South Africa is a country going through immense change and whilst huge progress has been made over the last 10 years, there is still a long way to go. First of all Thank You. By visiting our website it means you are planning a trip to South Africa and there is nothing the people and the country need more than a continued growth in visitors. In addition there are other ways you can help the country more directly and at Fleewinter we have searched for some time for a programme we can encourage our clients to support. We think we have found it with the Umtha Welanga Foster Care Programme.

Umtha Welanga

Translate literally this means New Dawn and it is a is a small community organisation which offers a loving future to orphans in the large sprawling township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, home to over half a million people. Since 2000, they have enabled hundreds of children infected and affected by AIDS to move successfully into long term foster care.

For many HIV+ children, institutional care is seen as the only option for them as it is assumed that foster parents will not take on the emotional and medical responsibility. However, Umtha Welanga is changing this attitude by pioneering an effective identification, training and support system for local foster parents.

Umtha works with over 140 foster, extended and HIV affected families living in Khayelitsha and liaises closely with government social services to provide the necessary information to ensure vulnerable children are safely and legally placed. Foster parents are carefully screened and some foster parents also act as emergency places of refuge for very damaged children.

100% Contribution

Fleewinter has chosen to support Umtha Welanga as it a small project where we can make a direct impact. You can contact us directly to make a donation or via Hope HIV (http://www.hopehiv.org) who oversee the programme. For donations made via Fleewinter, we guarantee 100% of you money goes directly to the programme with nothing going to the management in the UK or any government agencies – just give us a call or send a cheque payable to “Hope HIV” to Foster Care Programme, Fleewinter, 49 Stilehall Gardens, London W4 3BT. Please indicate if you a UK tax payer to enable us to make your money go even further.

Thanks for your support and please let us know if you would like more info.