How do you protect your child when you live in one of the most dangerous countries in the world?
How do you protect your child when you live in one of the most dangerous countries in the world?
Let’s be honest, South Africa isn’t safe.
The country has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Theft and armed robberies are everyday occurrences. And rape and gender-based violence statistics are high, and climbing.
Every citizen has, in some way, had a run-in with crime—be it petty theft, hijacking, a home invasion, or worse.
At the forefront of the minds of every South African is an anxiety that never lets them rest, a crime and safety consciousness that repeats, “Don’t walk alone at night. Don’t leave your bag unattended. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”
And if you’re a victim, you pray to escape a violent encounter.
The majority of South Africans live in informal settlements or ‘townships.’
These locations are wrought with criminal activity, where citizens are governed by gangs, and law enforcement officials are largely absent.
In these spaces, families are even more at risk. And the lives of their children are desperately in danger.
How, in a country so dangerous, can a family protect itself and safeguard its children?
Our Approach
We provide safe housing for families with children
The Iviwe Hope Foundation aims to provide safe accommodation to families with children in South Africa. Through fundraising and donor support, we collect enough money to cover the rental costs of a home in a safe and secure location.
Rent is a household’s highest monthly expense. It’s our aim to cover this expense for as many families as possible.
By taking the financial pressure of rent from the shoulders of parents, they live free from considerable stress and focus more on their children’s well-being and less on making ends meet.
By first, providing housing in a safe and comfortable space, and second, covering the rental cost for a family, we have found that:
Adults can be more present and available to their children, taking care of their mental, emotional and physical well being.
Adults can also focus on securing long-term and stable employment or could focus on studies or upskilling.
Each member of the family can live with less anxiety and fear no longer worried by the threat of a home invasion, violent physical attack, or worse.
Each member of the family can sleep better, improve their overall mental health and experience decreased stress levels.
Children can focus better at school, improving academically or pursuing creative expression.
Children can play, explore, adventure and experience life with parents who aren’t burdened by financial worries or consumed by the stress of day-to-day living.
A house can become a home, happy memories can be made, healthy relationships can be strengthened, and the future trajectories for a handful of people can change forever.
Our Process
How We Create New Housing Opportunities
Our efforts are a small drop in the ocean, and our projects will only lightly scratch the surface of a far bigger, more complex systemic issue.
But if we can change the life of even a few families, we’ll be successful.
Our approach is to go ‘deep, not wide.’ With this, we aim to fully stabilise one family at a time, ensuring that we have the means to provide rental payments for a five-year period.
As soon as we secure the funds for one family, we’ll establish their five-year rental contract and then move on to fundraising for the next.
After a five-year break from covering rental costs, the family will be given the opportunity to take over the rental contract.
Ready to help? Get involved!
Our Pilot Project
Please meet Maggie, Lucy, Unathi and Iviwe.
Our pilot project has been successful and is still underway. In 2021, a family of four, Maggie, Lucy, Iviwe and Unathi moved from their home in Nyanga, where they were burgled countless times and the two young girls threatened with rape, into a security complex in Kuils River.
They went from living in a house with no fencing or burglar bars to a gated estate with 24/7 security.
Within the first few months of relocating, Lucy, the mother, was able to secure full-time employment, and the two young girls, Iviwe and Unathi, began accelerating academically. Iviwe reached the top of her class in maths and Unathi began playing the piano.
Project Status:
The first year of the rental expense has been secured. We are currently fundraising for years two to five. Will you help?
Get Involved
The easiest and quickest way to help the Iviwe Hope Foundation is to donate to our organisation. You can make a one-off donation or set up a recurring, monthly donation.
If you’re called to, you can sponsor a family. This would help us the most as we’ll be able to secure families faster. If you choose to sponsor a family, you could do so as a per-month or per-annum donation. Learn more about sponsoring a family.
If you’d like to donate your services, skills or expertise, please get in touch with us.
Spread Hope
We have big goals and even bigger dreams, and with your help, we can provide a new life and a bold future for a child where they can dream big too.