Dear Friends and Supporters of Thembanathi, 

My sincere thanks to all of you for your continued support of the women and children of South Africa.  Last year was our most successful fundraising year to date due to all your wonderful purchases and generous direct donations.  During 2008, we purchased over $13,000 worth of products from three different income generation projects, which helped to provide support to the many women involved in them, contributing to their ability to become economically self-sufficient.  Through the sale of these products and the donations we received, we will be able to send $25,000 back to South Africa to support programs for orphans and vulnerable children there. Through Thembanathi, you all have been part of providing consistent, meaningful, and long-term support to children in rural KwaZulu-Natal.  



Last year we donated $15,000 to Holy Cross to support the operations of the creche (day care center) and to help open a new satellite center to provide support for children in a remote area.  Here are just a few of the things Holy Cross was able to do during 2008 with support from Thembanathi and other organizations like us in England, Holland, and elsewhere:

•    Provide day care and 3 meals a day to 119 children in the creche at the Hospice and additional children in two satellite centers.
•    Make 5,500 visits to individual households in the community to provide support and care.
•    Provide care for up to 509 AIDS patients in their homes and at the hospice.
•    Complete construction of 144 of the houses donated by Homeplan of Holland.

Although Holy Cross is doing amazing things for the people in the area, especially the children, the need continues to grow.  The latest number of orphans receiving services increased to 2,183 in 869 households.  I hope to have more specific information for you soon on the programs we will be funding this year.  Lindsey is in South Africa (doing research on orphans and vulnerable children for her Ph.D. in Mtubatuba a few hours from Holy Cross) and will be visiting Holy Cross within the next month.  Lindsey has just been asked to assist with a project being done by an organization from England  to design a new database and management system for Holy Cross.  She will be advising them on more effective ways to monitor and measure the effectiveness of the programs.

In addition to our support for Holy Cross, after receiving a moving plea from a colleague of Lindsey's, we sent $2,000 to Zimbabwe to provide emergency relief for a program there working with HIV positive children.  The funds went to buy medications, food, and shelter and to pay for school fees.

Helen Towle