Boniswa Nyati hands over books to Ebenezer Hannah Home founder Shirely Merime
September 27, 2010 – Staff from the Nelson Mandela Foundation visited the Ebenezer Hannah Home outside Johannesburg today to make a donation in celebration of Heritage Day.
Ebenezer Hannah Home, which is situated just south of Johannesburg near to Meyerton, houses 75 orphaned and abandoned children and 58 elderly people. The home was founded in 1992 by Shirley Merime and is run on generous donations from the general public as well as corporate sponsorship.
The Foundation had received donations of clothing, shoes, toys, books, blankets and crockery, and wanted to give these items to an organisation that was doing good work in the community.
Boniswa Nyati, the Foundation’s information and resource officer, said at the handover: “We are from the Nelson Mandela Foundation and we are here to donate these clothes and gifts to you. Tomorrow is Heritage Day and we wanted to do something special by making a donation to you. This is not just from the Foundation but also those that support the Nelson Mandela Foundation.”
Nyati explained to the staff, children and elderly at the home that this donation was part of an ongoing commitment to Mandela Day and a commitment to regularly do small deeds that positively impact on local communities, in honour of Nelson Mandela’s lifelong commitment to social justice.
Merime said: “On behalf of the Ebenezer Hannah Home, I want to say a big thank you for making a difference in the lives of our little ones ... Thank you and may the Lord carry you from strength to strength.”
Merime also thanked Mr Mandela for teaching South Africans not to have vengeance but to have love and forgiveness. She said: “Tata Mandela reached out for a better future and so that is what we are trying to teach our kids here.”
Merime, who is affectionately known as Mama Shirley, was an orphan herself and established the care centre to provide a home for children who have been abandoned or orphaned, as well as children who are mentally and physically disabled.
In addition, the home caters for 58 elderly people who need shelter and care, as well as a handful who are sick or who live with some kind of disability. The home is run with the support of 15 staff members who are committed to ensuring that these children and elderly people are cared for.
“When people come here they only have what they are wearing and I would like to thank the people at the Nelson Mandela Foundation [for the donation of clothes]. We are grateful that you have opened your hearts and blessed us,” Merime said.
Some of the children from the home sang for the Foundation staff
The Foundation staff unpack the clothes that were donated to the home
The staff from Ebenezer Hannah Home