Today we mark World Adoption Day, a day dedicated to shining a light on the millions of children around the world growing up without what every human being needs most: a family to belong to. We want to mark this day not just with an appeal, but with truth. Because the children we serve deserve more than sentiment. They deserve for the world to understand what is at stake.
When we opened Thandi House in 2009, headlines in Pietermaritzburg were filled with stories of dead babies found in rubbish bins, gutters, and fields. What drove a mother to that point? Desperation. Poverty. Illness. Abandonment. A system that had already failed her long before it failed her child. South Africa's orphan crisis is one of the most severe in the world. There are an estimated 5 million orphaned children in South Africa, with a significant proportion having lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. South Africa carries the world's largest number of HIV-infected people of any country on earth, and the children left behind carry that weight in ways most of us will never fully understand. It is also estimated that there are 150,000 children in South Africa living in homes managed by children themselves, child-headed households where a teenager becomes parent, provider, and protector, often with no adult support at all.
What World Adoption Day Is Asking of Us
If you have ever considered opening your home to a child in need, today is the day to take the first step.
- For information on foster care, please contact your local Social Services office.
- For information on adoption in South Africa, please visit www.adoption.org.za
And if opening your home is not possible right now, there are still meaningful ways to respond.
What We Do at Thandi House
At Thandi House, we offer hope and a permanent family to orphaned and abandoned children in Pietermaritzburg. Our entire approach is built around family-centred care, creating the most natural, normal family life possible for every child who comes through our doors.
We believe that every child deserves a family. For many of our children, we are the only family they have ever known. Our children are whole because they belong, because they are loved, and because they feel secure.
By supporting Thandi House, you are directly helping us sustain this family environment for children who have none. Our monthly costs include rent, water and electricity, food, medical bills, school fees, petrol, staff salaries, and extracurricular activities.
Please consider becoming a monthly donor. No amount is too small. Banking details and donation options are available at thandihouse.com/support
The Thandi House Family
