Glenda Butler’s childhood dream whilst growing up in Wales was a deep-seated longing to care for babies in distress in Africa.

Glenda married and moved to Africa, had children and developed a successful career as a music teacher. The “dream” became a reality in her response to an incident of armed robbery in her home in 1996. Glenda was brutally raped and her children were threatened and traumatised by the event. Apart from the immediate emotional distress associated with the incident, her distress was exacerbated by the concern of possibly having been infected with Aids.

After a tortuous six-week wait for the results of her HIV tests, Glenda was relieved to find that she had not been infected. During this time, her main concern was for the well being of her children. Although she was in a financial position to secure the invaluable support of private counseling, her thoughts and heart went out to those who could not. Her thoughts at this time turned again to her childhood dream. The “dream seed” had been planted. Her awareness of the Aids crisis and its impact on the lives of children and families became heightened.

In April 1999, Lesedi, just six months old, came into the home and hearts of Glenda and her family and the sanctuary of All Our Children First was born. It is symbolic of hope, trust, optimism and absolute faith in the power of good.

Before long, Glenda had six babies in her care. Whatever the situation or circumstance leading to their plight, each child received into Glenda’s care at the sanctuary has found love and care. All the children placed into Glenda’s care have been referred by reputable Social Welfare Agencies and proper statutory processes have been followed.

Each child has a name and a story. In their short lives some have been sexually and physically abused or woefully neglected before finding care and love with Glenda. One such child is Wonga, who is blind, deaf, has spina bifida and is brain damaged and requires intensive care and assistance. A qualified speech therapists states that

“The staff had successfully implemented the techniques shown to them. Even though the process of getting Wonga to suck was a slow and tiring one, they all persevered. Teaching Wonga to suck had taken the staff many hours of patient caring. I felt that had it not been for the good staff to child ratio at this center, the staff’s determination and their obvious love for the children, Wonga’s improvement would not have been possible.”

Wonga’s progress since being in the care of Glenda and her staff has been little short of miraculous.