In light of Youth Day this past weekend, USN visited the Door of Hope home for abandoned babies in Glen Vista, Johannesburg with much needed supplies for the 40 babies in their care.
Door of Hope, which opened a ‘Baby Box’ in 1999, runs three care houses with facilities for caring for 72 abandoned babies at any one time and 1 children’s village for babies who are unadoptable or need medium to long term permanent care. On average 9 babies a month come to Door of Hope; the baby box is not the only way babies arrive at Door of Hope, sometimes it’s via the police or hospitals. Some babies that are placed in the box are only a few hours old. But these figures are only the tip of the iceberg and the number of children saved is still dwarfed by those who die of neglect and abandonment: thrown in rubbish bins, left in an open field or flushed down a toilet.
USN decided to assist this worthy cause by means of clothing, blankets, formula milk, wipes, nappies and baby food. We also spent some time with the babies together with the volunteers looking after them.
Feel free to visit their website:
http://doorofhope.co.za/
Or follow them on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/doorofhopeSA/