There are two big questions we spend a lot of time answering... The children ask us "Where do babies come from?", grown ups ask us "Where do babies go?". I am going to answer the second question... !
At TLC our mission is to do the best we can for every single child we commit ourselves to.
On the surface that sounds like it shouldn't be too difficult... Most people don't commit to quite as many children... This is a life's work... In fact it's the work of a number of lives...
Some of the little ones we commit to have been labelled: "Beyond Hope". They come to TLC because someone, somewhere believes they are going to die and are therefore an unnecessary drain on their resources. Once a baby is admitted to TLC, we do everything we can for them; Occassionally, that is little more than comforting and loving them in their final hours, and remembering them for the angels they are.
But, we also believe that 'where there is life there is hope', and often we have found that given something to hope for, miracles can, and do, happen.
Where possible our aim is to restore a baby to his biological family. Sometimes this is fairly simple, as in the case of a destitute mommy of a premature baby who cannot afford to heat her accommodation during the winter - we care for her baby while he is most fragile, then he goes home with mom. Sometimes this is more difficult: if a mommy dies in childbirth, and extended family have to be traced. The family often live far away and need time to prepare for a new child, who may have special needs.
If we are unable to restore a baby to his biological family we seek a family who will adopt our little one into their family. If possible, we prefer to place a child into a South African family. Sadly there are far more babies seeking families in our country than there are families seeking babies. Fortunately we have a wonderful network of agencies who assist us in seeking families abroad should we be unable to identify a local family.
Occasionally, it happens that, a child does not find a family outside of TLC. These are often the children with health difficulties, however that doesn't make them any less special to us, and as always our commitment stands! We will never send a child we have committed to away. These most precious children remain with us and become full members of our family. They help us change the world, one day at a time!