Come and Join us this Wednesday 25th November at 13:00 to help us build a second FoodTent for this Children's home in Khayelitsha.Cost is R385 per person including return transfers from the City Centre to Khayelitsha, drinks and this amazing experience! Call Candice on 021 442 9600 to book your spot today!

Zanokhanyo was founded in 2005 as a shelter for abandoned, abused and orphaned children, most of who are either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Zanokhanyo means “bring light” in Xhosa. The orphanage was started by Nolubabalo Nditha (Nolu) and it is based in Makhasa, Khayelitsha. Zanokhanyo is home to 24 children age between 5 –15 years old. There are twelve girls and twelve boys.

Nolu was troubled to see children living on the streets without food after their parents had died of HIV/AIDS. She opened her heart and took the children to her home and began looking after these children. Her life each day revolves around the children and taking care of them to the best of her ability. More children were brought to her house by the police and social workers as a temporary place of refuge for a few days or few weeks. The number of children that were brought to her house grew and today Zanokhanyo is home to twenty four orphans.

On the 26 October 2007, Zanokhanyo suffered a set back, the orphanage was burned down and tragically 4 disabled children died in the fire. The orphanage lost everything in the fire including the birth certificates and records of some of the children - but it did not break them! Zanokhanyo has since moved to a new place. The challenge with the new place is that the house is not built properly. In June 2009 a number of special individuals got together to address the very basic needs by fundraising for Zanokhanyo and since then they have assisted with having the very leaky roof fixed, having a freezer donated and having the entire property fenced with a sturdy fence and gate providing much needed security for these vulnerable children. They also assisted with applying for a child grant for every child as currently she only receives grants for 8 out of the 24 children. Zanokhanyo has recently received some private funding for the 5 younger children to go to crèche starting next month to help with their early childhood development and give Nolu a well deserved break. Nolu currently pays for the older children’s school fees. They cannot afford to pay volunteers to help the kids with homework and early childhood development. Today, they rely on infrequent volunteers from the church.

Zanokhanyo is in need of a long-term partnership that provides the children with a reliable support structure to help them with food, housing, financial support, education, security and medical support. In a short term, this embraces the improvement of the housing and the food supply. Last month heart received funding from LGT Bank in Switzerland to build a FoodTent at Zanokhanyo. In a few weeks time this will help significantly with feeding the children with healthy vegetables and reduce Nolu’s food expenses. She is lovingly looking after the plants watering them twice daily. They are in need of a second tent to assist with providing additional food and to help raise funds for the home. Money raised from this will be used towards the children’s education, employing a community worker to assist the children with homework, school books, food and other daily needs.

These children all have dreams and high hopes for the future despite the circumstances they have been born into. Their openness and love is shown as you come to visit, with friendly hugs and embraces. The children demonstrate to us that as Human Beings all we need is love and kindness in our hearts in this world. Their home houses no comforts that we might be used to yet that does not keep them from smiling each day and being playful in their daily chores. For example there are no toys, no hot water and 3-4 of them share single beds. When our basic bill of rights for children state that “every child has the right to basic shelter, nutrition and children are not to be placed at risk of well-being, in physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development”, then Zanokhanyo needs us to fulfil this need to a far greater extent than it currently is, and with your help we can together!