The word 'KHAYA' literally means 'home' and for hundreds of people living in the township of Lehae the Khaya Centre is a place they call home. It is their lifeline - the place they find support, care, education, food, training, love, community and so much more.
The Khaya Centre aims to develop and equip the community of Lehae to better the lives of individuals dealing with issues resulting from HIV/AIDS. They run a feeding programme through which 1000 people are fed each day, a free pre-school for children who otherwise wouldn't get the chance of education, counselling services, an after schools programme, medical services, victim support and many more life changing projects.
We first became aware of the work of the Khaya Centre in 2012 when we went as part of a youth mission project run by Bill Hebner to build a new centre for Khaya out of shipping containers. They had previously been operating out of 6 garden sheds! As part of a team of around 100 people we helped build a much bigger facility allowing their work to grow and expand and for many more people's needs to be met. Since then an organisation called Orange Babies have helped develop the building even further providing a second storey and allowing an even greater expansion of the work of the Khaya Centre.
It is a privilege to be able to support the work of the Khaya Centre as we take teams out to get involved in helping change the lives of those in need.