Happy Holiday!

Dear Friends of Hope for Limpopo,

We are all well aware that the pleasure is in the ‘giving’ and not the ‘gift’ so we humbly thank you for your many gifts of encouragement, time, kind words and ideas as well as your generous financial contributions that were sent on behalf of HFL throughout 2012.

We wish you all a Holiday filled with Peace and Joy and a flourishing New Year!

In Solidarity and Mourning

We join the world in mourning the loss of the valuable children and teachers of Newtown CT.  Speaking for all of our HFL followers, we share Newtown’s grief and send our heartfelt sympathy and support to the victims, families and friends of this recent senseless tragedy.

"....and then an Angel appeared"

Phathu is a young 11 year old boy born HIV+. His mother was also HIV+ and died before Phathu’s 1^st birthday. He was left in the care of his unemployed, impoverished father. When money was available, Phathu’s father bought toys rather than the crucial nutritional food needed to nourish a sick young child. When his father remarried, Phathu was often left alone and unsupervised for long periods of time. As a way to make money, Phathu’s father began to circulate allegations that his young son was practicing witchcraft and he sold these erroneous stories to local newspapers. vBecause of this harmful exploitation and improper supervision, Phathu’s elderly, unemployed aunt took Phathu to live with her in a neighboring village. She struggled to give him adequate food and necessary medication and Phathu was hospitalized several times with malnutrition, dehydration and breathing issues.

In September 2012 outside sources appealed to VMS to temporarily care for this very ill youngster. Although VMS is a day school and not an orphanage or medical facility, Sue-Anne and the VMS staff are specially trained to care for children who are HIV+. Phathu was placed in the VMS Halfway House, supervised 24/7 and fed highly nutritious meals. He was closely monitored to ensure that his medication was taken at the correct times each day. The sores on his head and face have now healed and he has gained weight. He can frequently be seen laughing and playing with the younger children who attend school at VMS. Since his father has now abandoned Phathu, and since the VMS Halfway House is a temporary way station, VMS has attempted to find permanent housing for this needy child.

Enter Takalani, our VMS Outreach Assistant and resident “angel”. Since numerous attempts at finding a foster home for Phathu have failed, Taki has stepped forward and agreed to foster Phathu along with her other foster child despite the fact that her 2 room home has limited space.

Thanks to our generous HFL donors we were able to wire the money needed for an addition to her house. Once again, ALL of our HFL supporters have made a HUGE difference in children’s lives! Thank You!

“Tis the Season!”