Hands of Help International

You can make a difference by donating today to Hands of Help International.

We are currently focusing donations to ABC Ministry in Swaziland to build a new facility. They take in abandoned, unwanted, and medically fragile babies, who many times are close to death, nurse them back to health and care for them as their substitute parents. The babies who are not returned to family or adopted out are transferred to other children’s homes in Swaziland for permanent care. ABC has cared for over 350 babies since 1992.

My name is Kathy Proff. My husband and I have a non-profit ministry called Hands of Help International. Our organization was founded to help needy children around the world. But this GoFundMe is not for our NGO. 100% of all monies we receive will go to help my dear friends, Robyn and Gerry Richter, who operate ABC Ministry in Ngwenya, eSwatini (previously known as Swaziland).

ABC Ministry takes in babies, and they need your help! I have known this Robyn and Gerry for almost 20 years, and their dedication to helping children in need is more than inspiring. They have dedicated their lives to this cause. All their funding comes from individual donations. They do not receive grants or any government assistance. Here is a bit of background.

Robyn Richter was born while South Africa was still a British colony. She grew up during the Apartheid era in South Africa. Eventually, she and her husband, Gerry, found themselves living in Swaziland where she saw the overwhelming need to reach out and help children and families in desperate need. Through her efforts, a care center and preschool were established in one sugar mill town. In Big Bend, she began a feeding program where she religiously fed children in the Mangwanene Squatter Camp (ghettos/slums) three times a week for eight solid years! She created a school for these same children and taught them under a tree.

In 1996, she and Gerry established ABC Ministry (Abandoned Babies for Christ Ministry), a baby home for abandoned babies. Unfortunately, the number of unwanted and abandoned babies has increased over the last few years in eSwatini due to AIDS, drug use, and casual sex. The school fees, in the government high schools, have increased drastically, and so the poorer families are unable to pay these fees. As a result, eSwatini is experiencing a huge dropout of high school students. This has increased the criminal activities in the country. Gangs have increased. Teenage pregnancy is on the increase, and drugs, particularly among the youth, have become a huge problem. The need is greater now than ever before for loving baby homes like ABC Ministry.

At the present time, Robyn and Gerry are taking care of 15 babies and toddlers in their home, which is well over their limit of 10 that they are licensed for. The home is now VERY FULL. One 15-month-old special needs baby still needs to be connected to an oxygen tank most of the time. They are currently desperately in need of funds to buy formula for the babies. One 1.8kg tin milk formula is E300 ($17US) Their monthly budget for the milk is: E5,700 ($315US)

They are also in the process of building a new home for ABC Ministry. The new baby home will be able to accommodate up to 20 babies and toddlers up to two years of age with enough staff to meets their daily needs. The amount needed to build this project was originally projected to cost over E3,000,000 ($162,000US), but the cost of materials, which have been increasing monthly, has driven the final price tag up. All of the labor is being donated! It’s the lack of building materials that is stalling its completion.

Robyn and Gerry had saved half the amount in a “Future building fund”. They needed an additional E1,500,000 ($81,000) to complete the project and allow them to move out of the house they are currently renting. (Which is falling down around them.) Much of the project has been paid for, but there is still much to complete before they can move everyone to the new property. The remaining balance now is about $10,000US.

Can you help??? ONLY $20.00US buys a tin of formula. Any amount will be used very conservatively. They waste nothing. Can you help? ANY donation is greatly appreciated!