The Domino Christmas Story

This Christmas we wanted to spread the festive joy by placing a toy in the hand of as many underprivileged children as possible in the Amaoti community. On the 28th of November we organised an event to gather presents together so that we could make this Christmas a special one for the hundreds of kids who are in a creche on our ECD programme.

The day was an incredible, all-round success with businesses such as Megapile, Donald Insurance Brokers, Nexia International, Platinum Consulting and Vopac coming in to wrap hundreds of presents.

JAM also made a donation that allowed every child to receive a pair of shoes and a facecloth with their toy. An abundance of toys also allowed us to distribute excess to other charities.

1442 presents were individually wrapped and sent out to 1442 smiling faces in Amaoti. Thank you to every person who either donated or wrapped these gifts , your contribution has truly made a difference in the lives of so many.

The Wrapping & Packing:

 

 

The Distribution:

 

ECD Effect 11/14

This past Saturday we hosted a Creche Owner Christmas Party in Amaoti. This was a time to gather all 32 creche owners and staff and thank them for a year of hard work. They have invested their time and talents into educating the little stars of our future and we would like to thank them for partnering with The Domino Foundation in impacting the lives of over 1000 children each day!

There was an abundance of joy and dance at the party and an incredible time was had by all! We’re excited for the new year ahead and to achieve new goals and impact the community.

 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home 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.

 

The Hope Market: Domino’s Veggie Tale.

On the 1st of November a Christmas Hope Market was held at Grace Family Church. This is a non-profit, community development initiative that seeks to offer opportunities to emerging business men and women to generate income and learn from the basic business experience of selling their home-made, hand-made or crafted products.

We were invited to take along some of the awesome produce from our Vegetable Tunnels in Brookdale and sell them to raise funds for the running of this project that has just been more and more fruitful.

This year, the stalls were encouraged to bring a poster sharing their story and message. Domino’s ‘Veggie Tale’ is easy. Our vegetables go to Fresh Produce Wholesalers who buy it from us OR (and mostly) to our Soup Kitchen. These veggies are either sold to bring funds back to enable the running of the kitchen or used in delicious soups that feed thousands daily!

The market was an amazing success – it was well attended and earned us some awesome exposure. People became interested in our story and we sold out all of our produce! We love the constant support we are given by the community and look forward to more fun days like this ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Domino Wins!

One city. 105 kilometres. 4000 cyclists.

These were the components that made The annual Tour Durban such a memorable day!

As the sun rose on Monday the 28^th of April we knew already that we were in for a cracker of a day with cool winds but a cloudless sky! From as early as 6.30am, men and women of all different ages and from all corners of South Africa came together to compete in this incredible event.

There were many reasons that this year’s cycle race was a special one:

Our incredible Development Team.

Once again this year Domino was given the opportunity to enter in a team of 13 from the Amaoti community, who were all well equipped with bikes and riding gear. The Development team consisted of learners and staff from the community. These learners attend a school in Amaoti and are a part of our Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Some of these children have never even rode a bicycle before so it’s an amazing way to get them involved and hand them opportunities to kick off their exciting futures.

 

 

The first girl to be in our Development Team (center.)

 

 

This year we also celebrated as for the first time,  a girl  took part and rode in the Development Team. At only 13 years old, she dominated the 45 kilometre route and we are super proud of her as well as excited to welcome more girls to the team for future years.

Damon Beard all kitted out!

 

 

 

 

Also getting involved this year were East Coast Radio presenters Damon Beard and Darren Maule who had their own little contest against each other whilst wearing the Domino gear.

Some more of the Domino riders

We were also very excited to see 29 riders from VOPAK Terminal Durban kitted up in the Domino riding shorts and top in support of us. A huge thank you to them!

Overall, there were over 50 riders who tackled the race in our awesome Domino gear and The Domino Foundation was also privileged enough to be once again a beneficiary of the race.

 

 

As well as having men and women enjoy the race in support of us, Domino also took up the challenge to man water stations that were situated on the route. Volunteers from COGS church as well as from various school’s Interact Clubs joined in the fun of the day by handing out beverages, sweets and potatoes to all the people who rode past.

The day was an incredible success with our Domino champions saying they enjoyed every minute of it! We would like to extend a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who took part, whether that be as a cyclist, a volunteer or just a supporter – your contribution was greatly appreciated.

 

See more photos from the day here.

Read more from our April Newsletter here:

General Overview

Feeding Effect

Literacy Effect

Life Skills Effect

Babies Home Effect

ECD Effect

 

A Tower Of Love

A group of determined youth, some generous locals, a worthy cause and a huge tower of peanut butter:

these were the elements that made Saturday the 22nd of March a day to be remembered.

A tower of great proportions!

Members of the Durban Youth Council took up the challenge to create a tower outside Kensington Spar, Durban North made entirely of donated peanut butter bought at said Spar. The project (lead by DYC member – Amy Wagner) aimed to encourage local shoppers to purchase a jar of peanut butter in their daily shop and in turn, play their part in building a brighter future for kids who would otherwise not have a sandwich to eat everyday.

 

 

 

The day was a huge success as the tower brought lots of attention to the cause at hand and the need for help from our community. Overall, an impressive 200 tubs of peanut butter were donated. We are filled with gratitude towards the DYC as well as every person who so generously donated and played a vital role in this amazing effort.

 

Some of the DYC members, lead by Amy Wagner (back centre)

 

Read more from our March Effects Newsletter:

Literacy Effect

Babies Home Effect

Life Skills Effect

ECD Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

#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

#5: 10 YEARS PAST

Fairhavens Opening

REFLECTIONS: LOOKING BACK ON THE PAST DECADE

Opened on January 20^th 2004, Fairhavens babies home has been helping abandoned children for the past 10 years. Destinies have been intertwined, life-time memories have been created, and countless lives have been impacted over the past decade. From humble beginnings in a small 2 bedroom flat, to 100+ changed lives in a beautiful house, Mickey Wilkins, Jenni Wallace and Mel Turner briefly reflect on the 10 Years Past…

 Mickey Wilkins: The Domino Foundation CEO: 2004 – Present

“What started as a desire to see that every abandoned or orphaned child has the right to be brought up in a loving family environment as a son or daughter, has proved to be inspired by God, blessed by God and rich with His wisdom. There have been so many examples:

–          Every child coming into the transition home has had an unjust, unfair start to life, but by the time they leave they are starting a journey filled with love, set free, with justice restored
–          The circumstances by which a child came into the home does not define who they are, so I find it difficult to mention individual children other than to say that all 100+ children are unique, special and God has a plan for every one of them
–          The Domino Effect, as our name was substantially inspired by seeing the photos of adopted babies years later, and the joy and beaming faces of the family around the child, showing that the one life set free, had so wonderfully impacted the new family making it whole
–          It was pointed out to us that to raise a child for over 10 years in a ‘Children’s home’ or ‘cluster home’ cost around R1million rand a child and the transition home/adoption model that we believe in at Fairhavens, has shown a cost of just over R30 000 per child.

So multiply that by 100 children and you will see God inspired financial wisdom, just by doing what we believe in

–          We had only R100 000 in a Building Fund, yet were able to buy a house, pay the deposit, get a bond when all banks said it was impossible, and pay off the interest and half the capital in only a few years, by a succession of generous contributions from people and companies which were totally unexpected – a miracle !

******************************************************************************************************

Linda & Jenni

Jenni Wallace: Founder of Fairhavens Babies Home. Project leader: 2004 – mid 2013

“The last 10 years gave me the opportunity to see miracles almost daily and experience God’s love for orphans”. These words of Jenni Wallace, founder of Fairhavens, are echoed by all who have been involved in this miracle story. Jenni says she remembers how God always answered prayers, whether it was healing the little girl from depression when she thought no-one wanted her; companies donating money when funds were low or families coming as far as Denmark to adopt a child. Jenni always had compassion for street children and realised one had to intervene the moment they were abandoned and that is how it all started. Ten years down the line this passion, put into action, has seen the future of not only the 100 babies changed, but everyone whose lives they touched. But Jenni is adamant that it would have been far more difficult had it not been for crisis mother Linda Davis and her dedicated staff.

******************************************************************************************************

Mel Turner: Project leader mid 2013 – present

“The impact of what we do has a very wide and far reaching effect in that, not only have we changed the future of over 100 children, but also the lives of the families and extended families into which they have been adopted or fostered.”

“Many of these families had given up hope of ever having children and all our children now have bright futures ahead of them, spite of their hopeless beginnings in life.”

Melanie Turner has been a supporter of Fairhavens for a number of years and has recently taken over the reigns as Project Manager of The Domino Foundation Babies Home.

“Being involved with this project for the last 6 months I’ve realised the privilege of being a part of something that changes the destiny of a child’s life…to give them a hope and a future and to change a negative beginning into a positive future. It’s definitely been a 6 month roller coaster ride, from experiencing new babies that have been abandoned, to meeting amazingly generous people in our community, to raising funds for the home, resourcing less advantaged babies homes and even consulting businesses on their BB-EEE contributions…plus all the happy and sad emotions that go with leading a project of this nature.”

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

Babies Home Effects – 11/13 – 01/14

Community Involvement:

La Fleur Landscaping services at Fairhavens

We are thrilled to announce that we have a volunteer who has a PHD in Child Psychology who has committed to helping us for the next 3 years. She will begin by assessing each child in the new year and then develop a Child Stimulation Programme for the children at our babies home. This will help Domino effectively reach our objectives of meeting not only physical needs, but also cognitive and emotional needs to the children. Identifying speech problems, ensuring developmental milestones are met and assisting volunteers with age appropriate toys and games for they visit, will ensure that our children at the home receive the best care that we can give them.

La Fleur Landscaping, run by Yvonne Sharpe comes weekly to volunteer her time and attend to our garden! Yvonne and her staff keep our lawns and gardens looking beautiful, which allows the children spend as much time outside as possible!

There have been a number of phenomenal medical professionals who have assist us in our times of need. From weighing babies for urgent international adoption requirements, to speech therapy assessments and medical check-ups, we say a HUGE thank you to all who have given of their time and efforts to assist us!

A special thanks goes to La Fleur Landscaping, Beachway Medical practice, Anneline Jack & Candice Stone Speech Therapy Practice, Kwikspar Sunningdale and to all the volunteers and donors who have continued to support us!

Baby Updates:

We currently have 5 precious children staying with us in the home, after having 2 children spend some time at the home during the holidays. All babies are on the adoption register and we are eagerly waiting adoptive parents for them!

Baby News

From time to time , we have babies who are placed with us for a few days due to severe crisis that occur. One such child was a baby boy of 2 years who spent two days and two nights with us, while the Police could locate his mother to be arrested for child neglect. The police were called to the rescue by the neighbours, after his mother had left the baby alone in their flat for 2 nights. The child has since been returned to responsible family members by child welfare.

A beautiful baby girl, BabyA arrived on 5^th November when Child Welfare had removed her from her family for the 2^nd time this year. She remained in our care until the festive season and was placed in a children’s home with visitation rights as she is not on the adoption register. When she arrived, she was quiet, unresponsive, scared and would sit for long periods on her own and not talk or smile. Our hearts broke but the staff and volunteers continued to show her love and affection and by the time she left us, she was laughing, talking, playing with the other children and even swinging outside!

The #DominoEffects for 2013 at our babies home have been astounding, see stats below…

Babies home #DominoEffects 2013

Read more of our November Domino Effects Newsletter here:
– Monthly General Overview
– Babies Effects
– Feeding Effects
– Life Skills Effects
– ECD Effects
– Literacy Effects