The Makaphutu Children’s Village is on a farm of 20 hectares in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu Natal between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.
It has grown from a development set up by the Rotary Club of Hillcrest to assist Mrs June van Vuuren who had been taking abandoned and abused black children into her home. The Rotary Club of Hillcrest through direct donations, business expertise and hands-on assistance built cottages to house children and care workers. The name Makaphutu is a Zulu word meaning “mother porridge” and was the native name given to the founder.
One grant was approved for the furnishing and equipping of five new cottages for the care of AIDS orphans in an environment designed to be as close as possible to a normal family. Each family will has a House Mother caring for a group of 10 children in the age range from 2 to 18 years.
Another grant was made to purchase a robust vehicle to get the children at the existing home to schools 7 km away and as transport for an outreach project to assist AIDS orphans under care of grannies in the community. (The children used to walk to school but crime is now rife in the area. In the past three of the little boys were held up and robbed of their school lunches. One of the older girls was raped on her way to school.)
Alresford Rotary is proud to have helped with this significant project and continues to provide support. One of the cottages recognises this help by bearing the name “Alresford House”