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INSPIRATION

Mum to the motherless

In the new book, God’s Golden Acre, DALE LE VACK, tells the true story of how Heather Reynolds became mother to hundreds of Aids orphans

In 1993 on a trip to Uganda, South African Heather Reynolds was visiting a remote part of the country when, by chance, she came face to face with the worst scourge to afflict mankind since the medieval plagues, and one that has destroyed the lives of millions of children.

As she got out of her car at a small settlement to get water from a spring, she met a group of children, the orphaned victims of Aids. Here she witnessed their misery and terror as they awaited death by starvation, uncared for by adults.

Some years before that day, Heather Reynolds had given her life to God but was waiting for the call to serve him. At that moment she knew this was his call. Slowly, she knelt down in the native hut and looked upon a little boy covered by a dirty sack. His parents had either abandoned him, or they themselves had died. He was spending his last hours alone and uncared for.

As the boy lay still, waiting for death, the look in his eyes stills haunts Heather, even though, in later years, she has encountered many more young Aids victims, some of whom have died in her arms.

She promised God she would live, for the rest of her life if necessary, by serving him in the cause of caring for, and nursing, babies and children orphaned by the Aids pandemic. Heather decided she would use her life savings to provide shelter for orphaned children. Believing they were answering God’s call, Heather and her husband Patrick Reynolds, a well known sculptor, filled their home with sick and abandoned children. They called their little community God’s Golden Acre.

From there, in 1999, God’s Golden Acre moved on to become a cluster of foster homes at Cato Ridge. Built on the top of a hill, it is near to the Valley of a Thousand Hills, a vast rural area between Durban and Pietermaritzberg. Approximately 95 children, between the ages of a few months and 16 years of age, live in the community.

Most of Heather’s children are healthy. Many HIV positive babies die before their first birthday, few make it beyond their fourth. God’s Golden Acre is designed as a sanctuary to allow this small minority to die with dignity in a loving environment, and as a family home for the surviving children, who are well fed, cheerful, confident, and attend the best local state schools.

Then there is a series of rural outreach programmes for thousands of orphans who are living in extended families in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Heather’s teams of staff and volunteers distribute basic food supplies to the ad hoc families she has helped to create, many headed by an elderly ‘granny’ figure, or a teenage girl.

Heather drives her familiar Land Rover alone into remote countryside to visit the sick and dying, offering comfort and prayer, and rescuing children. To many of the Zulus in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Heather has become known as "Mawethu", which means "Our Mother", or "Gogo" – "Our Gran".

Within the whole of southern Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has the greatest number of HIV/Aids cases. Thirty-six percent of its people were recorded infected in 2000, eight percent higher than in the capital province of Gauteng. In these stricken lands of the Aids pandemic, where murder, hijack, and robbery is common, it is mostly grandmothers and older siblings who are left to cope with the responsibility of bringing up the family’s children. Their own deceased offspring, the working adult generation, have disappeared, victims of the virus.

These extended families are impoverished, and the gogos (grandmothers) who run them find it increasingly difficult to provide for their young ones. Only a few have piped water to their home, electricity, fuel or opportunities for employment. Failing health and almost non-existent medical facilities further add to the seriousness of the situation. Much of the help the children receive is dependent upon individuals like Heather, working with the support of other non-government organizations, and a patchwork of charities.

The scale of what Heather has achieved over a number of years has come to the attention of both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The international press is now becoming aware of the significance of Heather’s work. She is a mother figure to thousands of children.

Lucy Foster volunteered with God’s Golden Acre when she was 19 years old. She said: "You will find 97 happy children – Heather is responsible for most of them being alive and for them being well-adjusted children with strong hopes for the future. Many of the orphans now go to very good schools thanks to sponsorship. In the valley there are thousands more people whose lives have been touched by her through the rural outreach programmes."

Alan McCarthy, chairman of God’s Golden Acre, shares Heather’s strength of faith, conviction and belief in miracles. He said: "I know many people who walk closely with God – and wonderful miracles happen because God can use them as a channel. It’s not their own power, and they will be the first to say that. So they are not performing the miracles. Heather is no better or worse than most average people – but she is allowing God to use her, trying to let God guide her. When she prays she allows God’s power to flow into the situation – so it’s not Heather, it’s God."

God’s Golden Acre, a biography of Heather Reynolds, by Dale le Vack is published by Monarch Books, £8.99 ISBN1-85424-706 9
Dale le Vack is an international journalist and television producer, formerly with ITV and the BBC.

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		INSPIRATION Mum to the motherless In the new book, God’s Golden Acre, DALE LE VACK, tells the true story of how Heather Reynolds became mother to hundreds of Aids orphans In 1993 on a trip to Uganda, South African Heather Reynolds was visiting a remote part of the country when, by chance, she came face to face with the worst scourge to afflict mankind since the medieval plagues, and one that has destroyed the lives of millions of children. As she got out of her car at a small settlement to get water from a spring, she met a group of children, the orphaned victims of Aids. Here she witnessed their misery and terror as they awaited death by starvation, uncared for by adults. Some years before that day, Heather Reynolds had given her life to God but was waiting for the call to serve him. At that moment she knew this was his call. Slowly, she knelt down in the native hut and looked upon a little boy covered by a dirty sack. His parents had either abandoned him, or they themselves had died. He was spending his last hours alone and uncared for. As the boy lay still, waiting for death, the look in his eyes stills haunts Heather, even though, in later years, she has encountered many more young Aids victims, some of whom have died in her arms. She promised God she would live, for the rest of her life if necessary, by serving him in the cause of caring for, and nursing, babies and children orphaned by the Aids pandemic. Heather decided she would use her life savings to provide shelter for orphaned children. Believing they were answering God’s call, Heather and her husband Patrick Reynolds, a well known sculptor, filled their home with sick and abandoned children. They called their little community God’s Golden Acre. From there, in 1999, God’s Golden Acre moved on to become a cluster of foster homes at Cato Ridge. Built on the top of a hill, it is near to the Valley of a Thousand Hills, a vast rural area between Durban and Pietermaritzberg. Approximately 95 children, between the ages of a few months and 16 years of age, live in the community. Most of Heather’s children are healthy. Many HIV positive babies die before their first birthday, few make it beyond their fourth. God’s Golden Acre is designed as a sanctuary to allow this small minority to die with dignity in a loving environment, and as a family home for the surviving children, who are well fed, cheerful, confident, and attend the best local state schools. Then there is a series of rural outreach programmes for thousands of orphans who are living in extended families in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Heather’s teams of staff and volunteers distribute basic food supplies to the ad hoc families she has helped to create, many headed by an elderly ‘granny’ figure, or a teenage girl. Heather drives her familiar Land Rover alone into remote countryside to visit the sick and dying, offering comfort and prayer, and rescuing children. To many of the Zulus in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Heather has become known as "Mawethu", which means "Our Mother", or "Gogo" – "Our Gran". Within the whole of southern Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has the greatest number of HIV/Aids cases. Thirty-six percent of its people were recorded infected in 2000, eight percent higher than in the capital province of Gauteng. In these stricken lands of the Aids pandemic, where murder, hijack, and robbery is common, it is mostly grandmothers and older siblings who are left to cope with the responsibility of bringing up the family’s children. Their own deceased offspring, the working adult generation, have disappeared, victims of the virus. These extended families are impoverished, and the gogos (grandmothers) who run them find it increasingly difficult to provide for their young ones. Only a few have piped water to their home, electricity, fuel or opportunities for employment. Failing health and almost non-existent medical facilities further add to the seriousness of the situation. Much of the help the children receive is dependent upon individuals like Heather, working with the support of other non-government organizations, and a patchwork of charities. The scale of what Heather has achieved over a number of years has come to the attention of both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The international press is now becoming aware of the significance of Heather’s work. She is a mother figure to thousands of children. Lucy Foster volunteered with God’s Golden Acre when she was 19 years old. She said: "You will find 97 happy children – Heather is responsible for most of them being alive and for them being well-adjusted children with strong hopes for the future. Many of the orphans now go to very good schools thanks to sponsorship. In the valley there are thousands more people whose lives have been touched by her through the rural outreach programmes." Alan McCarthy, chairman of God’s Golden Acre, shares Heather’s strength of faith, conviction and belief in miracles. He said: "I know many people who walk closely with God – and wonderful miracles happen because God can use them as a channel. It’s not their own power, and they will be the first to say that. So they are not performing the miracles. Heather is no better or worse than most average people – but she is allowing God to use her, trying to let God guide her. When she prays she allows God’s power to flow into the situation – so it’s not Heather, it’s God." God’s Golden Acre, a biography of Heather Reynolds, by Dale le Vack is published by Monarch Books, £8.99 ISBN1-85424-706 9 Dale le Vack is an international journalist and television producer, formerly with ITV and the BBC. © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.