New BeginningZ

Organisational Profile 2015

Babies Many people ask with Disgust & Horror:

“How can a mother abandon her child”?

There is no easy answer to this and until you haven’t 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 the child’s face and be reminded of the terrible ordeal you had to go through when that little child was conceived? To be reminded everyday 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 cant 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, confused, single mother, is abandonment. Some moms leave their babies at hospital. Others just dump their babies in a dustbin or flush them down a toilet or leave them in a bag to suffocate to death or throw them in a veld for wild dogs to scavenge on.

This is where NBZ Makes a Difference.

Baby Wall In 2008 we launched the “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.

“The Baby Wall”…

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.

The Baby Wall is not as busy as many people would think but to date we have saved the lives of the 34 babies that have come through the wall.

Our wall has been highly controversial as many people believe we are encouraging mothers to throw their babies away. They way we are making it easy for these horrible women to just keep having kids and not taking responsibility. Like I say, if you have not walked a mile in any of these mother’s shoes…. Even if our Wall just saved ONE baby’s life it would have been worth it. As long as we are making a difference in these children’s lives who did even ask to be born, did not ask to be brought into this horrible cruel world then so be it. I will take any accusation hurled at me for whatever reason.

34 Little Lives saved thus far!

The Baby Haven Due to the increasing numbers of abandoned, neglected and abused babies in need of love, care and attention we opened the Haven in Laudium early in 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.

Our staff compliment at the Haven comprises of 5 Full time Housemothers, 1 Baby Mother, 2 Cleaning Ladies, a Project Coordinator, Social Worker, Medical Coordinator, 2 Relief Staff & 4 long term, totally dedicated Volunteers we call our Angels. There are periods during the year where we also accommodate International Volunteers who live on the premises with us in order for them to dedicated themselves 100% to the program. All of our Staff & Volunteers are crucial for the effective running of all the projects! We urge you, if you know of any willing sponsors to contribute towards Salaries, please inform us.

In 5 years we have cared for & loved more than

330 babies & toddlers

Special Needs Babies I 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 quickly and if there are no other medical

complications they are placed up for Adoption or Foster Care, or

sometimes reunified with their families.

We also deal with Hydrocephaly’s, CP Children,

Drug & Alcohol Addicted Babies, Gastrostomy Tube Babies,

Rape

We always need medical professionals to join our team of

volunteers to assist with these cases.

The

Zameer Hassim

Foundation Through this initiative we run various smaller programs in honour of my son who passed away 14 years ago and to whom the entire organisation is dedicated.

A few of these initiatives include;

We donate our extra camp cots through the Johannesburg Department of Environmental Health and the City of Jhb to Rat Bite Victims! Small babies and children are bitten and often literally eaten alive by rats and sometimes whole packs of rats. These children are from various informal settlements such as Ivory park and others.

We supply prams & strollers donated to us, that we don't use at the Haven or in Iterileng to Kalafong Hospital’s Occupational Therapy Unit who then in turn donate it to severely disabled or mentally challenged babies and children.

We assist mothers who sell sweets or have the portable phone stalls etc on the side of the road. If they have small babies we provide them with a pram, clothes, warm blanket etc for her child. I feel that these mothers are at least trying to provide themselves with an income instead of standing with a “please help, no food for children” board at a robot.

If you have a once off Special Project that you would like to run through the ZHF

Please Contact us…

new horiZon’s 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 30 Children between the ages of 0-7 years from 6:30 –

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, 3 meals per day, 2 snacks, milk & infant formula, bottles, nappies, toiletries, medication, clinic visits thus excelling far beyond ordinary day care centres.

OVC’s Orphans

& Vulnerable Children Through our work in the various communities, 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 programs include School

Enrolment, Bi-monthly Food Parcels, Educational Programs, Statutory Work through Social

Workers, Mediation, Placement, Court procedures, Grant

applications etc.

This program includes

Child Headed Households &

Street Children

Iterileng Community Services

Currently we are running these services from various venues in the community. We aim to build a multifunctional centre aimed at providing desperately needed social services to the disadvantaged members of the same informal settlement, Iterileng.

Services Include:

₰ Drop In & After Care Centre

₰ Holiday Programs

₰ The Imaan Community Clinic & Medical Outreach Program

₰ Community Assistance

₰ “Help you to Help Yourself” Program

₰ Training Program

(Parenting Skills Classes, Single Parent Support Group, Job Seekers Program)

₰ ECD Training & Assistance to other Crèches in the community

₰ Environmental Program & Clean-Up Campaigns.

Iterileng has approximately 16 400 people living in 3 570 marked and registered

shacks (that they are aware of) sharing 13 water points and 56 portable toilets.

(*Local Government stats 2007)

The Community has grown to thrice the size since 2007!

Each item is hand made by the Grannies. Learning new skills has given them a sense of self-worth, dignity and purpose. You are more than welcome to contact us for small corporate or school events/fundraisers

Corporate Social Investment

Extended Beneficiary Program

Not all organisations are as blesses as we are in terms of resources and infrastructure so we “Pay it Forward” by helping some of them.

Some of These Include:

ϔ Kingdom Life Children

ϔ Dlulabaphi

ϔ Ya Bana

ϔ Sunnyside Orphanage Home

ϔ SOS Children’s Village Mamelodi

ϔ Tshwane Home of Hope

ϔ Precious Pearls

ϔ Crossroad Shelter

ϔ Child Soul Care

Through our EBP in 2012/2013 financial year we have helped and

serviced a total of 410 children through various other organisations

servicing orphaned & vulnerable children.

Nthlokomelle Ngwana Dlulabaphi Organisation For Orphans

Volunteers A volunteer is someone who offers his or her services of his or her own free will.

Individuals (local & international), Scholars, Students, Professionals, Corporates are all very welcome to join our

growing network of NBZ Volunteers. Our volunteers are not paid any sort or remuneration or stipend. They are expected to follow the guidelines laid down by the organisation and upheld by its management. It is important for our volunteers to be aware of the commitment and responsibility required for the positive development of each our children, as well as the success of the organisation as a whole. Our Volunteer Program is a FORMAL one. Application Forms & To Do List are available.

Mrs. Lynette Erasmus is the Volunteer Program Manager and she can be contacted with regards to any Volunteer Applications, Visitations, Excursions etc.

Tel: (012) 384 2189 or haven@newbeginningz.org

We are always looking for very unique people to

be our Place of Safety & Foster Care Parents to help us for periods of about

5months (POS) to offer their love, homes, families and support to babies while we are preparing the prospective adoptive parents. Foster Care Placements are for two years.

Our Staff Our full time staff members dedicate their lives to the 24 hour care of the children placed in our care. Without these unique ladies we will not be able to run the Haven.

The wide range of holistic services we provide for the betterment of our children necessitates adequate development training which takes place at regular intervals during the course of the year. Clearly defined Job Descriptions as well as Duty Lists and Daily Routines assists us in ensuring that our operations make the Haven a well oiled machine…

One of the benefits of having so many staff members that are hands on with the children is that each child receives individual attention and more importantly, each child has a significant carer with which he or she bonds. Secure attachments / bonding is absolutely critical in a child’s overall development. With children who have been through traumatic life experiences the bonding process takes much longer and is far more fragile to establish and sustain.

WE have to “fix” behavioural, emotional, physical, cognitive problems their biological parents have caused.

Without our Staff we will not be able to do what we do. They are all …

Our Angels

Adoption Assistance Program

The Adoption process is a very long and complex one.

It can be very taxing not only Physically & Emotionally but Financially too.

After more than 10 years in the adoption field I have heard my fair share of horror stories. We have worked with so many different agencies and private adoption social workers and we have finally found a handful of professionals that share our vision and mission and actually REALLY do it with the necessary passion and commitment .

We hope to do our own adoptions some day but with the current red tape in legislation it is almost impossible.

But… Like Tata Madiba said “Something only seems Impossible until it is done”

Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Every Baby Deserves a Loving Forever Family

Special Projects 2015

The New BeginningZ

Children’s Village Last year we celebrated our 5th Birthday at the Baby Haven and realised that we are fast outgrowing our current facility. With the help of the Mohamed Hassim Family Trust our children will have 1 hectare of space to grow and explore.

Various other sponsors are invited to help us make this dream a reality this year. Join hands with us to make this historical project, a first of its kind in Pretoria, a huge success.

This facility will consist of the following

Admin Block with 3 offices, Board Room and Training Centre, Reception, Donations In & Out, Counselling Room, Occupational and Play Therapy Centre

Baby Home for 15 babies 0-5months

Medical Wing for our sick children & special needs babies

Place of Safety for 30 children 5months – 5years

Forever Home for 8 children

Hall & ECD Classes, Industrial Kitchen, Laundry

Cottage with 2 en-suite bedrooms

Small Staff & Volunteer Quarters

Our Estimated Budget is 6 Million Rand, we have 2 already. Please contact us for further information.

Please Join Hands with us to make this Dream a Reality for our Children.