Langaville – The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in Ward 79, in collaboration with Ekurhuleni South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) young workers and Shosholoza Finance, commemorated Mandela Day at The Lord is My Provider orphanage in Langaville Ext 7 on Tuesday.
The orphanage houses 11 children, four of whom have special needs. The organisations donated two wheelchairs, groceries, clothes and a ceiling to the home.
The home’s founder, Thoko Nhlapho, said she started it in 2008 after she retired as a municipal worker.
“I have always had the love and the vision to help children. That is why I took my package to start the home.
“Social workers brought some of the children here while his family brought one with special needs,” Nhlapho explained.
She said she couldn’t have done it alone and was grateful to those she worked with, Thuli and Mongezi Mqhaba.
Nhlapho hopes to get another house to separate the children because she cannot mix children with special needs and others in one home.
Shosholoza Finance manager Magdeline Zwane said when SAMWU approached them about the partnership, they sent people to check the home.
After getting a report, they went to the owners to give them money to use for Mandela Day.
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“Though we are a loan company, we also give back to communities by funding charities,” Zwane said.
The SAMWU young workers chairperson, Mfana Mdluli, said they were adopting the home and would visit it monthly.
“The home exists in a community where there are businesses. We will approach the nearest clothing shop to provide the children with clothes. The fencing at this home is bad, so we will approach a hardware store to build a proper wall,” Mdluli said.
He said they would also fix the home’s front door, the coal stove and buy mattresses because the children need new ones.