Since December 2014 Thinus’&’BarbaraCampher ......Since December 2014...

Since December 2014 Thinus & Barbara Campher 0797760990 [email protected] hagarschoice.co.za (Registered NPO) 164-‐105 We are desperately in need of sponsoring and donations so please join with us and help support our house of safety for children and babies.

In June 2014 our lives changed forever…

We were a family of 5, unbeknown to us, we were soon to become a family of 9, and this would continue to grow.

We have three children of our own, who are home schooled. During our studies, we discovered that, there is a huge ‘gap in the market’ for abandoned babies, these babies are given up at birth, and it takes time for them to be placed with their forever families, but they need somebody to love & care for them in the interim. We made the decision as a family to help where we can. The children gave up their extra murals, so that they could help the babies in such desperate need.

Our Family with 4 abandoned babies

We went through the necessary screening process, working closely with social workers, within 2 weeks of receiving our approval as a place of safety, we received the first baby and we thoroughly enjoyed giving her the love & care that every baby deserves, she was a premature baby and she weighed only 1.250kg.

It was only one week later that I received another phone call, asking if we could take another baby, we prayed as a family, and decided that we would take on another baby, how could we say no, the phone calls kept coming, as did the babies, until we eventually had 4 new born babies in our care.

Taking care of our own family, and numerous babies, can be a challenge at times, but we manage and everybody helps out where they can, and now we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are grateful that we can be a part of these babies lives and that we can help to give them a perfect start in life.

As a family, we chose to take the difficult path, the path less travelled because helping premature and rejected babies is no easy task, however it is one of the most rewarding experiences.


We know what it feels like not to have anything, nowhere to go home to as we have lost all previously, but with Gods guidance, we are now in a positon to help others again, as we were once helped. We are equipped to help the ones that have no place to call home, no family, and we provide them with a temporary place of security and provision until they get adopted by their forever parents.


How it started…

We got the phone call & rushed to collect our first baby from the hospital, she was premature, born at 29 weeks and weighed only 1.25kg. The premature baby clothes we had were too big for her, the new born nappies were too big for her, she was so small, but with big attitude & stole our hearts. We loved her & gave her the best start to her life that we could.

Our second baby girl was only with us for 14 days, her mother decided she didn’t want to go through with the adoption, this is one of the best outcomes one could hope for, but for us it was extremely hard with so many emotions to deal with. Ultimately, we were happy that this Mother had taken the time, to come to what she thought was the best decision for herself & her baby, she was with us for such a short time, but made a big impact on our hearts.

Although she was our second baby, she was our first handover, there is no amount of preparation that can prepare you for the mix of emotions because handing them back was too hard, but we knew there would be other babies that needed our help, and we couldn’t turn our backs on them now.

Our second handover, of our first baby, we had no tears, as her new Mother had so many for us all , they connected instantly, this makes the handover process much easier.

We know that we have done our part, and although they won’t remember us as they grow older, we will always remember them.

Raising Healthy Babies…

Sometimes our babies have been exposed to HIV, drugs and alcohol in the womb and they need medications and blood tests to monitor this.

Often the babies are premature, so they need to visit Occupational Therapists for assessments, to check their development, they also need to have eye & hearing tests. The social workers need to give the future parents a full history of the babies, and any health problems, this means taking them for various blood tests too.


As with all babies, some struggle with their digestion, colic, reflux, constipation etc, we try to use different bottles, formulas and medications when necessary to keep our babies as comfortable as possible.

All of the babies also need to have their innoculations as per the normal schedule too, we can of course take the babies to the government clinics for this, but it takes time, and it usually isn’t feasible for us to sit for hours when there are other babies at home who also need us, so we take them to private clinics as it is the most expedient way.

Why just babies…

On Christmas Day 2014, we took on 2 older children, shortly followed by 2 more early in the New Year. Through contacts, and hard work, we managed to provide beds, food & clothing for them, as well as a sense of belonging, and obviously, lots of love.

Throughout these experiences, my children have always welcomed both older children & babies into our family, and we believe that we are teaching them some great life lessons.

Six at once…

In Autumn 2015, we found ourselves looking after 6 babies at once. We thought it was going to be hard, but we cannot say no to these babies, after all, it is never their fault that they find themselves in this position.

We surprised ourselves. Taking care of six babies at once is not hard, bathing them all is not hard, providing 36 bottles daily is not hard, changing 36 nappies is not hard, handing them over to their forever parents is not hard, letting go of the emotions, is not hard. Teaching our children to do hard things, that is true inheritance of life. Seeing them flourish in that and developing their passions, is more valuable that gold.

In 2015, we helped 13 babies & 5 older girls, what a blessing for us to be a part of all of their lives, so far in 2016, we have helped 6 babies, and one family of 3, and we continue to help…

Beulah's Baby Clothing

Beulah is 13 and sells second hand donated baby clothing and household goods to the underprivileged areas in order to raise funds for Babies & Moms in need in Western Cape. Beulah started this initiative on her own after she realised the dire need of basic sanitary ware for moms in poorer communities who have just given birth and have no support.

Not only does Beulah’s drive have a positive influence on the either the babies with milk and nappies or the new Moms’, but we also realized that the selling of the clothes at R1 or R2 has a positive impact on the under privileged it’s as if they purchasing a garment for a monetary value gives them a greater sense of self-‐worth more so than what giving it away for free would have had.


Eliska’s Photography

The saying goes that a picture speaks a thousand words, and with Eliska’s skillset, Hagars Choice has a lot to say.

Eliska is 17 she does the majority of our babies photos. Every week Eliska religiously takes a weight and portrait photo of each baby. The photos form a large part of each babies’ “memory box” which goes to their forever family as a record of their early days with us.

Each Baby has a memory box that we add items to that are specific to them that they can refer to at later stages. We believe it contributes toward a solid identity foundation of a growing child. We also provide all the photos on DVD so that the adoptive parents may build their own album.


Mandre, Master of Many Trades

Mandre is 15 and we are so blessed to have our teenage son so very involved in all the tasks. Mandre truly has a unique gift of being able to contribute positively to all tasks, from changing dirty nappies to cooking the best steak in town. Mandre’s special gifting is with the young children, he fulfils the role as an older brother that can handle the surprise attacks and horsy rides. He is the older brother that we all wished we had. Mandre also man’s up and handles a large part of our business processes and back of house work unseen to the average eye.

Mandre forms a vital part in literally every task we perform, from photo shoot setups or being the clown to draw out the cutest smile, is the protector with Beulah’s sales, is a site supervisor when dad does construction work.


Mandre has recently started computer sales and is looking at growing it into a massive giant in the industry.

How we sustain ourselves…

In 2016, we started a business called “His working Hands” we are health food distributors, and provide quality meat, health food & health care products, delivered to the customer’s doorstep all over South Africa. We now stock over 600 products, the money we make from this business is used to support the babies, by buying nappies, formula & all the other necessities. We run the business as a family, as previously mentioned, our children are home schooled and are now also getting experience in running a business, a worthwhile life lesson we hope.


How you can help our babies & many more…

As of 2016, we are now a registered NPO, our NPO number is 164-‐105. This hopefully means that it becomes easier for large organisations to help us.

Our needs to take it to a whole new level are:

Here is a list of our current expenses, having monthly partners for these, would alleviate the pressure on us immensely.

• House Rent (Sponsoring a HOUSE or FARM would elievate this big expense) Approx. R15000

• Pre-‐paid Electricity R2000 • Water & Wastage R2000 • Milk & Nappies Approx. R9800 (more info on types of milk can be

provided) • Food for family of 5 + (2-‐4) Foster Children = 7-‐9 people R8000 • Petrol R2000 • Medical expenses for the babies & children. • Cleaning Supplies • Baby needs (0-‐2 years) Toiletries, wet wipes etc… • Big Children Needs (3-‐15 years) • Education – Home School -‐ Computer Room & Curriculum • A Cleaner Salary R4000

One of our biggest wishes at present, so that we can get around safely with our babies, to various doctors’ appointments and clinics would be a new vehicle, a 9 seater bus would help us an immense amount. Our current transport, a Renault Scenic is broken & the repair bill would be estimated at R28000. We have the quotes from the dealership for this.

Our other wishes are…


• A Tumble Dryer is essential during the winter months so that we can keep the babies clothed & warm.

• An additional Washing Machine & Microwave is a big need in our place of safety, this means that we can wash more clothes, sterilise more bottles etc at once.

We saved long & hard to buy a double trouble, unfortunately this was stolen from the boot of our car, we still have the maxi-‐cosi & carry cots for this, so we just need to purchase a new chassis. These prams make getting out of the house with so many babies far easier, we still want to be able to attend church, family celebrations as an entire family, including the babies.

Why we are called Hagar’s Choice…

History Hagar was an Egyptian princess, cast away by her own people. She worked as a slave to Abraham’s wife Sarah. Sarah was barren and forced Hagar her slave to “be with” her husband. But the site of Hagar being pregnant with her husband’s child, increased the jealousy within Sarah. The infertility of Sarah increased the jealousy.

Hagar felt the oppression and headed off to the desert (in a pregnant state) It was in the desert that an Angel of the Lord appeared to her. The angel instructed her to return and to treat Sarah with respect. Hagar returned and bore a son. Sarah also later fell pregnant and bore a son. When both sons reached teenager years though, Sarah’s jealousy re ignited towards Hagar. She then asked Abraham to send Hagar away. Hagar got rejected for a third time and faced the desert. Days went by without food nor water for both her and her son. Yet once again God did not forget her, an Angel of the Lord guided them to a place of water (Genesis 12) Why this resonated with us…Hagar, means: “Stranger” Hagar’s story consists of repeated rejection by her own people in addition to the ones that took her in. Every baby that gets rejected experiences similar feelings & emotions as Hagar. In that they weren’t welcome anywhere, they didn’t have a place to belong to. Babies cannot fend for themselves, they don’t have “a voice”, they are dependent on others for help. God sends angels and people on their path to help them, similar to that of Hagar.


We will appreciate assistance via donations or support us in the following ways:

1. Help provide for our basic daily needs per baby 2. Spread the word about our current project 3. Money donations into the following bank account:

ABSA Savings account nr: 906 185 7601 (Branch code 63 2005). Reference: HagarsChoice 4. Send baby equipment via the post office (email us to arrange this [email protected])

Current Support

At the moment all expenses are being covered by us – and some months it’s really touch and go. We have a few friends and community members that drop by occasionally with a bag of groceries or 2nd hand baby clothing & Milk & Nappies – but all medical expenses, milk, bottles and bedding we buy ourselves.


Shalom

Thinus and Barbara Campher

079 085 2295 / 079 776 0990 [email protected] www.facebook.com/hagarschoice or hagarsorphans.blogspot.com

Since December 2014 Thinus’&’BarbaraCampher ......Since December 2014...

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