25/09/2026
SOME PERSPECTIVE — FROM THE FOUNDER OF HOPELANDS
Following our recent post regarding Mr. J, a war of words has unfortunately developed in the comments, with some followers making remarks about Hopelands and, at times, about other people who follow our page.
I would like to offer some perspective — not to enter into an argument, but simply to explain what Hopelands is, what we do, and what happens behind the scenes.
I am writing this as one of the founders of Hopelands. My wife, Sharon, and I are just ordinary South Africans who, at one point, were willing to say yes to the crisis of 900 baby abandonments per month in our country.
Hopelands is a registered Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC), registered with the Department of Social Development as an NPO caring for 13 abandoned, vulnerable and abused children between the ages of 0 and 3 years.
IMPORTANT: We are not a safe house and we are not an orphanage.
We are a CYCC providing a service within the child protection system and, in many respects, an extension of the Department of Social Development in caring for these children while their individual cases are dealt with.
Every child placed at Hopelands is placed under a Children's Court order. A child cannot simply be removed from Hopelands because we believe it is time for them to leave. Equally, we cannot decide where a child should ultimately go.
A child can only leave Hopelands when the appropriate legal process has taken place and the necessary court order has been issued.
We cannot, under any circumstances, disregard a court order. Doing so would be a criminal offence.
OUR STORY SINCE JULY 2023
We opened our doors to our first placement in July 2023. Since then, 27 babies have come through our doors. We currently have 13 children in our care, which means that 14 children have already left Hopelands, either through reunification with family or placement into foster or other permanent care. That in itself is already an amazing result.
Of those 27 children, only one was a completely abandoned child in the truest sense of the word.
He had no name, no records, no clinic card and no information whatsoever about who he was. He was medically determined to be approximately eight months old.
Hopelands had to begin the process of giving this little boy an identity — naming him, going through the Children's Court process and then working through Home Affairs to obtain his birth certificate and documentation.
He became Mr. NSL.
After everything he had been through, he finally went to his forever home on Monday, 21 September.
There were no negative comments about that.
There was simply joy that a little boy had found his forever family.
THEN CAME MR. J
In that same week, Mr. J was also placed in a forever home.
Again, there were many beautiful and positive messages.
Sadly, there were also some negative comments.
What some people may not know is that Mr. J arrived at Hopelands when he was just three days old.
On his first day at Hopelands, an urgent medical examination revealed that he was suffering withdrawal as a result of his mother's drug addiction.
He became critically ill.
The doctor told us that he was about to die.
Mr. J spent 10 days in hospital.
Hopelands is situated in Magaliesburg, where we do not have a hospital. Sharon was the one who travelled to the hospital every day, praying over this tiny baby and hoping that he would survive.
There are things that happen at Hopelands that our followers never see.
There are tears.
There are prayers.
There are sleepless nights.
There are moments when we wonder whether a child will make it through.
And then there is a pain that we, as founders, carry that most people will never know about.
Our critics were silent during those moments.
And that is okay.
We don't expect everyone to know everything that happens behind the scenes.
But before making accusations or assumptions, it is important to understand the process.
WHO DECIDES WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE CHILDREN?
The process is lengthy.
The first possibility that must always be considered is reunification with the child's biological family.
That may involve the mother, father or extended family.
But here is something important for anyone questioning why a child remains at Hopelands for a period of time:
Hopelands does not make those decisions.
The social workers from the child protection organisations who were involved in removing the child have the responsibility to investigate the circumstances, arrange visitation, assess the family situation and, where appropriate, work towards rehabilitation, counselling and possible reunification.
Sadly, of the 27 children who have come through our doors, only four have had visits from their mothers and/or fathers. The rest have no interest for the child.
Since January 2026 alone, Hopelands has received 30 calls requesting placements.
We have had to say no — not because we don't care, but because we are full. We are at capacity.
And that is one of the hardest things we have to say.
HOPELANDS DOES NOT DECIDE A CHILD'S FUTURE
For those who want to understand the process, Hopelands does not decide whether a child is reunited with their family, placed in foster care or ultimately adopted.
Those decisions form part of the statutory child protection and Children's Court processes involving the Department of Social Development and the relevant professionals.
Hopelands is monitored by the Department of Social Development, including regular site visits and the checking of records, progress reports, care plans and exit plans.
There is a process.
There are professionals involved.
There are legal requirements.
And there are court orders.
WHAT DOES IT COST TO CARE FOR THESE CHILDREN?
For 13 babies, we are required to employ a full-time qualified and registered social worker, as well as qualified and registered child and youth care workers.
In addition to this, we employ a teacher, cook and security person.
Our salary budget alone is substantial. Then there is food, nappies, clothing, medication, medical expenses, utilities, maintenance and all the other costs involved in running a home for vulnerable children.
For a long time, virtually all of this has been funded through people and organisations who believe in what we are doing and who give generously.
We now receive limited funding from Social Development, but it is not sufficient to cover the effective running of our CYCC. So we continue to work hard to raise the funds necessary to keep the doors open.
PLEASE DON'T LET THIS PAGE BECOME A BATTLEGROUND
Finally, I would like to make a sincere request to everyone who follows our page.
Please don't allow the Hopelands page to become a battleground between followers.
Behind every photograph of a baby on this page is a real child.
A child who has already experienced more vulnerability and uncertainty in their first few days or months than any child should have to experience.
Our responsibility is to love them, protect them, care for them, pray for them and raise them to the best of our ability while the legal and social processes take place behind the scenes.
We don't always get everything right.
We are human.
But I can say this with complete sincerity:
Sharon and I said yes to these children.
We didn't say yes because it would be easy.
We said yes because we believe that every child deserves to be wanted, loved and given the opportunity to discover the purpose for which they were created.
That is what Hopelands is about.
Not arguments.
Not accusations.
Not winning battles on Facebook.
Just for the children.
And that is where we would like to keep our focus.
Thank you to every person who has prayed for us, encouraged us, donated, volunteered, shared our posts and stood with Hopelands.
We are deeply grateful.
Let's keep the focus where it belongs — on the children. ❤️
Sincerely, Stephen Lamprecht
