Miracle House

For the last twelve years a South African couple, Andy and Rose Freeks have run Miracle House, a shelter for street children in the desperately poor community of Aliwal North in South Africa. Working with children of all ages, many of who have been physically and sexually abused as well as those suffering from diseases like Aids and polio, they and their team of volunteers have helped and cared for countless children for the last decade.

In 1997, though a personal connection between Andy and one of my old teachers, Peter Rattu, my sixth form college became the chief source of finical aid for Miracle House. Every year a group of students would take the money raised over to Aliwal and spend a fortnight in Miracle House, doing repairs to the site and generally being mauled by a horde of kids.

This summer I was lucky enough to go. A few months ago Miracle House was closed down by the local council. The site is now being turned into student accentuation for the middle class college around the corner. All the children had to be sent back to grandparents and other relatives who will struggle to support them. Some have returned to the streets. Andy and Rose plan to continue to help these children by turning the abandoned warehouse they where using for a church into a community centre to tackle the source of the problems faced by their community.

Joe Gibson