary’s ‘House of Hope’ is in desperate need for some very basic supplies to help her deal with her daily struggles to take care of the children and keep them in school.

Worcestor is a small poor village 100 km east of Cape Town. Mary is a wonderful and brave woman of 60 years old who offers a safe place at her house for very vulnerable young children in the age of 0 till 14 years old that were abandoned by their families because of health problems or because they are mentally retarded/challenged. Most of the children have been physically sexually and/or mentally abused. On average, children stay for 14 years at Mary’s House of Hope. The Dreamcatcher Foundation has been supporting Mary over the last 20 years.  Mary’s house of Hope is at this time a home for 11 physical, sexual and/or mentally abused children. Some of them have been abandoned on her doorstep as babies, some come a later in life.   

The group of kids that stay with Mary currently consists of 3 boys and 8 girls. Please note that we have left out the names of the kids due to their privacy and only use their first letter. The three boys are B of 15 years, G of 11 years who suffers from Down syndrome and L of 8 years. L had a brain tumour as his mother dropped him on the floor when he was a few days old. She left him at the front door of Mary's house and disappeared. When he was about 1-year-old Mary noticed that his head was out of shape and his eyes where convening inward more than they had been a few weeks before. Mary insisted he went to the doctor, (not the HIV clinic). It appeared the little boy had a brain pressure from a mass of blood, which had turned into a tutor/sac and it was growing. He had surgery when he was 4 and is now going to school.

The 8 girls are G of 23 years old and with a mental age of 12, I of 14 years, S of 13 years, N of 12 years, M of 10 years (she has a foetal alcohol syndrome), K of 8 years, L of 7 years and I of 3 years old.
G has been trained by a medical doctor and clinic to take care of the children who suffer from HIV aids and Down’s syndrome. She is able to bath and feed them, to keep them busy and also medicate them under supervision. This is her way to help Mary. Both G and her brother have hypothermia and they were both totally emaciated when famers found them in a field. Unfortunately her brother of then only 8 months old, died at the hospital. G spent months in hospital after which the social services brought her to Mary at the age of 2 years and 8 months. She now is  big support by helping other children. Although she made progress, she will do this for the rest of her life as she is totally vulnerable out in the big world. Most important however; she is happy!

The situation of Mary is often dreadful because of lack of money. Sometimes she cannot afford to buy cough syrup for the children (note that 2 have HIV Aids). Having cough syrup available for them is not a luxury, it is vital. She gets the minimum at the clinic and pays for the rest from her own pocket.

How can Moments of Joy help?
The amount of € 725,-- will cover the costs to buy all goods on Mary’s wishlist. If the total amount is donated, Katrina  - the office manager of Dreamcatcher foundation home office in Melkhoutfontein – will manage the funds.  She gets a list of special deals each second week and buys the goods when these are discounted.

Mary’s Needs:
• Medicines: Cough mixture, Paracetamol
• Toiletries: Shampoo, soap, roll-on deodorants, cotton wool, cotton wool buddies, talcum powder (baby powder), Tampax, sanitary towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, plasters, toilet rolls, mosquito spray or lotion, Face cloths x 17 (for 11 children & 6 adults).
• School shoes –black (obligatory)
• School bags - dark colour
• Underwear
• Socks
• 3 x Track suits with hooded jackets
• 2 x navy rain jackets with hoods
• Tights
• Bedding: 8 x fitted single sheets and 4 x duvet and pillow case sets for girls
• Stationery: Pencils, colouring pencils, pens, notepads
• Other: Sugar, washing powder