Liniith & Gift

Gift's Home: Note the garage on the left,
where Gift and nine children originally called home.

Liniith's home, another Pride & Purpose project.

Liniith & Prince in their kitchen.
Behind them is the paraffin stove that was given to them that day.
Note how the pots are displayed, likely never used.

The orphans that I referred to in AN APPEAL live at the homes of Liniith and Gift, outside of Dumphries. There are fourteen children total, from the ages of two to eighteen. Most of them are fortunate to attend school. All of them are fortunate that Pride & Purpose has taken them under their wing.

Pride & Purpose came to know of Liniith as she worked at Ulusaba until she was too sickly from HIV that she had to quit. She infected her youngest child, Prince, with HIV through breast feeding.

Pride & Purpose raised money to build Liniith and her sister, Gift, proper homes. When Pride & Purpose became involved with the two, Gift and nine children were sleeping in a garage. They now have a home with 4 bedrooms and proper beds. Liniith, too, has a home that was recently built with multiple bedrooms. She has a modern kitchen by rural South African standards, with a range and cupboards. You’ll find it curious that the range is unplugged, that items seem to be stored on top of the cupboards rather than in and her cookware is displayed like a treasure with stickers still on them.

Gregg checks in on the ladies weekly—he has become their doctor, caterer and advocate.

Last week, Gregg (co-founder of Pride & Purpose) and I delivered to Liniith and Gift paraffin stoves—they resemble, and in fact could be used as, camp stoves. The ladies would much prefer to cook with the paraffin rather than the range. Their staple is Pro Nutra, a fine cereal with a day’s supply of nutrients.

Liniith has been so ill on occasions that she couldn’t even walk. Gregg treated her with muti (there is not a proper word for this medicine; muti is a general word in Africa for medicine), a tincture made with African potato and African artemisinin, among other things. Liniith had recovered her health within a week, as had the open sores on her body.

So, the ladies exist day by day, enriched by what Pride & Purpose brings.