58 Millboum Road
Bertrams 2094

POBox 16612
Doornfontein 2028

Tel: (Oil! 614-3245
Fax:(0il) 624-2647
A/H Call box: (011) 624-2686
Non-Prom Organisation No: 001-362 NPO
A Home to Heal Abused Women and their Children

Bethany Home

18th October 2017

Manuel and Christine Bhatt

Dear Manuel and Christine,

On behalf of everyone at Bethany  I would like to thank you very much for the wonderful donation of  clothes, stationery, sweets, a beautiful cellphone, games, a fabulous star chart, loads and loads of gorgeous cars, a handbag and so much more. Thank you so much for coming to visit us and for choosing Bethany to bless and spoil.  It was so good to meet you both and thank you for your encouragement, love and kindness - what a lovely morning.  I would like to thank your children Ridhi and Shivam for contributing towards this magnificent donation - thank you both very much.

We give our children a sweet every night after dinner, thus teaching them to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’  and a chance for me to get a hug from all our beautiful little people. Your donation of sweets will ensure many hugs for the next few weeks! 

The children were all given a couple of cars last night and what delight (cars and sweeties - it was like Christmas!) and Tschai’s mother was thrilled with the star chart - your contribution and all the hard work that went into this donation is just so very much appreciated.  Thank you.

I would now like to give you a little information about Bethany 

Bethany, which was started in 1989, is a Home for 53 abused women and their children in Bertrams.  

Our mission is to rehabilitate abused women, and their children, who are sent to us from police stations, hospitals, word of mouth and our website.  The women who come to our Home usually arrive with nothing but the clothes on their back in a state of absolute hopelessness and helplessness. When they come to Bethany it is usually the last resort – having been subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse for 
many years.  Although many of our residents come to Bethany as a result of abuse from their partners, it doesn’t take us long to realise that they have often been abused from 
childhood- whether it be physically, emotionally or just abject neglect.   How they survive the abuse, neglect and rejection they are subjected to is often hard to imagine.

The rehabilitation process begins with intensive counselling to build up self esteem and hope. At the same time the physical and medical needs of the women and children are addressed to ensure they receive appropriate attention from the local clinics, hospitals and doctors.  We then place the bigger children in school and the smaller ones in Pre-School.

We also try to get the public involved with motivational talks as well as talks on budgeting, hygiene, first aid, life skills, parenting and HIV.  We try to give them as many skills as possible in the one year that they are with us. We also have a craft centre where the women learn to sew or make jewellery.  This is not only therapeutic but also enables them to earn a little pocket money.    

Once the client is emotionally stable and the children settled in school, her interests and levels of education are assessed, and she is sent on training courses to acquire skills necessary for a job in the field she wishes to pursue. After completing training, by which time the rehabilitation programme should have been completed, residents are assisted to find a job.  We also encourage those with entrepreneurial skills to start their own businesses. They usually then spend a further two months in the shelter to save enough money for a deposit on a flat or room.

The whole process takes approximately twelve to fifteen months.  It is our policy to complete the process of reintegration before the client and her children leave our shelter so that she never has to return to her abusive partner, or enter a new abusive relationship.

Thank you for your interest in our Home, and any help you are able to give us would be most welcome. It is only support such as yours that we are able to meet all the needs of the women and children in our care. 

Once again thank you very much for your amazing generosity, kindness and love. 

May God richly bless you all. 

Kind regards,

Bridget Edwards
Manager
Tel. No. 08246264395

  
          Non Profit Organisation No. 001-362 NPO PBO No 930002543
Email:  bethanyhome.edwards@gmail.com
Vision: To create a caring environment in which abused women and their children
find healing through God’s love