Place of Mercy and Hope

Education, Nutrition, Health Care

Who We Are

A Distinct Identity

The Place of Mercy and Hope is a Public Benefit Organisation located in the Sundays River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Our Organisation assists families who are from incredibly disadvantaged communities, with a specific focus toward children.

Our programs focus on Education, Nutrition and Basic Health Care helping thousands of children.

Our Impact

Our beginnings to present in numbers

Children Educated

20,230

Meals

1,468,500

Home Based Care Patients

515

Volunteers

Food Parcels

52,446

Years

Local Teachers Employed

Adult Education Graduates

2,500

What We Do

Making A Difference

Education

Marist Brothers Jason Grieve Place of Mercy and Hope Addo Marist Mercy

Early Childhood Development

We care for over two hundred children with a staff of 14 dedicated local educators in the Valencia Formal Settlement in Addo. Our education program prepares our children to flourish in a Primary School environment.

Nutrition

Helping The Community

We are dedicated to stepping up our efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition in
this area. We run Soup Kitchens in a number of Formal and Informal Settlements
feeding hundreds of children and adults weekly. We distribute food parcels daily.

Adult Learning Courses

It always seems impossible until it's done.

Computer lessons are taught throughout the Valley, offering children and adults
the chance to learn and understand the importance of the IT literacy.

Youth Empowerment

Jason Grieve, Summer Camp, Marist, Place

One Step at a Time

A Summer Camp is held annually in December in the Langbos Informal Settlement. Our Youth Empowerment program develops every year. We welcome just under 500 disadvantaged children, 20 special needs children, welcome 10 newly appointed South African Marist Student Leaders (Head Boys and Head Girls) of the five Marist Schools, Marist Alumni from the five South African Marist, two German Marist Alumni and local volunteers who are mentored by the Marists.

Addo Township Designs

Entrepreneurship

Our goal is to empower local women of the Valencia Formal Settlement by
providing them with the skills necessary for sewing and embroidery. Raymond Nel
(a St Henry's Alumnus) donated sewing machines, a Wendy House and funded the
education of local ladies in business management. Addo Township Designs supplies school uniforms to local schools, creates handbags and can embroider anything customers require.

Health Care

Reinforcing our Commitment

Our mission is to assist those incredibly sick and dying by providing Health Care to the Valencia Formal Settlement.

We have three dedicated
Home Based Carers who walk Valencia Formal Settlement daily attending to those
who have HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, Cancer and other common South African illnesses.

We also have a resident Medical Doctor.

Sustainable Development Goals

Our Contribution to the United Nations

Goal 2:
End hunger

How we contribute:

Providing nutritional meals to stunted and malnourished children and adults via our Education and Nutritional programs.

Place of Mercy and Hope runs feeding schemes in four informal and formal settlements in the Sundays River Valley. On average we feed 400 children and adults weekly.

In 2020, Place of Mercy and Hope distributed over 300,000 meals during COVID-19 hard lockdown in South Africa and celebrated distributing 1.4 million meals since our projects beginnings.

Goal 3:
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

How we contribute:

Providing health care to poor and vulnerable children and adults in the Valencia Formal Settlement via Place of Mercy and Hope Clinic.

Place of Mercy and Hope employ locally trained Home Based Care practitioners who care for sick and dying vulnerable children and adults, daily.

Place of Mercy and Hope perform statistical monitoring of nutritionally stunted children to ensure our intervention is helping their overall growth.

Goal 4:
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Ho we contribute:

Providing education, annually, to over 200 children ages 0-6 years by way of our Early Childhood Education Centre's at Place of Mercy and Hope and Lwazi Educare Centre.

Place of Mercy and Hope educates annually, on average, 290 adults through its Computer Literacy programs.

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Key People

Committed to the Cause

Martha O'Connor Place of Mercy and Hope Addo Marist Mercy

Sr Martha O'Connor

Director of Place of Mercy and Hope

Sister Martha is a Sister of Mercy and has been involved in Education since 1970 teaching children from ages 4 to 16. She was principal of a St. Ursula's Junior School for three years. Prior to coming to South Africa, Sr. Martha was Head of Religious Education at St. Bede's Catholic College in Bristol. She also worked on the Pastoral Care team with vulnerable young students and school phobics. Sr. Martha accepted the challenge from her Mercy Congregation to come to South Africa in 2006.