GALLERY: Save the Babies
SUNDOWNER – Mothers in crisis need to be made aware that there is an alternative to baby dumping.
The Lighthouse Baby Shelter in Sundowner , will turn seven on 8 June.
Founder Eleanor Dunstan said that the need for shelters providing temporary homes for abandoned, abused, and neglected babies and children, as well as HIV orphans, is enormous.
Since opening in 2008, she has received 109 babies and children that might otherwise have been abandoned and left to die.
The Lighthouse Baby Shelter has a discreet baby bin set into the garden wall. It is called ‘The Moses Basket’, and it is where mothers in crisis can place their babies anonymously, 24 hours a day.
“The basket is waterproof and padded,” explained Eleanor. “When a baby is placed inside, an alarm is activated inside the property. There is also a camera set up within the basket so that in the event of the alarm failing, we are able to have eyes on the basket at all times. The camera cannot, however, identify the person placing the baby inside the basket.
“Sometimes the mother will leave a little note with the baby, telling us its date of birth and given name. We work with a local doctor at Drysdale Health Care Centre who sees to all the babies and treats any immediate health issues. If the baby is very ill, it will go to a government hospital for treatment before being returned to our care. Our adoption rate is good. Most of the newborns received in the basket are placed with adoptive families within three to six months. The older children are harder to place,” she said.
“We have had five White babies, two Asian toddlers, and 102 Black babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. We accept children up to the age of five or six. In terms of adoptive parents, the majority are White families. We have only had two single Black women and one Black couple adopt children from us.”
In terms of the perceived challenges posed by cross-cultural adoptions, Eleanor said, “A child is not born into a culture, a child is raised in a culture. A child that has been abandoned by its mother, has been abandoned by its culture. When a child is adopted, it is adopted into a culture. I am a Christian, and all of these children here are raised as Christians.”
“We also have an outreach programme with Pastor David Tsetsi in Zandspruit Informal Settlement in Honeydew,” she said. “It is run by elderly women in the community. Mothers can take their little ones, free of charge, to the créche, to be cared for while they go out to look for work. When we have received excess food and clothing, we pack parcels and distribute them through the church to the community. And educate them about The Moses Basket. Our mission is to save the babies. Give them a second chance at life.”
The Lighthouse Baby Shelter relies solely on the generosity of sponsors and patrons to carry out the work they do. Eleanor has a staff of women who help nurture the needs of the children until they are placed with their ‘forever families’.
Please visit their website to see how you can be of assistance.
Details: Eleanor Dustan, 011 795 4207, eleanord@telkomsa.net
Details: The Lighthouse Baby Shelter website
Details: The Lighthouse Baby Shelter on Facebook
