Iraqi orphans look out of a window of an orphanage in Baghdad. The first Gulf War destroyed families and children who got orphaned. PHOTO - REUTERS

Sometimes they daydream, visualising a mommy and a daddy who share a dinner table with them and ask about school. Sometimes they just wish for a little love. „Give them hope, give them a home“ is a motto that combines everything that children without a loving home pray for. It is also the name of a campaign being run by the South African Department of Social Services throughout March. „It is amazing to see a child blossom in the security of hope, warmth and family unity,“ Fran le Chat, who is involved in the campaign, said.

The campaign aims to motivate prospective parents and individuals to open their hearts and homes to children in need. The campaign started two weeks ago with billboards, signs and advertisements spreading the message that, by changing a child‘s life, you might change your own for the better. „There are about 5 000 children in the welfare system in Pretoria, in children‘s homes and places of safety. Then there are also many in foster care. We do this campaign in co-operation with private welfare organisations to recruit people,“ the department‘s Naomi Koutoulogeni said. She said Aids and poverty were pushing more and more children into the welfare system daily. Le Chat said children of all ages were desperately waiting for someone who could offer them a home. „A lot of children develop a close relationship with their foster parents and have become foster parents themselves after turning their lives into a success.“ She referred to a little Afrikaans boy who suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome. He was taken in by British foster parents. With the love and education they gave him, he is now a junior Springbok diver. In their hearts, those involved with the campaign just wish for every child to be able to say „I know where I come from“.

ROMAN LIPTAK, Pretoria