Thousands of orphans in Durban will have to wait a long time to get foster parents as an NGO that expedites the process is short of funding and set to close its adoption programme at the end of the month.
The NGO, Big Shoes, has branches in the Western Cape, Joburg and Durban.
The Durban branch finds itself short of funding for its adoption and medical clinic programmes, which will close down at the end of February if donations are not received.
KwaZulu-Natal regional manager Tracey Brand said the organisation was donor-funded and contracts with previous donors had expired.
Brand wrote several funding proposals to potential donors last year, but did not receive any positive feedback.
“We expedite the adoption process for children by screening the children quickly and conduct HIV testing. We do development assessments and provide counselling until the child is eligible for the adoption process, and we do all of this with one doctor.”
Brand said her organisation had developed a good reputation with potential parents. “If the child has been cleared by Big Shoes, parents want to adopt the child quickly.”
The NGO’s medical clinic also travels to welfare and children’s homes, which would suffer should the programme close down.
The organisation, which assisted 57 orphans in January and over 1 000 last year, requires a R500 000 donation to keep the programmes open.
Social Development Department spokeswoman Ncumisa Fandesi said the department was unaware of Big Shoe’s plight. “I suggest that the foundation approach the department with all documentation relating to previous applications (for funding), including the business plan, so we can see what went wrong.”
Fandesi added, however, that there was no guarantee that her department would provide the funding, because Big Shoes would have to meet certain criteria.
Justin Foxton, who runs a children’s home in Umhlanga, said the crisis at Big Shoes was “concerning”.
“We need to intervene in children’s lives early, or they will sit in homes for the rest of their lives,” he said.
“Adoption needs to be done quickly, and potential parents always want to know the medical condition of the children,” he said.
Foxton added that many children would lose the chance of being adopted if Big Shoes shut down its programmes.
*To make donations, contact Brand at 031 309 4640 or 083 659 5164. Alternatively e-mail [email protected]