It’s scary to think that there are only 18 summers of childhood. Especially since, for most of the children here at the Johannesburg Children’s Home, too many of those summers have already passed unnoticed and uncelebrated.

This year, we have 35 children who won’t be going home for the holidays. With your help, we’d like to send them on a five-day camp to Kwaggasrus. At R457 per child per day, it’s hardly extravagant. But it adds up to thousands of rand when you need to include so many children. And we can’t leave anyone behind.

10-year old Luyanda has never really felt ‘wanted’, or that he belonged. His mother died giving birth to him and he was taken in by some family members. Although they tried, an extra mouth to feed could not be anything other than a burden on their slender resources.

This little boy never had anything but the bare essentials. And when even that became impossible, he was placed in our care.

You won’t just be giving a child a fun holiday. You’ll be helping them learn about themselves and nature.

Imagine what it does to a child’s self confidence to find out that they can complete the obstacle course. And how team activities like raft building or tug-of-war depend on every member of the team – not just the biggest and strongest – for success.

Imagine how learning about the stars and wildlife can inspire kids with a lifelong interest in nature … perhaps even lead to a career as a game ranger or camp leader.

Summer camp is a magical time of fun and growth. Like pressing a ‘reset’ button and going back to what child- hood should be like – a carefree time of friendship and laughter, learning and discovery.

We don’t expect you to donate the full cost of sending a child to camp (it would be wonderful if you could!). But if you could manage R457 to cover the cost of one day for one child, it would be such a help. Any amount – added to donations from other kind friends and supporters – will help get the kids to summer camp.