In place of gifts ...

For our honeymoon, starting on July 1st, we will be spending two weeks working with community organizations in Durban, South Africa. We are, instead of gifts, inviting you to make donations to help us with this work.

Note that in the next few weeks we will post to this website more detailed information about the work we will be doing with I Care and Habitat for Humanity. We will also use this website to share photos and stories of our time in South Africa.

For more details about the organizations we will be working with in South Africa, click here. (Please note that we will be paying for our travel and lodging. This means that all of your donations will go directly to the organizations.)

For information about how to donate, click here.

Thanks once again for your support – we are so excited to make this project happen with your help. We continue to look forward to your questions and interest.


Yours,
Anne-Claire and Simon
Click on our names to send us an email. We'd love to hear fom you!

Making a Donation

Since both of the groups we are working with are South African charities, it is difficult for you to donate to them directly. So we have set up a bank account to keep all of your donations in one place. We will then transfer your donations to the organizations immediately prior to our joining them in July.

Please note that we will be paying for our travel and lodging. This means that all of your donations will go directly to the organizations.

If you wish to donate, there are two options. The first option is to donate online using your credit card, via a PayPal account we have set up. To donate using PayPal, click on the button below. You do not have to be a PayPal member to use this option. Just follow the on-screen directions for "non-PayPal members."

The second option is to make a donation by check (made out to us), or cash. (Please note that PayPal will keep 2.9% of each donation, so if you want more bang for your buck, option 2 is better).

About the Projects

During the first week of our honeymoon we will be volunteering with a nonprofit organization named “I Care.” This is a Durban-based organization that focuses on improving the lives of street children and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. For more information about their work, please see their website.

The second week will be spent with Habitat for Humanity, where we will be part of a team of volunteers constructing a number of houses in an area of Durban called Sherwood. The aim of the construction is to move families out of informal settlements into permanent homes with running water and electricity. Without this project, none of the families would be able to afford a permanent house. Click here for Habitat for Humanity’s website.

In Durban, we’ll be staying with our close friends Holger and Andrea, who have worked closely with I Care for some time. They commend it as a worthy and effective organization. And Habitat for Humanity is a well-known US-based charity, operating in many parts of the world. We are particularly excited to spend a week with them, since Habitat’s program overlaps with the work that Anne-Claire does in Washington DC, with the local nonprofit Manna Inc.