Many have never had the chance to live – babies thrown away on dumping sites, in dustbins and toilets. This is the sad reality, also in Parys.
In the town’s cemetery  two children’s graves with tombstones erected by the Emunah Foundation, tells the sad story of a society where children are thrown away. Nameless children.
One found in a field in the industrial area of ​​Parys. The other found in Koppies. Babies whose bodies were already badly decomposed when they were found. Just three weeks ago, a newborn, was thrown away on the dumping site just outside Parys amid human waste.
Yet the sad irony is that since 2016, Parys has been geared up precisely through the Emunah Foundation to help prevent abortions and newborns left behind by the Wall of Life. A project that has already given five of these babies a second chance of life.
The Wall of Life project was initially started by a police member, the late Michelle Stephenson from Vanderbijlpark, with her Jessica’s Wall of Life project. She was called out as a police member in 2006 to a rubbish dump where she was confronted with the harsh reality of a baby being thrown away. With so much compassion, she took out the baby corpse and ensured that she was buried with dignity like her own child. The idea was to make sure that every baby would have the chance of life rather than an abortion, or to be thrown away by a mother who feels she has no other option.
The Wall of Life is a “safe” with a front and back door. As soon as the front door is opened to place the baby in the safe, an alarm goes off at the hospital or place where the wall is, so that immediate attention can be given to the baby.
Ultraviolet lights inside the safe make sure the temperature is favorable for the baby. The baby is then cared for until a suitable home can be found by following the right channels. Emunah Foundation’s Wall of Life is on their premises at 50 First Avenue, and the safe alarm is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Parys Security. Â
Since the Viljoens founded the Emunah Foundation in Parys in July 2015 as a non-profit company, 42 children have found a temporary and safe haven here. Two of these children were found in the baby safe just a few months ago when the Emunah Foundation moved from Schilbach Street to First Avenue. The two babies have been in the Viljoens’ care since October and December 2021 respectively. One of them is now in the process of being adopted.
When Emunah was still at the Schilbach Street premises, three babies were found in the baby safe over a period of seven years. Of the 42 children in total who have been temporarily placed in the Viljoens’ care, 21 were able to be placed back with their families, ten were adopted, ten were placed in foster care and one died. For years, this couple has been looking after neglected, discarded and abused children with so much dedication and love when they are placed in their care – some for months.
They work closely with the social workers of Free State Care in Action, as well as the SAPS and the hospital.The Viljoens saw the great need of victims of domestic violence and other circumstances who had no safe haven in the midst of the trauma, often precisely after hours and on weekends. Struggling questions for police officers and social workers who are only some of the role players in this process who need help but are often confronted with the reality of a lack of places of safety in South Africa where these children can be cared for temporarily.
Few know the hours that Colin and Sonja Viljoen sit awake at night to comfort a child they do not know, give them medicine or sit for hours at the clinic or other role players to wait for help. But it is children they want to reach out to in a broken world.
A home where there is love also for children who have often only seen the shadowy side of life. Emunah Foundation is purely dependent on the kind donations and contributions of the community.
Whether it’s fuel, children’s clothing, food, or anything that can help meet a child’s daily needs – anything is welcomed by the couple who currently bear most of the cost of caring for these children themselves. People who want more information about the Emunah Foundation in Paris or want to make a contribution, however small, can call Sonja on 083 696 7410, or Colin on 072 223 7583, or send an email to emunahparys @ gmail.com
