Newsletter - January 2025

Dear Friends of Resthaven,

First of all, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a 202thrive filled will success, optimism and positivity. We shall stand in absolute faith that this year God will open more doors than we had ever anticipated for all of us!!

This Christmas our children and elderly enjoyed wonderful gifts and visits, and we cannot thank those who had reached out a helping hand enough!!

Our elderly people don’t have enough contact with the outside world as the support we receive from those who care keep them safely and comfortably in the homes, which is why we encourage visitors.

Quite frankly, it is due to the support we receive from you, our valued donors, that we are able to ensure the comfort and welfare of those we care for.

The kids had some wonderful outings, braais and picnics 😊

Despite these wonderful gifts, Christmas has depleted us and our pantries are quite empty right now, and we feel rather like Mother Hubbard. If you could, please help us with non-perishable goods and tinned foods. Feeding 11 growing children and 23 elderly people, plus providing ingredients to the surrounding soup kitchens, as we are now serving as a conduit to them instead of running our own soup kitchens, is a continual challenge. But our homes are our first priority!!

All our children have passed with excellent grades 😊 our Keagan has now entered Grade 1, Njabulo is in matric and Giffie, who has gone from a special school to a mainstream school has really grown into an exceptional young man!! And our boy, Prince has been chosen as a prefect!!

Our Gracie is determined to become a scientist and we were wondering if anyone knows of a science club in our area for encouragement for her big dreams!!

Our kids would also love a tree house in their garden, so a bit of help here would be so welcome!!

Birthdays for the month of February are as follows: Patricia, caregiver at Camelia on the 8th (33yo), Ashraf – son of Nizaam, one of our McGyvers on 13th (11yo), Valentine at David House on the 14th (very apt 😊 10yo), and Jeanette, a Camelia House resident on the 22nd (73yo).

We are focusing on two major projects. The first one being to enlarge the porch at Camelia House so that we can install exercise bicycles and various soft exercise equipment for the elderly. We would also need to install tinted windows for this project. It is because we care so much for our elderly that we want them to be healthy and flexible for as long as possible. Low impact exercising does not only have physical health benefits, but mental, emotional and social benefits too. Here we are looking at wooden decking to extend the porch and we need a ramp by the entrance of the home for those with wheelchairs or walkers.

The second being to build wooden rooms/decks/log cabins above all the outbuildings on our properties to provide more accommodation for the elderly. Unfortunately, due to the age of our homes it would not be an option to build brick rooms, as the foundations would not support it. But with the new, improved wooden housing available (which would be insulated), and pillars to support the rooms, this would definitely be the best route to go! This would provide more than 6 rooms for the elderly that are still able to negotiate stairs. This project is essential because our waiting list is becoming longer and longer, and we continuously receive enquiries for elderly accommodation. This is a sustainable project as we would receive rentals from the residents.

Another project that we looking at is to revamp the swimming pool to enable us to offer swimming lessons and aquarobics, not only to our residents but also for the community. This would become a sustainable project as a monthly fee would be required. We also need to install an enclosure at the pool, so that we can offer these lessons throughout the year! This is quite an extensive project as the pool would need to be altered, the surrounding area levelled and change rooms to be installed in the pool house. To this end, I have seen many advertisements on epoxy waterproof paint for the floors, which would be ideal. I would really like the pool area to be enclosed so that it can be used in winter and in summer! With the pool we need it to be a Natural Wetlands Pool and the Roof will need to be able to open and close for, first of all ventilation, and also for cold or bad weather (storms) etc.

And last but not least, we need to put reflective film on the windows of our home for the elderly. This would prevent drafts as it is a very old building, as well as keeping the rooms cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

Which brings us right back to you, your support is invaluable to us and we would not be able to do what we do without you!

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us!

Blessings to you all,

Resthaven Fundraisers