Stories from the nursery: 3rd Quarter 2016

The two Domino Babies Homes have seen a flurry of activity over the past three months. Not only has there been lots of day-to-day maintenance as well as volunteers coming to play with our babies but on the night of the 1st September 2016, a passerby alerted us to a tiny newborn that had been abandoned on our doorstep. Needless to say, we jumped into rescue mode.

We immediately brought her inside and warmed her up, phoned the police and then took her to the hospital to be checked. Not even a day old the little girl might have had a rough start to her life but we count it SUCH a privilege to care for these precious children and are constantly in awe that we are able to change destinies through all programmes at The Domino Foundation.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our two Babies Homes – your support has not gone unnoticed! A big thank you to Dischem  and the Christain Motorcycle Association who donated large amounts of much-needed baby supplies.

 

In Ububele…

Baby R continues to thrive in Grade R and in all school activities. The lively seven-year-old has been with Domino for a year. Just like the other children Baby R started to come into her own after arriving at Domino, the care and love of the Babies’ Home staff settling her soul and stimulating her mind.

Baby S’s is a five-year-old boy who arrived at the Domino Babies’ Home almost a year ago after he was abandoned at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. His health is improving every day and we know he’ll be strong enough to go to school next year.

Baby U is settling in nicely to her new home and is learning how to speak English and isiZulu. The police found the little two-year-old girl walking on the street. Precious and the caregivers believe she’s from another African country because she’s been unable to speak in English, isiZulu or Xhosa. After a few months of gentle guidance and teaching, she now is starting to learn the names of the other children and some simple words.

Baby V is a bubbly little ball of joy. The seven-month-old has just learned how to crawl and is enjoying her new transition home. Child welfare is still investigating her family and deciding if she should be adopted or taken back to her family.

In Fairhavens…

Baby Q is a healthy seven-month-old who has recovered from his chest and breathing problems. He’s now ready for adoption and the social workers are looking for a home for Baby Q.

Baby M is a beautiful five-year-old girl who has been with Domino Babies’ Home for over a year. She loves going to Preschool and is busy preparing for the school play, which is coming up soon. Child welfare is still looking for a loving home for the little girl.

Baby N is the brother of Baby M and has just gone through a phase of ‘the terrible twos’ – something all parents will be familiar with! The home’s routine, as well as the caregivers’ constant love, has ensured Baby N has moved through the terrible twos and into the next, much calmer, stage of his development.

Baby O and Baby P are sisters and are in the process of finding their forever home. As it is with all adoptions and fostering it’s up to the children to determine the pace of leaving the transitional home – once they have warmed up to their new parents then the adoption can go ahead.

 

Stories from the nursery: 2nd Quarter 2016

Our two Babies Homes, Fairhavens and Ububele, are currently caring for ten babies and toddlers. That ten’s little lives we’re able to provide a safe, stimulating and happy home for. Apart from being busy with the daily routines of caring for ten little ones we’ve also busy with getting our children ready for adoption. That means visits to court, doctors and meetings with the social workers. This past quarter we’ve said goodbye to one of our babies, a seven-month-old, who has been adopted by an awesome local family.

In Ububele…

Baby R has been with Crisis Care mom Precious for almost a year. The little six year old is at a local Preschool and loves learning new things everyday. Swimming and ballet are some of her favourite after-school activities and she even received a medal for swimming. Baby R is now ready for adoption.

Baby S’s health condition is improving. The five year old boy arrived at the Domino Babies’ Home almost a year ago after he was abandoned at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. When he arrived he was very sick and it was decided that for his health it was better for him to stay at the home and not go to preschool so that he can gain his strength back – which has been doing in leaps and bounds!

Baby T is a happy twenty month year old baby who is doing well under the care and guidance of the home. Since he’s arrived he’s gained weight and has learned to crawl – keeping the caregivers running around after him!

Baby U is a healthy little two year old girl who was found walking on the street by the police. Precious and the caregivers believe she’s from another African country because she’s been unable to speak in English, isiZulu or Xhosa. After taking some time to settle into her new home she’s finally starting to learn some words in isiZulu and English and is slowly gaining her communication skills back.

Baby V was bought to the social workers by her grandma because it is believed that her mother is unfit to look after her child. A bubbly little ball of joy the seven month old has just learned how to crawl and is enjoying her new transition home.

In Fairhavens…

Baby Q is a seven month old that is almost ready for adoption. He’s been battling with his breathing so has been undergoing testing at Addington Hospital with results still pending. We’re praying for a quick and smooth recovery.

Baby M is a beautiful five year old girl who has been with Domino Babies’ Home for over a year. She loves going to Preschool and always comes home excited and ready for school the next day.

Baby N is brother of Baby M and has really grown up in the home and is learning his place in the house. He’s now a two year old boy, very different from the baby he was  when he arrived .

Baby O is a little girl who just had her third birthday. She’s sister to Baby P, an eleven month old. Both pairs of siblings are in complicated legal cases and have not been abandoned but have been placed in the Domino Babies’ Home by Social workers because their home environment is unsafe. Their cases are both still pending so until they are sortd Domino Babies’ Home will continue to provide a place of refuge and restoration.

Babies Affects June/July 2015

Big news in the Fairhavens Babies Home has been the adoption of one the precious babies into their forever home. We celebrate with this wonderful occasion and pray that baby is loved unconditionally. With this exciting news Fairhaven’s prepares itself for the arrival of a new little life and looks forward to being a safe place until he or she finds their forever home.

The six children who currently call Fairhavens home loved their visit from community service volunteers from local surrounding schools that came to help at Domino for the week. The children were treated to hand painting and plenty of interactive playtime, a very important form of stimulation that helps to develop gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor development is movements that involve using the large muscles of the body; so rolling over and catching a ball and fine motor development involve movements using smaller muscles like painting.

Other exciting news has been the development of Fairhaven’s very own veggie garden on the property to help supplement the children’s meals. One of the I-Can staff has been looking after the plot and has just been sent on a training time at the Domino Foundation veggie gardens. This training will help the vegetables, and the children, flourish!

Looking after small children requires 24 hour attention and the Babies home staff work shifts to ensure every little body is carefully cared for. In saying this, the home is looking for two small TV’s for the night staff to enjoy when the babies are sleeping. Please contact the office if you are able to help.

A special visitor included Miss Earth Finalist, Maxine Caruth, who dropped some off lovely goodies.

Babies Home Effect – 11/14

125 Adelaide Tambo Drive

With the unveiling of the new community centre happening this month, our beautiful new babies home (an extension of Fairhavens) has also now been officially opened! So for November’s newsletter we’ve decided to take you on a tour of the new home and introduce you to this home’s crisis mother.

This section of the house will be where our toddlers and babies sleep. The room is spacious and full of light, making a happy environment for our tots to sleep peacefully and soundly.

 

 

 

 

This bathroom/toilet area comes directly off the babies’ bedroom which is greatly ideal.

 

 

The living area of the new home allows space for the children to play and be themselves and for the staff to relax.

 

 

 

 

This room of the home will be for the crisis mom and her daughter to live in. It also has an en-suite bathroom.

Meet Precious!

Precious is our new home’s crisis mother. She has worked at Fairhavens for a number of years and among being caring and loving, she is an amazing leader and manager. Her and her daughter will be living in the home and taking care of all the beautiful tots that will come through it’s doors. 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

ECD Effect

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

New Community Center Unveiled

On the 19^th of November, Durban North’s newest Babies Home (an extension of Domino’s Babies Homes: Fairhavens) was officially unveiled! A cocktail party was held on the day to celebrate this prestigious moment. Many men and women gathered to be entertained by live music and tour the new beautiful home, situated directly next door to Fairhavens.

For 10 years Fairhavens Babies Home has been a beacon of hope and a safe haven for abandoned babies from all walks of life. The success of the home, together with the good governance of our NPO has led to a businessman buying the house next door and signing a 10 year use agreement with the Domino Foundation. Our main mission is to impact as many people as we can and it is a passion of ours to serve the community in as many ways as possible – in saying this, this new opportunity has totally astounded us and made us even more hopeful to see our nation changed and bettered.

Mel Turner, Project Leader of the Babies Home: “We’ve seen God’s provision for this new babies home right from the start…and I believe our impact in the area of justice for abandoned children will be multiplied. I believe God is going to increase our influence and even move us into a space of assisting birth mothers in crisis. I’m also excited to see one of our longstanding staff Precious Thabethe, move on into the new responsibility of crisis care mother.”

It is our intention and privilege to open up the new home as a second Fairhavens as well as a community counselling center.

The two roles of the new home:

1. The unravelling of this new opportunity for The Domino Foundation allows us to extend our capacity for abandoned babies, as the Child Care Act only allows us 6 babies per home. So we look forward to being able to accommodate more beautiful abandoned children and be the link that connects them to their forever families.
2. The crisis center will offer free counselling, in the area of crisis pregnancies in teenagers, child abuse and family trauma. A new space means a greater opportunity for Domino’s skilled therapists and counselors to impact the community and speak life into the driest areas in peoples’ lives.

 

Babies Home Effect 10/14

October has been a month of new arrivals, amazing support from the community and overall joy!

Baby Updates:

BabyK, our incredible Spiderman!

A part from the beautiful girl that was brought to our gate this month (read the full story here) we have also had an additional cutie join our expanding family. 2-year-old BabyJ was placed with us by child welfare after being at a more crowded home. This special tot will also be the official first child of our new home (next door to Fairhavens) opening soon!

We received an abundance of ‘dress up’ outfits this month and have begun our very own dress up corner in the home – now our kids can truly be anything they want to be – from a pretty princess in pink, to the amazing Spiderman! We love to let our children be children, and give them the freedom to play and enjoy life in a safe, happy environment.

At the moment our house is being painted (sponsored by the awesome Angel Projects) and we’ve had the privilege of having Amber Ferreira, a qualified psychologist with us. She is volunteering on a full-time basis at the home, helping with the stimulation of the babies. We are more than happy to have her with us, she has been a blessing not only to us, but to the babies as well!

 

Community Involvement:

This month we have seen an incredible response from the community with regards to donations, support and love. In the last week of October the Gail Smith School Of Dancing held a production: ‘Applause’ to raise funds for Fairhavens. The girls danced their hearts out and created amazing awareness for our Babies Home – we’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to them for their awesome support!

 

We’ve also received some incredible donations from the local community with regards to baby products. We are so grateful for all the formula, nappies etc that have been brought to our doorstop and as the year winds down to an end we are always needing those extra few supplies to get us to December:

• Nappies (Sizes 1-4)
• Wetwipes
• Naan 2 

We would greatly appreciate any donations!

Read more from the October 14 Domino Effects Newsletter here:

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

ECD Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

Shaun’s Swiss Adventure!

Shaun Tait, The Domino Foundation’s marketing and Communication Extraordinaire has embarked on a journey to join the ‘West2East’ crew as they tackle the final leg of their mission – walking across Switzerland to raise funds for our Abandoned Babies’ Home: Fairhavens.

Shaun (left) and Dana (right)

Former South Africans, Dana Kleu (15) and her dad, Patrick started their expedition at the beginning of the year and have raised a remarkable 3,506 CHF (Swiss Francs) since.

The journey for her has not only encouraged her to cross physical obstacles in her life, but emotional ones at that too – since the beginning of her ‘walking’ adventure she has become more confident within herself and been driven to make a change and enforce the ‘Domino Effect’ WORLDWIDE!

Shaun and the crew begin the final leg of their race on Thursday the 16^th, hiking to the easternmost point of Switzerland (Piz Chavalatsch.) They reached the peak and Shaun didn’t even have to be airlifted out! The Alps were conquered and funds are still streaming in. They came and they CONQUERED!

Follow the entire journey on our platform for sporting enthusiasts worldwide who support The Domino Foundation – www.charitychasersblogspot.wordpress.com

#8: UNKNOWNS

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT FAIRHAVENS

1.  We are a transitional home – which means that the children are placed in our care temporarily and sometimes up to 3 years of age.
2. Legally we are only allowed to have a max of 6 children per property and per crisis care mother. (So if we have a house with 10 rooms, we still can only take 6 children)
3. We have to go through Durban child welfare and the Family Court in order to take care of these children. They are wards of the state. Which means we/our visitors are NOT legally allowed to take photo’s of the children’s faces while in our care
4. Sometimes the SAPS bring us children in the middle of the night or early hours of the morning, when they have been found wandering the streets or abandoned somewhere. They stay with us overnight once an affidavits has be signed and they are then handed over to child welfare to find a home for them the next day. Most times, the children will never end up back at Fairhavens.
5. All babies are seen by the District surgeon, go through the courts and then Child Welfare who will try to find a temporary or permanent home, if the parent can’t be found. Babies pictures are placed in local newspapers in an attempt to find biological parents.
6. Many of our children have been adopted internationally by Danish couples…who have to wait 3 years before being able to adopt a child and are given very little notice (sometimes a week) to come and take the child. They are required to stay here for 3 weeks at their own cost before going back to Denmark.
7. On Saturdays and Sundays, the staff would take all the children to the park or Gateway (and this used to be done in an UNO…until our Avanza was donated)
8. We belong to a network of Babies Home in Durban North and resource some of the homes with extra nappies, milk, toys and clothes. As we receive donations daily, we distribute any excess to homes in need. So your donation WILL ALWAYS go to those in need!
9. Older children understand English and Zulu and speak it fluently at the home.
10. Our toddler attends a local preschool and we are thankful to the school for this generous donation
11. The homes roof was literally falling in and at the end of 2013, we managed to raise funding through the generous people and businesses in our community to repair the entire roof.
12. We often have HIV babies, who do exceptionally well in this loving and caring environment. These babies are on ARV medication.

This post is part of the “Fairhavens 10^th Birthday Celebration” campaign.  To read more posts, follow this link to The Domino Foundation Facebook Page, where new write-ups will be posted every hour.

If you have any memories, comments or quotes, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. So hop onto Twitter, give us a follow and send us YOUR memories of the home using the hashtags #sharedmemories #FH10

Read up on the rest of these posts in our #FH10 campaign:

#1 HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY
#2 WWW: Who, What, Why
#3 SHARED MEMORIES
#4 PHOTO DIARY
#5 10 YEARS PAST
#6 BABY STEPS: Milestones of the home
#7 BESTS: Best moments at the home
#8 UNKNOWNS: Things you didn’t know about Fairhavens
#9 SHOW ME THE NUMBERS: Statistics
#10 THE ROAD AHEAD: future plans for the Babies home Programme

#3: SHARED MEMORIES

We are blessed to have the backing of the local community and these incredible supporters make every effort to assist us where possible. Over the past 10 years, we have had THOUSANDS of people pass through the doors of Fairhavens to come love on the children, drop off some much needed groceries or even host their own birthdays at the house! We are very privileged and thankful to EVERYONE who pops into the house and assists us in any way.

So this post is dedicated to our Friends of Fairhavens! Thank you for all the memories you have shared with us and we love having you be a part of this life changing journey.

“Love All Serve All teachings from Sri Sathya Baba. We first found out about Fairhavens Babies home, when my son completed some community service for school. Little Jovante touched Sohails heart while he did community service at the home. Saihil and Sohail have chosen Fairhaven Babies home because they do not want the babies to go to bed hungry. Every week we make sure that milk & snacks are donated. My boys have learnt not to waste and to appreciate the little, simple things in life. The babies are part of our family and so is the DOMINO FOUNDATION. – Babitha Balraj

“As part of the Harvest Church in Somerset Park, I was aware of the babies home and my mother and aunt make sandwiches at the DOMINO sandwich kitchen during the week. The biggest impact in my life is seeing these little precious babies be given a second chance of happiness as we know it, with new families that will love and cherish them for the rest of their lives. I also know that God has his hand on our lives, every breath we take, and that is awesome.” – Sharon Austin

“We attend COGS Church and so we have always been involved with Fairhavens babies home. We like to learn from God’s love and generosity which He shows to us daily, and extend this love and generosity to others who are not as fortunate as ourselves. It has taught both ourselves, and our children, to love others and to be mindful of the needs of others. It has also taught us all to be more grateful for all of the blessings which we have and to learn to share these blessings to others.” – Ryan & Kate Vetter

This post is part of the “Fairhavens 10^th Birthday Celebration” campaign.  To read more posts, follow this link to The Domino Foundation Facebook Page, where new write-ups will be posted every hour.

If you have any memories, comments or quotes, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. So hop onto Twitter, give us a follow and send us YOUR memories of the home using the hashtags #sharedmemories #FH10

Read up on the rest of these posts in our #FH10 campaign:

#1 HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY
#2 WWW: Who, What, Why
#3 SHARED MEMORIES
#4 PHOTO DIARY
#5 10 YEARS PAST
#6 BABY STEPS: Milestones of the home
#7 BESTS: Best moments at the home
#8 UNKNOWNS: Things you didn’t know about Fairhavens
#9 SHOW ME THE NUMBERS: Statistics
#10 THE ROAD AHEAD: future plans for the Babies home Programme

#1: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAIRHAVENS

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAIRHAVENS!

Celebrating 10 years!

Today, January 20^th 2014 marks the 10^th year that the doors to Fairhavens Babies Home, a project of The Domino Foundation, have been open to the numerous abandoned babies in Durban, South Africa. Since January 2004 Fairhavens has seen over 100 abandoned babies adopted or placed into loving family units across the GLOBE!

We are EXCITED and extremely ‘OVER THE MOON’ to be able to love and care for these children on a daily basis and really save and impact their lives!

So how can you help?

No, we’re not going to be asking for you to dig EXTRA deep into your pockets to donate or tug on your ity-bity heart strings with the cutest baby photo’s in the world – but seriously, we can’t help or be blamed for the ‘cute factor’ that you will experience when looking at these kids!

All we want you to do is get involved and share the love and memories! It’s that simple!

Throughout the day, and on the hour, we will be sending out a number of postings to coincide with the Homes birthday. (you guessed it, 10 posts!)

Read them. Love them. Share them.

And spread the love for the home on social media! Since Fairhavens is 10 years old, we would love for you to SHARE The Domino Foundation’s FACEBOOK page with 10 people!

Also, throughout the day we are inviting people who have been involved with Fairhavens in ANY way to share their memories that they have had over the past 10 years and even share what they are excited about going forward. So whether you have been visiting the home and playing with the babies, donating items of clothing or food stuffs or even financially supporting the work that we are doing WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

So take to Twitter and Facebook to share your memories and you can use the hashtags #sharedmemories and #FH10 to be heard!

10 YEARS. 100+ BABIES. 1000+ CHANGED LIVES.

#READLOVESHARE

This post is part of the “Fairhavens 10^th Birthday Celebration” campaign.  To read more posts, follow this link to The Domino Foundation Facebook Page, where new write-ups will be posted every hour.

If you have any memories, comments or quotes, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. So hop onto Twitter, give us a follow and send us YOUR memories of the home using the hashtags #sharedmemories #FH10

Read up on the rest of these posts in our #FH10 campaign:

#1 HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY
#2 WWW: Who, What, Why
#3 SHARED MEMORIES
#4 PHOTO DIARY
#5 10 YEARS PAST
#6 BABY STEPS: Milestones of the home
#7 BESTS: Best moments at the home
#8 UNKNOWNS: Things you didn’t know about Fairhavens
#9 SHOW ME THE NUMBERS: Statistics
#10 THE ROAD AHEAD: future plans for the Babies home Programme