This heart-warming project was kick-started by an M-Net employee who alerted M-Net Cares to the plight of the children of Villa of Hope and came to fruition with the assistance of the NPO Touch Africa and a huge donation from Altech.

Lushaka Matumba (19), Reagan Leeuw (19) and Jeired Leeuw (20) were gob-smacked when they stepped into their refurbished house following an unveiling ceremony, which was hosted by Idols presenter ProVerb and attended by many of the people who worked together to transform their living space dramatically. Legendary poet and author, Don Mattera, who is the patron of the Villa of Hope, also witnessed the boys’ excitement and actress Fatima Abdool will reside with them as their 'house mother'.

The refurbishing and unveiling of House 16 on the Villa of Hope complex is a landmark event for the shelter and its children. The Villa of Hope provides superior care to children between the ages of one and eighteen years who have been orphaned or require alternative care due to abuse, neglect or abandonment and children that are affected or infected by HIV and AIDS or other ill circumstances. House 16 now symbolises an important stepping stone into the big world out there, by allowing children from the shelter a place to stay while they are still studying and getting ready to enter the workforce.

This M-Net Cares project was a labour of love for many M-Net employees. Once the Altech donation, as well as donations from a long list of suppliers, set a series of upgrades - from plumbing, to installing doors – in motion, 37 of M-Net and SuperSport's Media Solutions Division, all colleagues of the lady who started it all, pitched at the premises bright and early on Saturday, 21 May to give a helping hand. To make the kids’ new home a little bit brighter, they painted the buildings, tidied up the interior and gave the garden a new lease on life.

M-Net's director of corporate marketing and communications, Koo Govender, said this is what M-Net Cares is all about. "It's about making a difference and changing people's lives for the better. This project has proven that when people stand together, a massive impact can be made."

Zorina Wentworth, director of Villa of Hope, also saw it as hope for the future: "The impact that happened here today has pioneered a way for the future of our youth beyond the three children who are benefiting from it now.”