During the late 1990’s, when many children were left as orphans because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a group that included some friends of Matthew’s started an orphanage in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
This evolved into Tabitha Ministries, which provides a range of services to local children affected by HIV/AIDS, including the orphanage and a school.
The orphanage was never intended to become a long-term institution, but an urgent response to a particular group of children. Those children are now all teenagers and the recent strategy has been to find ways to integrate those youth into “normal” society.
Our contributions
Since 2016, Turning Teardrops into Joy has donated over $5,000 to the care of those children through Tabitha.
We visited their centre in 2017 and continue to have close personal contact with the amazing people who have cared for those children so well.
Current direction
In mid-2018, the Tabitha Board agreed to dissolve the orphanage. The founders recognise, however, that on-going love and support is required by all the teenagers who have left that facility. Consequently, we are still sending funds to assist with activities such as:
Regular group reunions so that the children who grew up with each other can continue those important relationships
Learning support: tracking the children’s educational progress and assisting their new carers to provide the best possible educational environment for them
Career guidance: assisting the children as they think about future work options and start the process of applying for work
Individual professional counseling where needed.