FORMER Sowetan Woman of the Year finalist Edith Morake runs the Ebenezer Child Care Centre in Evaton, which is home to 45 children.
FORMER Sowetan Woman of the Year finalist Edith Morake runs the Ebenezer Child Care Centre in Evaton, which is home to 45 children.
They range in age from two to 21. There are five adults who grew up at Ebenezer who also live in shacks on the premises.
Morake, a spritely 81, takes in abandoned, orphaned and vulnerable children in the Sebokeng area.
"My vision is looking after children from the cradle to maturity. I was orphaned at an early age and grew up longing for a mother and a lot of other things that only a mother can provide, "Morake says.
"I am still trying to achieve my dream, which began more than 30 years ago, to care for the underprivileged."
She founded her home when she moved to her present stand in 1978 and lived in a tiny storeroom with five children. She later built a four-roomed house for her expanding family.
In 1992 she built the main house after the Women At Law helped her acquire used bricks when the Riviera Hotel was demolished to make way for the Riverside Holiday Inn.
The home now boasts rooms for babies, toddlers boys and girls. There is also a separate room for the boys in high school.
Mama Angel paid the home a visit to donate stationery for the home and study material for the children. Some of the older boys were absent since they had gone to find places at tertiary institutions.
"My first lot were children who were orphaned during the Sharpeville Massacre.
"I thank you for the help and support you have always extended to me. It is this support that enables me to soldier on," Morake said.
From the cradle to maturity
FORMER Sowetan Woman of the Year finalist Edith Morake runs the Ebenezer Child Care Centre in Evaton, which is home to 45 children.
FORMER Sowetan Woman of the Year finalist Edith Morake runs the Ebenezer Child Care Centre in Evaton, which is home to 45 children.
They range in age from two to 21. There are five adults who grew up at Ebenezer who also live in shacks on the premises.
Morake, a spritely 81, takes in abandoned, orphaned and vulnerable children in the Sebokeng area.
"My vision is looking after children from the cradle to maturity. I was orphaned at an early age and grew up longing for a mother and a lot of other things that only a mother can provide, "Morake says.
"I am still trying to achieve my dream, which began more than 30 years ago, to care for the underprivileged."
She founded her home when she moved to her present stand in 1978 and lived in a tiny storeroom with five children. She later built a four-roomed house for her expanding family.
In 1992 she built the main house after the Women At Law helped her acquire used bricks when the Riviera Hotel was demolished to make way for the Riverside Holiday Inn.
The home now boasts rooms for babies, toddlers boys and girls. There is also a separate room for the boys in high school.
Mama Angel paid the home a visit to donate stationery for the home and study material for the children. Some of the older boys were absent since they had gone to find places at tertiary institutions.
"My first lot were children who were orphaned during the Sharpeville Massacre.
"I thank you for the help and support you have always extended to me. It is this support that enables me to soldier on," Morake said.