Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Anna Coutsoudis' story about starting iThemba Lethu, a ministry to abandoned and orphaned babies, is humbly short. A colleague at the University of KwaZulu-Natal received a Mandela Award and wondered where to give the cash grant, which had been designated for a nonprofit group responding to HIV/AIDS.

"Give it to us," she said, without thinking.

"You have an HIV/AIDS program at your church?" the professor asked.

"Now we do," she said.

Coutsoudis is the wife of one of the pastors at Glenridge Church, a professor of pediatrics at UKZN, a researcher on mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, and a conference speaker. She is also the founder of iThemba Lethu, Zulu for "Our Hope," in Cato Manor, a slum of more than 100,000 in South Africa's upscale beach city of Durban.

Glenridge Church started in 1982 and today meets above Durban's main train station. "Every Sunday at 7:00 p.m., during evening service," says senior pastor Doug MacDonald, "a train passes under the church, and the building shakes."

While iThemba Lethu remains independent, the church provides a "spiritual covering" for it, says MacDonald, who sees it as a strong expression of the church's desire to impact the community.

The ministry currently cares for six orphans, offers HIV-prevention programs, teaches adoptive parents how to integrate AIDS orphans into their families, and, most unusually, runs a breast milk bank—the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.

On Monday, iThemba Lethu staff prays together. Coordinator Glenda Algie leads. She is a Glenridge deacon who quit a lucrative marketing job to serve here. Another staffer, Liz Holley, presents children's needs. There are many, but one stands out: A child has outgrown the three-year age limit and needs adoptive parents urgently. "We are happy to have her in the home until a family is provided by God," says Algie.

But all is not gloomy. Yesterday, a family came and seemed to love one baby. Perhaps they will adopt it. Holley glows with thanksgiving.

Some needs are scary. A staff member working in Cato Manor was mugged. "We need to pray for protection," says Algie.

After prayer, Holley returns to the babies, who climb all over her. The transitional home is well furnished, with plenty of supplies for the babies' needs—thanks to donations primarily from Glenridge. The three-bedroom house in a good neighborhood is used by iThemba Lethu practically rent-free.

The ministry takes six babies at a time and works hard at placing them with families. Since it started in 2001, 31 babies have come through iThemba Lethu's home. Only two have died. The rest are now in happy homes.

More than ten years ago, the late, legendary UNICEF executive officer James Grant released infant mortality statistics that stunned the world. "Every day, some 3,000 to 4,000 infants die because they are denied access to adequate breast milk," he declared.

The first baby brought to iThemba Lethu's home was ailing and about to become a part of this statistic. Coutsoudis would not let that happen. She knew a friend who was breastfeeding and would freeze extra milk for her baby while at work. Coutsoudis phoned. Would her friend be willing to donate some of that milk to another baby? The friend agreed. Soon three more breast milk donors were screened and recruited.

"It was an incredible thing to be part of," says Shirley Royal, one of the early donors. "The baby went from being very malnourished to thriving."

Coutsoudis believes breast milk is critical for unhealthy babies. Through research and practical experience, she's found that HIV-positive and undernourished babies on breast milk have a much better chance of survival. Breast milk is an unmatched, free natural resource available for babies throughout Africa. "It is gold," she says.

next page... |  1 of 3

December 2006, Vol. 50, No. 12