Newstart Children's Home

Our Story

The Newstart Children’s Home was started by Dr. and Mrs. Saleem A. Farag in 1999. The Home was licensed by the Department of Social Welfare in 2000. The Home cares for children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and takes in abandoned babies. Today there are over 80 children in our Home. There are 28 babies in the Nursery. The rest of the children are in Primary/Secondary school or in university pursuing their education. 

The Orphan Generation

In Zimbabwe alone there are over a million orphans from AIDS. A generation of children growing up without their parents, leaving aged grandparents to try and support 10 or more grandchildren. Many times there are no surviving relatives and that is why Newstart Children’s Home was born. 

No community is immune to the ravages of AIDS, no village free from its devastating effects. As members of the world community we are not exempt from the responsibilities this human tragedy brings. Spiritually, emotionally, physically, and medically it is one of the deadliest diseases, if not the deadliest, ever to strike the human race. 

We must see that the story of AIDS is not about epidemiology, economics, or statistics. Rather, it is the story of guilt, pain, fear and neglect. In Africa the extended family has always been strong and has provided for orphan children. Now however, due to the magnitude of the epidemic and economic challenges, there is no extended family to provide care.

These orphaned children did not ask to be brought into the world only to be completely abandoned, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

Our Goal

We must be their family. We strive to give them a chance, a home, and an education and the emotional stability to grow up to become leaders in society. We provide a place of safety, a place of belonging, a secure, warm-hearted place in which to grow and build for eternity. This is our goal for each child.

Newstart Children’s Home

The Newstart Children’s Home is designed to take children from 0 to 18 years of age who have lost both parents. We also take in abandoned babies who have no one willing or able to care for them. The children are provided with food, clothing, uniforms, and tuition for school. The home is designed to house 88 children with a nursery for 0-5 year olds. The main house includes the boys wing and a girls wing joined by the kitchen and living room. It houses ages 7-14. We have a boys dormitory and a girls dormitory for the high school age children. 

We are currently fundraising for the construction and purchase of housing property for our 85 children on Campus. Government, through the Social Welfare Department, recently instructed us to move away from dormitory style accommodation to cluster houses to accommodate all children in our custody. We intend to build five 3-bedroomed houses and three 4-bedroomed houses, making a total of eight cluster homes. We also need to have at least two transition homes for those children who would have turned 18yrs but not ready to be released into the community.

Baby Center

Our Baby Center was opened in 2007 to care for abandoned and orphaned babies, including babies with HIV.  Currently we have five house mothers who care for these children 24/7. We have between 20-30 babies in the center most of the time.

Education

In addition to providing education to our own children at Newstart Children’s Home, We have currently opened up our campus to the community to provide education to over 500 local children grades K-12. Our focus and most urgent need now is to raise funds for a spacious school facility. We have been operating for the last five years in makeshift classrooms. As we progress with each building phase, it is our hope that friends and donors of Newstart Children’s Home will construct one or more buildings in their name, their organization’s name, or in memory of a loved one. Our future plan is to add a vocational/technical school. We hope to emphasize plumbing, sewing, electrical engineering, construction engineering, and carpentry. These skills will enable our young people to make a living.

Medical and Dental Clinic

No medical care is available to the poor in our area and we hope to be able to alleviate much of the pain and suffering in the local villages. The clinic has three treatment rooms for treating many tropical diseases common to the area. Our laboratory is equipped to offer HIV testing. The Newlands Clinic, a Dutch organization, is willing to affiliate with us so that we can start to offer treatment for HIV/AIDS in the near future. We opened our Dental Clinic in April, 2020 staffed by Dr. Patience. She grew up in our orphanage and pursued her dream. She went to the Philippines and obtained her dental training and is now back in Zimbabwe serving her country.

Agriculture

A portion of our acreage is allotted for growing some of our food. We grow and harvest maize, soy beans, vegetables, and tomatoes. The children help to keep the gardens planted, weeded, watered, and harvested. Some donations have helped to vastly improve our agriculture program. The greenhouses have really enhanced our growing season. We appreciate the help we receive from volunteers.

Become a sponsor by donating to the Newstart Children’s Home. There are continuous upkeep and expansion projects that need to be funded, in addition to the daily needs of schooling, feeding, clothing and caring for so many children. Currently our urgent need is to upgrade our plumbing system throughout our campus and to build a new Primary and Secondary School.  We also need to build 10 cluster homes for our children, as the government has instructed that we need to move away from the current “dormitory-style” accommodation. Each house is expected to cost between $30 000 and $40 000. We would be honored to put your name, as a donor, on the building of your choice. 100% of your donations go toward the projects – none is used for overhead expenses. We appreciate your generosity. 

Please make tax-deductible donations payable in U.S. funds to the order of “Africa Orphan Care”

Africa Orphan Care
PO Box 16943
Portland OR 97292

Email: Newstartoffice60@gmail.com