January 1, 2005
Life-Child Schoemansdal visit
By Sarah Liech

I recently was able to revisit Malelane. After not being there for a couple of months my heart melted to see all the children again. As they always do when people come, they were waiting patiently inside the gate to welcome us with a warm smile on there faces. The girls were overjoyed too and asked me to come down to their room because there was something that they wanted to show me. I walked into a room that looked as though it was decorated for the holidays. Between school and chores the girls had created strings of garland out of candy wrappers and potato chip bags. I expressed to them how creative they are. They said that they did this to hang up in their new room.

This was the purpose of our visit. My dad (Butch) and Steve came to help with some of the construction projects of the NEW Life Child Center. It is drawing near to completion and it is looking really remarkable. I am excited that soon the children will be able to move in, but no one can be more ecstatic then the orphans themselves. For the last four months the older boys have been living in a Russian Military tent provided by the donations given to Doctors For Life. The girls and the smaller boys have had to live amongst the mice that continually bite their fingers and feet while sleeping and now chew through their clothing. The children’s prayer is to be able to move into the center really soon.

One thing that really stuck out to this time was the respect and gratitude that these children possess. The caretaker, Mrs. Ndlela has raised these children in the way that they should go. Each one has grown in character that sets them apart from many children. I have seen that all her hard work and labor has not been in vain. She loves these children and prays like I do, Gods best.

Doctors for Life International represents more than 1000 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of who practice in South Africa. DFL was founded as a South African organization in 1991 and has spread across the globe. DFL is involved in several community projects including orphan care, the care of terminal AIDS patients, malaria prevention and the care of abused women.

For more information visit the Life-Child web-page