Clarks

Letters from Lance Clark

Dear Friends,

In January this year, I visited South Africa. Ntokusa, one of the ladies who stitches the Soul of Africa shoes, told me that she has been looking after 6 orphans whose parents had died from Aids. Three of the orphans inflicted with Aids have died since Christmas. She did not have money to feed them properly or take them to hospital when they were ill. Now with the money that she is earning from stitching the shoes, she can feed the remaining orphans properly, clothe them and take them to hospital if they are ill. She said, if I die from Aids I am happy they will be properly looked after. In Kethokuhle on the outskirts of Durban an old grandmother nearly blind is looking after 7 orphans in a leaking tumble down shack with no running water or toilet, she is trying to cook for them on a primus stove. This month, we will open nearby a community drop in centre, built with money raised from the sale of the Soul of Africa shoes. She will be able to bring in the children for breakfast, lunch and supper and toys will be provided for the infants and school for the older ones. T, a 12 year old boy, is having to look after his baby 3 year old sister because his parents have died and there is no one else to care for her.

The scale of this human tragedy is increasing. Soon, there will be more than 2 million with Aids in South Africa. [...] we have raised $900,000 for the orphans. The money is being used to rebuild an old dilapidated orphanage and equip it with proper beds, books, a computer and TV. When I first visited this orphanage three years ago, I cried at the plight of the little kids there. Now they are more like a happy family. We are financing the building of more drop in centres, as the one in Kethokuhle, and places at an orphans' hospital where, when I visited, two twins found abandoned in a bag in the park and another child found in a toilet had been brought in. The hospital nourishes the babies, restores them to help and then finds foster homes for them. Clarks accountants have visited to ensure that every penny is going to help [...].

Yours gratefully,

Lance Clark