It has been a long journey but we are ecstatic to have met our goal! We handed Eunice’s house over to her on the 7th of December 2017, just in time for Christmas – a home for Eunice. It was a fantastic, sun-shining day that was celebrated by many in the small community of Paterson.

We are touched by the outpouring of love we received by all our wonderful guests and from those who contributed to achieving the goal of providing Eunice and her family with a home for Christmas. Tears of joy were shared as the community came together to see the big reveal!

Eunice’s friends, family, pastor and the chief all sang and gave praise as we celebrated the handover of the keys to Eunice. The Xhosa culture believes in blessing a house before it is lived in and that is exactly what we witnessed. It was rewarding to see the joy on Eunice and her husband’s faces as General Manager, Gunther Strauss, proudly presented this deserving family with their new home.

She was presented with a picture frame of the progress of her house as the donations came in throughout the year. It is a keepsake she will cherish for many years as she looks back and remembers how far she has come.

Precious Eunice holding a photo with her in it

There are several employees that went above and beyond, putting their heart and soul into this community project. The word ‘Shamwari’ means friend in Shona, a Zimbabwean language and this certainly was present in the Shamwari community as everyone came together to help Eunice.

After losing all her belongings and possessions in a terrible house fire over a year ago, Eunice’s future is looking bright as she embarks on this new journey in her wonderful home. It has set the foundation for a promising, stable and bright future. She has expressed her heartfelt gratitude to every single person that has contributed to her home and absolutely adores it! It is certainly going to be a very Merry Christmas for Eunice & her family.