The "Hole In the Wall"

RED adventures is always looking for a way to help the ones who need it most. 

I heard people talk about a place.. a place that a mother of an unwanted baby could simply leave this unwanted child in a drop off box at the door of this facility, while remaining completely anonymous, never even having to show themselves, just drop the baby off and go.

 "The Hole in the Wall"  

There are many reasons that someone might not want a baby, maybe they just cant afford it, maybe they are too young.. there are millions of reasons and scenarios, this "Hole in the Wall" is an option so babies won't end up in the rubbish bin or open field, discarded and left to die.

THIS IS NOT AN OPTION I CAN BARE TO SEE.

(Note: this baby is now alive and well)

  The Door of Hope and the people within its doors, take good care of these babies are all loving selfless individuals, it was a pleasure to spend the day with them.

Unfortunately local laws prevented me from photographing the cute faces. 

When i first arrived with a large bag of donated children's cloths, I have no idea what was in store. All i knew at the time was that this was a cause good enough for me to make the effort to find and render whatever assistance i could.. RED was not present due to logistics but it was a dedicated RED adventure none the less.

There have been over 800 babies that passed thru these doors in the past decade, most all of whom have been adopted and now living in a loving home environment. This is a photo wall in just 1 of the 3 locations with just some of the children

As I was escorted thru the house, I was shown how well these young babies were cared for. Surviving on nothing more than public donations, they do a good job making sure the babies needs are met as best they can.

At the time of my visit, they had around 60 babies to care for.. that keeps people (all volunteers) pretty busy in this house.

Even the special little bath tubs were purchased thru donations. I cant imagine bathing 60 children with just 2 bathing tubs.. but at least they have something ;-)

The volunteers did a great job keeping the babies rooms bright and cheerful. The babies here are not left alone and unloved.. they gets lots of hugs and kisses from the staff of volunteers who dedicate their time here.

I noticed a great deal of social interactions with the children here.. they really take a lot of time individually to make sure the kids grow up as close to normal environment as possible.

This little group was the oldest of the kids here.. toddlers, waiting for some caring soul to come adopt them. They like all the others were left / discarded and unwanted.. but are now loved and have a good second chance at a life they did not ask for.

Imagine.. 60 babies.. diapers.. cloths, laundry !! Wow.. lol

There is an area here than can house up to 10 international volunteers  and believe me when i say, they can use all the hands they can get.

The babies.. so many of them that I just could not fathom how people could just not want a baby.. and a mother to leave their babies in a box, in a field or rubbish bin. I'm not one to judge people and their individual problems in life.. but, there is always an option out there and this place is a good example of that.
 About 60% of the babies they receive come from hospitals.. who were left behind and never claimed. 30% come from the police and other agencies who find them discarded in fields and alleys and the like. The other 10% they find in their special drop box

This was the youngest addition to the resident of babies.. arriving just 2 days earlier this baby was just days old when it first arrived. Found in an abandon building just hours old with umbilical cord still attached.

 These babies come here with have no names and no information whatsoever… to witness this first hand is sometimes heart breaking.

This is the actual "Hole in the Wall" that intrigued me to  find this place. person can just open this door, anytime of day or night, put the baby inside and make good their escape.

Although its a very basic set up.. when someone puts a baby inside the box.. sensors inside the box set off an alarm within the house, and one of the volunteers will come out running to fetch the baby. On average the baby will spend less than 10min inside this drop box before one of the ladies bring the baby in the house.

like I said.. its a bit basic but it works.. here you can visually inspect the sensors.

It was with heavy heart that I walked past this area of the house. Not all babies can make it thru their ordeal. Some of the babies found in abandoned buildings.. open fields and ditches are sometimes just too weak to pull thru.. so the people here give the baby respect by giving him or her a first and last name.. and bury the baby with dignity while also making a plaque in memory, to assure that the baby was aknowledged in this world.. and that there was some people who tried.

While I was visiting, a lady (the lady in the skirt) approached one of the staff asking about a baby.. saying about 5 or 6 years ago, she also left a baby behind, her personal reason was not disclosed to me. She was from Zimbabwe and has not stopped thinking about her child. She stopped in just to ask if the baby got adopted ok and if her then baby was fine, knowing full well she could no longer go back and undo what had already been done. Regardless of her personal issues.. I could still see the sadness in her eyes

it's with great thanks to all the people around who are aware of this place and their generous donations. In this country, the government does little to nothing for places like this and they survive solely on the hearts of others in the community and abroad.

I'd like to thank the CassiDy clan as well as the De'Bruyckers for their kindness and donations of little baby cloths, although I could not take all you gave.. I took to all I could squeeze into my luggage for this trip and rest assured it won't be the last time these little babies see the RED adventure team pass thru the houses.
The people at Door of Hope thank each and everyone of you.. as do I

REDs Air adventure

I know RED is commonly seen in 3rd world as well as very under developed countries. We are there to help the kids and do what we can with the resources we have.
This time around we went to South Africa.. The country is much more developed than other places RED has gone.. but,, there are still kids out there that could use our help.

Since really love my chosen profession, I thought I could share the fun. I asked a couple of orphanages if I could take a few kids out for a day of Pizza, Ice Cream and Airplanes. 
It was a great day and I hope we were able to make a small change in their lives.. Even if it was just this one day.. no one can take away the memories.

Even though RED himself could not be a part of this journey.. we did have REDs close cousin (RED bag) come along with us as a RED adventure representative.. and we would like to thank all those people who were kind enough to help.
We managed to bring what we could carry, although only a fraction of what we could give.. There will be more trips in the future to help bring them more of everyones thoughtful donations ;-)

The Grand Central airport in South Africa is a great little airport filled with very generous and kind people.. all of whom helped make this a very special day for the kids.

Its just a small place with a HUGE heart ;-)

 

The Air Traffic Controllers even got in on the action.. a great group of professionals

when people think of orphanages most people think of  little children and babies.. not everyone realises that some kids might have spent most of their lives living in an orphanage.. Some kids come a little later age due to a long list of unforeseen circumstances. These young adults are no different than the youngest of kids, all doing extremely well in school and hoping for a bright future.

There is really no end to the amount of things a person can do to help the children of the world.. one thing RED adventures love to do is to put a smile of the faces of children around the world.. today was no different.. a great fun day ;-)

The first time in a small airplane is either scary or exciting.. either way its a great experience and a whole-lotta fun

Have a look at the video link below, tell us what you think. 

Thank you to all those who assisted in making this a great day out for the kids.

A special thanx to the guys at Superior Pilot Service. Each and every person helped out in their own way and on their own time to help make this day a day for the kids to remember.