Duration: 4min 20sec

Transcript

JEROME OOSTENBRINK: Hello, I’€™m Jerome Oostenbrink. I’€™m from the Netherlands and I’€™m working at Beautiful Gate Care Centre where we have about 22 babies at the moment’€¦ We started in 2001 in June and we started on the name ‘€˜Little Feet’€™ and we had about six babies’€¦ At the moment we have 22 children because a lot of them have been adopted, some went back to their families, but also five of them died from AIDS.

KHOPOTSO: Currently, the children in the care of the Beautiful Gate are between the ages of two months and six years, with expectations that the age range will grow if efforts to get the children adopted fail. In most instances it’€™s not known what happened to their parents.

JEROME OOSTENBRINK: Most of them have been found abandoned. We cannot always say if they still have parents or maybe they might have a mother who still lives. She probably is also not really well and she just wants to give the baby a chance to get a future.

KHOPOTSO: On the day of our visit one of the care workers was brooding over two baby boys who had arrived just the day before.  

KHOPOTSO: Who is this one?

CARE WORKER: This one is Mpho’€¦ This one is Thato.

KHOPOTSO: The two will certainly find this a cheerful home and will definitely make a great number of new friends.

KHOPOTSO: I see containers here. They’€™re inscribed with children’€™s names: Tlhokomelo, Relebohile, Tshepo, Dineo’€¦

JEROME: All of them have their own box. You can see what’€™s in there. There’€™s cloths in there, there’€™s Vaseline in there’€¦ the daily things that they need, toothbrush as well, toothpaste, a piece of soap. So, they all have their own things for everyday.

KHOPOTSO: The Centre also has pre-school facilities where older kids are taught their Sesotho vernacular, English, art and numericals. To date, 56 children have been cared for at the Beautiful Gate;   a dozen have been adopted; 6 are in the process of adoption; 8 have been reunited with their families, while an unspecified number is awaiting transfer to their families; and 5 have died of AIDS related illnesses. An amazing turn-around is that a dozen babies who originally tested HIV positive when they were first admitted, have sero-converted and are now negative. Some of these have gone to loving adoptive homes, giving them hope for the future. Jerome Oostenbrink and his wife, have been in Lesotho for 13 months. He has no child of his own. But that couldn’€™t stop the Dutch man from convincing his wife to adopt one from the centre as their first-born.

JEROME: She was found by the river, close to the grave-yard when she was two days old. She was wrapped in a blanket. And now she’€™s 11 months already and she’€™s doing very well. We adopted her when she was 8 months’€¦ We are happy that we can have her in our house and give her a home’€¦

KHOPOTSO: What’€™s your baby’€™s name?

JEROME: It’€™s Anna-Mpho. And Anna, that’€™s like ‘€˜Grace’€™, and Mpho means ‘€˜Gift.’€™ She’€™s really a gift for us.          

KHOPOTSO: But not all kids are as fortunate as Anna-Mpho. Most people are not keen to adopt children with HIV and none of the kids whose HIV positive status is conclusive have been adopted. Their fate remains uncertain. Access to anti-retroviral therapy is also not guaranteed. The Lesotho government started introducing a treatment initiative on the 7th of May but the plan does not include children as yet. For Jerome and the rest of the Beautiful Gate Lesotho team, the death of a child is a bitter-sweet pill to swallow. But they will continue giving unconditional love, care and support for as long as the children survive.

JEROME OOSTENBRINK: Actually, I’€™ve lost only one baby that died when I was here’€¦ It’€™s difficult, but on the other hand’€¦ we are glad and we know and we also pray that the child will go to Heaven’€¦ It’€™s like the suffering part is over. Really, when they suffer, that’€™s not nice to see. And you know that there’€™s not so much that you can do’€¦

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