Gladys' Safe House in Port Alfred, South Africa

By: Terry Myburgh, OBC Coordinator, South Africa, 2009.

A New Roof

A few years back we discovered Gladys' safe house, where on our first visit we met Gladys who takes care of anywhere in between 7 to 12 children in her little 3 roomed house. She has no bathroom and washes the children and their clothes in buckets. We brought her a washing machine - this was back in June 2007.

In April 09 when I visited her to ask about beaders in the area I learned that all her seedlings had been washed away by a huge storm and that her food supply would be seriously affected.

I went back to Gladys a week or so later to bring her seedlings from my garden and what awaited me there was a house full of buckets and all the children off from school sick with flu. One of the girls, Pinky, danced around the bag with the seedlings and sang a song or two before I left troubled.

I phoned Louise to tell her of their plight. She immediately agreed that they should get a new roof.  I then measured and ordered the roof sheeting and found a local community builder who put the roof up at the first dry day.

On the day of the roof replacement Louise suggested I take a picture of the dress that she had bought for Pinky, she immediately danced around again chanting in Xhosa and Gladys translated for me. “I want to marry this dress” she squealed with great excitement.

All these children have been placed by Social Services as they are AIDS orphans or some parents are too sick to care for them.

Gladys dreams of a bathroom where the kids can all bathe without her having to carry the buckets.