Heaven’s Nest Child Care and Recreation Centre, Ottery, Cape Town

The Heaven’s Nest Child Care and Recreation Centre in Ottery serves as an emergency foster care centre.  The caregivers at Heaven’s Nest strive to provide holistic care that includes external counselling and schooling for all the children.

The task team of St Francis of Assisi Anglican Church in Strandfontein initiated the Heaven’s Nest Project, and also forms the steering committee. Heaven’s Nest cares for children infected or affected by HIV and AIDS, and children who had been abandoned, abused or neglected, until they can be placed back with family members, fostered or adopted.

The team was started in August 2001, with activities to spread awareness on HIV and AIDS, and help the needy in the community. Initially there were six members, which have now grown to twenty concerned parishioners, with Ms Eleanor Bester as coordinator.

In 2003 the team felt the need to make a more hands-on contribution to the HIV pandemic. The shocking statistics of especially orphans motivated them to turn their attention to the care of children. There are currently about 40,000 orphans in the Western Cape Province.

In November of that year they approached the owner of 16 Edward Road in Ottery, who offered the house for the purpose of caring for children. On 15 January 2004 they were handed the keys, on a lease of R1 per year. Heaven’s Nest, an emergency child care centre, was officially launched on 29 May 2004.

Eleanor Bester, coordinator of Heaven’s Nest, attended the CLA leadership course in June 2004.  She drew up and presented her business plan in November 2004.  Her proposed project received R10,000 as start-up funding.  This funding was used to start a Sweets and Spices Project as means of income-generation to sustain the centre.

By the end of 2007 the Sweets and Spices Project had secured a distribution base of eight churches, four factories, six offices and a hair salon.  The distribution base continues to grow and the sales have been very good.

Two to three people do the packaging of the goods for five days per week.

They have been precise in their assessment of their market and the acceptance of the product and the project can be continued successfully for a long time with sustainability as a prominent feature.

The project also submitted a proposal to the National Lottery Fund for the purchasing of a vehicle.  The request in the proposal was granted and the project received R137,000 from the fund for this purpose.

Heaven’s Nest has also enjoyed significant media coverage.  It was visited by a German television crew, who made a recording of a typical morning at Heaven’s Nest for Bavarian Television in Germany.  In addition Hanlie Retief, a journalist at Rapport newspaper, conducted an interview with Eleanor.  An interview with Eleanor was also broadcast on the radio station Radio Sonder Grense (RSG).

The motto of the Heaven’s Nest is:

“A child in need is our child indeed.”

They focus more broadly on all children in need so that HIV positive children are not singled out. The children are treated the same using the universal principles of health and medical care, irrespective of their need.

The first two children in Heaven’s Nest were placed by the Department of Social Development on 4 June 2004. It was very rewarding to be filling a need so soon after the launch.

By April 2009, 198 children had passed through their doors -- 12 children remained in their care, whilst 186 children have been placed in improved conditions with family members, foster or adoptive parents. And this is the ultimate aim!

The cost  of providing holistic care to all the children are met with donations from all avenues.

YOU COULD BE THEIR NEXT DONOR!!!

Eleanor Bester, coordinator of Heaven’s Nest	The front view of building where the children are looked after	The chapel
One of the colourful bedrooms where the children sleep	The beautifully decorated baby room	The Sweets and Spices Project is proving to be very successful as a means of sustaining Heaven’s Nest
The children playing and having fun in the safety and homeliness of Heaven’s Nest