Nazareth House Fourteen Streams
Nazareth House Fourteen Streams is situated in the Northern Cape, in an extremely poor rural area 12 km outside the village of Warrenton, 100 km north of Kimberley. The people living in the surrounding areas, where most of our learners come from, are underprivileged and suffer enormous poverty. Unemployment is crippling – the majority of families are living way below the bread-line.
We operate a pre-school and nursery (Morning Star Crèche) for +/- 60 children, taking care of the early mental, emotional, and spiritual development of the little ones. Our focus is on laying a sound Christian foundation for future families so that they can be self-reliant and cope with the difficult circumstances raising themselves from the cycle of poverty. This way we reach the young mothers as well. The little ones often come hungry to the Crèche and we endeavour to provide three meals daily.
Extending the work of Nazareth House Fourteen Streams near the Inkhutseng Township, where there are high levels of poverty and crippling unemployment, the Frances Shannon outreach comprises three distinct projects; home based nursing & care, feeding the poor, and teaching essential skills via our self-help and skills development programs.
Morning Star
Creche
The Sisters of Nazareth opened a Kindergarten in 1977. The objective was to take care of the early mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of the children. More than 40 years later, the Crèche and pre-school now cater to more than fifty children, from Ikhutseng Township and surrounding local farms. Learners are provided with transport to attend the school.
The Sisters provide an essential service to the children as they come from the poorest of families. Many of them arrive at the Crèche hungry daily, where they receive three nutritious meals a day. Sourcing the money to feed and pay for transport is a never-ending struggle for the Sisters, who are always grateful for donations received.
Frances
Shannon
Working and caring for the poor and vulnerable is the special charism of the Sisters of Nazareth. In 2009, this commitment was further entrenched with the opening of Frances Shannon Hospice. Extending the work of Nazareth House Fourteen Streams near the Inkhutseng Township, where there are high levels of poverty and crippling unemployment, the outreach comprises three distinct projects.
1. Home-based nursing and caring for people in their own homes who suffer from HIV/AIDS, TB, chronic illnesses, malnutrition, as well as the elderly and those terminally ill. There is an area within the premises where blind people can meet on a regular basis.
2. Feeding the poor and hungry via a soup kitchen and vegetable garden. Alleviate malnutrition and hunger there is a large vegetable garden at the back of Frances Shannon Centre. From this, we provide vegetables to weak and incapacitated clients, especially malnourished children and clients with HIV/ AIDS and TB.
3. Teaching essential skills via our self-help and skills development programs. The project commenced in 2010, whereby local women received training, initially in sewing and later in printing, embroidery, and crafts. The women are delighted with this opportunity, not only are they given work, but a skill to enable them to generate an income for the duration of their working life.
To date the work the Sisters do, continues to grow, and the local communities have become dependent on their support, and the outreach has become a model for other outreach programmes in the area, having education and training as a priority.
Apart from managing the centre, the Sisters travel to the nearby shanty areas to administer to the sick by giving injections and attending to wounds. Their work is highly regarded by the Health Authorities who selected her to undertake the screening for HIV in the area.
“At Frances Shannon, we have been kept very busy giving out food parcels. The poverty is normally high in this area, however, now due to the corona virus, many more people are out of work, and so exacerbating the levels of poverty. Many more people are going to bed hungry; also, the extreme cold weather is not helping. We are giving out blankets too but are in need of many more.”
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sister Helena and her team at Frances Shannon designed, sewed, and manufactured cloth masks for all our staff and residents at Nazareth Care. Working in coordination with the Marketing & Partnership department, fabric donations were secured and sent to 14 Stream. These were then distributed throughout the Region to ensure our residents and staff had protection against the virus.
Please feel free to contact us with any queries you may have.
Address
Good Shepherd Mission, Fourteen Streams, Warrenton, Northern Cape
Phone
+27 71 463 5202
Sister Superior
Sister Helena
srhelena@nazarethcare.co.za