By Busi Vilakazi
Lambano, meaning “He who receives”, is a sanctuary for children in need of care.
The home was established in 2001 in response to the needs of children living with life-limiting and life-threatening illness.
The home has the only paediatric medical step-down facility/hospice in Gauteng, where they provide full-time care for children who live with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses.
The home has 28 permanent residents aged from nine to 19 years old.
“The 28 permanent children have been with us since they were babies and were brought to us through the Children’s Court due to varying degrees of abuse, neglect, poverty, abandonment or incapacity of their caregivers,” explained founder Lyn Croote.
She said many of the children had no hope of survival but beat the odds.
Also read: Giving back to the children
“With unwavering dedication and unconditional love, we go to exceptional lengths to secure the best medical treatment for children who come to us from government hospitals, proving that there is hope to life with the right, sustainable medical treatment and appropriate emotional and social support,” said Croote.
The 16-bed facility is run by 20 dedicated, medically trained staff members, a 24/7 on-call team that includes a doctor, registered, enrolled and auxiliary nurses, social worker, counsellor and supporting team of caregivers.
The paediatric medical step-down facility/hospice is focused on children who suffer from critical health problems including HIV/TB, brain damage, burns, genetic defects and cancer; as well as renal, cardiac, respiratory and neonatal conditions.
As a non-profit organisation, the home depends on donations and also receives a subsidy from the government.
Also read: Donation welcomed by home
The money received from the government, however, is not enough to run the home.
“It costs us R7 800 per month for each child. We need to provide for the children’s education, food, clothing, housing and specialised medical care,” said Croote.
The home urged readers to support their work and take note of the needs in the wish list below:
• Food – an average of R 18 000 per month is spent on food for the four homes.
• Toiletries – R3 000 per month is spent on toilet paper, deodorant, bath soap, toothpaste, Vaseline, sanitary pads and shampoo.
• Baby products – disposable nappies (baby and adults) and special feeding formulas.
• Household essentials – big washing machine, fridge, cooking pots, cleaning supplies.
• Fuel vouchers for home and hospital visits.
• Medical disposables.
• Funds for utility bills.
• Office supplies.
Other ways to support the home are through the Adopt-An-Angel/Corporate methods, where employees can opt to have a minimum amount of R100 deducted from their salaries each month, which is then deposited by the company into the Lambano account.
Adopt-A-Caregiver helps to pay the salary of a caregiver or a nurse by having a debit order on your bank account paid into the Lambano account.
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