Feb 26 2001
When someone asks you if you would you like to come to South Africa to experience first hand the work they are doing with orphans, 80-90 per cent of which are infected with the HIV virus, you suddenly feel like taking a giant step back and examining some of those serious 'life' questions we are all faced with from time to time.
That was certainly true for me this week as Stu G, Jon and myself had the priveledge of travelling to Johannesburg to witness for ourselves one of those 'life changing' experiences.
As a parent myself it is difficult enough to come to terms with the fact that all of the children we met at the Ethenbeni home for children on the first day of our visit, have either been abandoned, some even in bin liners on rubbish tips, or have simply been orphaned because their parents have died from AIDS.
What a mixture of emotions we all were to experience when confronted with the tragedy of their situation, contrasted by the vast amount of love,care and hope that all of the children we met are being given by those who tirelessly look after them 24 hours a day.
It is this hope that has captivated our hearts, and has caused us to want to be part of something that is going all out to let these children know that they all matter, regardless of their situation, and that our part in it is to help offer hope to them in whatever way we can.
Many of you will remember that Stew, Jon and Stu G heroically ran the London Marathon last year as our initial way of trying to help Hope HIV, and thanks to so many of you who helped sponsor this fine example of human courage we were able to give over £5000 towards the building of a new centre for the some of the orphans in Soweto.
Well, on Tuesday 20th Feb we were very honoured to be at the opening ceremony along with Phil Wall and his wife Wendy, the founders of Hope HIV, as well as many other people who have played a much greater role than us in getting this new facility built.
We have all come home with an even greater compassion and desire to be involved in this tremendous work, and we hope that many of you too reading this will be able to help us as we continue to play our part ingiving hope to these children.
That was certainly true for me this week as Stu G, Jon and myself had the priveledge of travelling to Johannesburg to witness for ourselves one of those 'life changing' experiences.
As a parent myself it is difficult enough to come to terms with the fact that all of the children we met at the Ethenbeni home for children on the first day of our visit, have either been abandoned, some even in bin liners on rubbish tips, or have simply been orphaned because their parents have died from AIDS.
What a mixture of emotions we all were to experience when confronted with the tragedy of their situation, contrasted by the vast amount of love,care and hope that all of the children we met are being given by those who tirelessly look after them 24 hours a day.
It is this hope that has captivated our hearts, and has caused us to want to be part of something that is going all out to let these children know that they all matter, regardless of their situation, and that our part in it is to help offer hope to them in whatever way we can.
Many of you will remember that Stew, Jon and Stu G heroically ran the London Marathon last year as our initial way of trying to help Hope HIV, and thanks to so many of you who helped sponsor this fine example of human courage we were able to give over £5000 towards the building of a new centre for the some of the orphans in Soweto.
Well, on Tuesday 20th Feb we were very honoured to be at the opening ceremony along with Phil Wall and his wife Wendy, the founders of Hope HIV, as well as many other people who have played a much greater role than us in getting this new facility built.
We have all come home with an even greater compassion and desire to be involved in this tremendous work, and we hope that many of you too reading this will be able to help us as we continue to play our part ingiving hope to these children.
