It is a vision from God that is 14 years in the making. This is how Mandy, the co-founder of Thandi Children’s Village, explains the conceptualisation of Thandi Children’s Village. She says when the vision came she could not believe it.

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“I have no knowledge of running a children’s village.” she says. “Yet the vision persists.”

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When God brings the time around for the village to actually be launched, she will leave the secular part of graphic design she and her husband Basie are still involved in. “Launching a children’s village is not just a leap of faith, but rather a gigantic leap into the unknown. But it’s OK, the village is God inspired and He will make it happen!”

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Mandy has already volunteered at other children’s homes, going from counselling lessons and reading up on welfare. “In one of my research visits to Alexandra, I met this young girl who was head of the ‘family’,” she says, adding the vision was then made clear.

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“There are a lot of homes for abandoned or orphaned babies but certainly not enough for child-headed families. I myself didn’t know how huge the problem is until I started looking seriously, and I think the best intervention is not just to keep the family unit intact but to get father and mother figures involved in those families.”

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Mandy says that perhaps purchasing a suburban premises to start a home is a good starting point, tj]he vision is much bigger than that.

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