Heartlands Baby Sanctuary marked the start of an exciting new building project with a special sod-turning ceremony held at the Somerset West facility last Wednesday (24 January).
The occasion saw proud management and staff welcome two notable guests, Christine Sieff and Vanessa Wickins of the Olivia Sieff Foundation, which opened its heart to the facility by pledging its support for the construction of a brand-new activity centre at the premises located in Old Paardevlei Road.
For Sieff who, with husband Jonny and son Nicky established the foundation in memory of their beloved daughter and sister Olivia, any support for a facility such as Heartlands represents a window of hope for such essential work for vulnerable little ones, a cause so close to her late daughter’s heart.
Olivia was killed in a hit-and-run in Cape Town on 30 January 2022. Before that she had landed a global modelling contract and planned to use her increased profile to help abused and vulnerable children. The Olivia Sieff Foundation was established by her family to continue the charity work she had planned, fulfilling her intention to help children. It therefore strives to champion the assistance and protection of abused, neglected, abandoned or abducted children in accordance with Christian principles.
“We raise funds, research and choose grant recipients that align with the Olivia Sieff Foundation’s mission,” said Sieff. “In the case of Heartlands, an established charity that has served the local community for many years, we decided to fund a much-needed building to house two therapy rooms and an indoor play centre.”
Monica Buitendag, CEO at Heartlands Baby Sanctuary, which serves as a temporary residential safe care facility for 25 children at any given time, expressed delight and a sense of privilege for being the foundation’s first and preferred beneficiary.
The new building will house the work of an array of therapists, including occupational, play and physiotherapists. In addition, older children at the facility will have access to an indoor activity area, where they will benefit from dedicated learning material and a very conducive educational environment.
As the property was City of Cape Town-owned, a proposal motivating for additional use of the land was submitted. This required input from various specialists, including architect Danie Pienaar, engineers of John Smith and Associates and project manager Gert Buitendag. Ground was broken after the plans were recently approved. Construction is expected to be complete by April. Buitendag, who serves not only as co-founder of Heartlands, but spearheads the building project as qualified civil engineer with well over 46 years of experience in the construction industry, expressed delight at being able to give back to the community and support his wife Monica with the hugely important project. He has also been a full-time Heartlands volunteer, involved with all daily activities for over a year already.
For those who may not have known, Heartlands Baby Sanctuary boasts its very own garden.
The Seeds of Hope Organic Food Garden was recently developed for the care facility to become more self-sustainable, with Silvestor Mahloane appointed as farm coordinator under the mentorship of Agrimotion soil scientist Bruno Herrmann. Together they put their green fingers to work and champion looking after the duck and chicken coups, ponds, and seeing to all the seedlings and composting materials needed.
The facility has already reaped spinach, tomatoes, patty pans, baby marrows, strawberries, green peppers, huge watermelons, beans, lemons and cabbages, among other delicious fruits such as the granadillas (Passiflora edulis).
For Sieff the hope for the new centre is that it gives the children the opportunity to develop further in the right environment with therapy and play areas.
Forming part of the build is the extension of the current playground, which has never been upgraded and does not house a sandpit, nor enough space for the children to properly play. The expansion will allow for jungle gyms, swings, sandpits, tunnels, little road extensions, netball and soccer fields, to name a few. The new building, once finished, will also have a plaque commemorating Olivia’s legacy and love for children. “Heartlands hopes to carry through her legacy for many years to come,” Buitendag said, “and the state-of-the-art facilities are set to benefit the children immeasurably, and many more to follow. They will address their severe trauma of being abandoned, abused orphaned and/or neglected.”
Sieff reckoned Olivia would have been extremely proud of the work championed in her name.
“Liv definitely would have volunteered at Heartlands. She would have loved to cuddle, feed and play with babies and toddlers.”
Her mother extended the following message to the facility and the community it serves: “We would like to thank all the staff at Heartlands for the love and care that they give to these precious babies. There is no more noble service to one’s community than the care of the most vulnerable in our society – helpless babies. The amount of lives they have changed for the better over the years is astounding. The community should all be grateful to Heartlands for their selfless service and humbled enough to offer our continued support to them.”
