Hands & Hearts
Donations
Why South Africa?
In 2018, Aline had the opportunity to visit Baby Hope House; a home for abandoned babies, located in Pinetown, a small town in the outskirts of Durban, South Africa. The stories she heard about how the babies were found, brought to the home, then cared for so lovingly was very touching! She saw first hand how well the nursery ran and how happy the once abandoned babies appeared. The individuals operating this establishment truly understand how important love and affection are, and this was demonstrated over and over again by the treatment of the children residing in the nursery and long after the adoption process.
Aline was inspired and thus began Code Hands & Hearts Global Health Project. A pioneer project that officially began 2019. Gathering incredible volunteers, returned yearly pre then post pandemic, donating their time and efforts to Baby Hope House. With the raised funds, they volunteer onsite; purchase items the home needed to ensure the care and safety of the babies in case of an emergency, ie Fire Extinguisher, & medication & then they teach emergency response technics adapting to the realities of their communities. It is growing! During last mission; the project grew! Code Hands & Hearts met more like-minded individuals running baby homes in different parts of Durban! Taught in 5 homes, participated in community projects, met different community members that impact little ones lives in ways we cannot begin to imagine, they also went into the townships to teach! It was a beautiful trip, and they are headed back for more! It is a very very special place, it has won Code hands & heart’s over.
Baby homes and community organisations
Volunteering, purchasing tools & equipment used in case of an emergency in addition to what is needed in each individual settings, and teaching!!
Baby hope house home for abandoned babies
Westville home for abandoned babies
HOLAH (House of Love and Hope) is a safe loving haven for abandoned/orphaned babies and children with special needs
Upper Hwy home for abandoned babies
Shap Shap charity organisation in Durban, South Africa that provides the necessary resources and care to allow the people we support to thrive and empower them improve their quality of life. Visiting clinics and orphanages teaching
RK Khan Government Hospital Westcliff, Chatsworth, South Africa; volunteering and teaching in NICU
Bobbi Bear is a human rights organisation committed to helping sexually abused children in Amanzimtoti, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa
Fish & Chips Community organisation providing brand new moms in hospital with tools to bring home baby warm and safe.
Durban North Baby Home cares for babies and toddlers between the age of 0 and 4, and little ones with special needs.
Butterfly Palliative Home is a foster care home in rural KZN, South Africa, where they provide end-of-life care to babies with life-limiting conditions
The team will be exploring even more opportunities while there! HELP US GROW BY BREAKING NEW GROUND!!
Code Hands & Hearts a non profit organization returns to South Africa and will volunteer in at Baby Hope House in Pinetown, a home for abandoned babies. The first mission April 2019 was so successful, we are returning! With the money raised we purchased much needed supplies for Baby Hope House and 25 individuals with Heart and Strokes life saving techniques in order to protect the children. The project became so popular that they taught in 5 baby homes and 1 community organisation that brought us into the township, it was an incredible experience!
Code Hands and Hearts are returning and ready for more!!
Aside from volunteering in the homes and purchasing equipment to help the homes and communities, our objective is to equip current as well as supporting staff, and future families, with the skill-set and knowledge in CPR and First Aid so that they can intervene in case of an emergency. Keeping in mind the realities of the world they live in. The town with loadshedding to rural communities. Environments with no electricity, and water. The session is, designed by CODE LIFE- Medical Emergency Response Services, which combines the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s CPR, choking, Anaphylaxis and First Aid for infants, and children, pertinent exerts from ENPC Pediatric trauma course and Neonatal resuscitation, in conjunction of our nursing knowledge. The course is a revision of the already existing Code Life’s Family-Infant course to ensure it is culturally appropriate. Our aim is to make this project self-sustainable. In the spirit of teach a person to fish, they eat for a lifetime.
Please help us achieve our goal! Your financial contribution will assist all the babies, caregivers, volunteers, current and future families! All contributions will be going towards the various homes and projects associated with each!
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and follow your dollar to the hearts of the babies.
During the last missions, the team had stayed directly onsite at Baby Hope House, home for abandoned babies, alongside the little ones, lending a hand to Sonia Hope House’ owner and the incredible staff and volunteers caring for the babes. Since the project grew with more volunteers and baby homes; the team will now be staying at a neighbouring rental home, and volunteer at the various spaces in addition to teaching! When they are not teaching and stocking the spaces with much needed supplies, they will be at the homes, volunteering by assisting with the daily care of the children.
The supplies and equipment necessary to complete the education sessions and will help the onsite staff in case of an emergency, are brought over from Canada. Supplies that is known cannot be found in South Africa. The rest is purchased in South Africa to promote their economy! In addition to getting to know each individual homes needs and wants for the babies such as diapers, wipes, food, toys that promote child development and more.
ALL donations to Code Hands & Hearts are used for this project and having this beautiful project that is held very close to our hearts grow. Amazing ground in years passed was made, we hope to keep growing in 2024 onward!
All contributions are welcomed! All of us together, we will be giving back on so many levels.
*Receipts are available upon request www.code-life.ca/contact if you would like a receipt.
The team
Aline Cassis
Aline Cassis is a Registered Nurse & Heart & Stroke Foundation Instructor for Adult, Children and Infants SFA EFA CPR BLS AED AP, She is the founder and CEO of CODE LIFE- Medical Emergency Response Services and The Non-Profit Organization Code Hands & Hearts Global Health Program. Both accredited with the Better Business Bureau. She began her career working at Mcgill University Health Center (MUHC) on the Thoracic Unit at the Montreal General Hospital Trauma Centre, then headed over to the Neonatal NICU at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, then made her way to CBSA/AFSC to now currently working with the Canadian Red Cross, working throughout the country in various adult and pediatric settings which includes ICU, Emergency & Community Health Nursing roles in remote parts of the country such as Nunavut and Nunavik.
It was a dream to work nationally and internationally in rural communities. She has searched for the perfect global project and when she fell upon the homes for abandoned babies in South Africa, she was inspired. She decided to create a program with volunteers concentrating on transparency, and ensuring that the needs of the recipients as well as the workers were met. It was truly a beautiful turn of events how the project began in South Africa, and it is wonderful to have this pioneer project bloom alongside very talented and passionate individuals! The curriculum inspired by the Heart and Stroke, NRP, ENPC and working with children is taught in South Africa, in addition to various parts of Canada. Looking forward to the route this project will take!
Jimmy
Hi!
My name is Jimmy Frappier, registered nurse for 8 years now. I studied at the University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada. After I completed my Bachelors in Nursing, I completed studies in Global Health, where I had the opportunity to work as a Community Health Nurse in Uganda for a month, which I truly loved.
Few years later, I started working as an enlarged role nurse in Puvirnituq, Qc, with Inuit communities, at the front line, which prompted me to get involved with Code-Life for the project in South Africa.
I got certified NRP by the Canadian Paediatric Society on November 2021, same as CPR by the Hearth and Stroke Foundation, and I just had my BLS certification in February 2023.
I am currently applying to the master’s degree, for September 2023, to become nurse practitioner in primary care, which will begin once I return from my mission in South Africa!
Being dynamic and passionate, I hope to be able to use my knowledge and experiences to make a difference in other people’s lives.
I’m very excited to join the team and add MY Hands and Heart to this wonderful project, rich in human experiences, I’m pretty sure!
Jimmy
Naomie
I am a French Canadian registered nurse, I love hiking and biking, great books and good food 🙂I graduated from nursing school in 2018 and obtained my bachelors in nursing science in 2020. I also have a certificate in global health practices and am currently studying remote nursing practice. I am a certified TNCC (trauma nurse core course) nurse since September 2021.My professional experience has been mostly in Intensive Care Units; I work best in critical settings and fast-paced environments. I also enjoy the relationships we come to develop with our patients’s families.I love nursing and I am passionate about international work. I feel the need is the greatest there, and it is very stimulating to work with limited resources; you have to be quick on your feet and imaginative in order to offer comprehensive care to your patients.I joined From Stage to Heart in November 2021 and I am very eager to leave for South Africa in January 2023! This will be my first official humanitarian trip as a nurse, and I can’t wait to meet everyone there and exchange on day-to-day life and challenges.It will definitely be a great learning experience for me and I hope I can bring some joy and knowledge to the young people we’ll meet there.
MARIE-EVE
Marie-Eve Poirier, registered nurse for 6 years. Marie-Eve completed her nursing studies at Collège Montmorency, followed by a Bachelor in Nursing Science at Université of Quebec in Outaouais. She worked in general medicine and in the emergencies for a few years. Then she decided to start a new adventure, working in the north of Quebec. She went to Puvirnituq, on the coast of Hudson Bay, where she worked on the hospitalization unit with an Inuit community for almost 1 year. Marie-Eve then decided to take her experience even further, so she enrolled in the expanded role training program, and since February 2023 she has been working on the front line in the Ungava Bay coast, again with an Inuit community.
By opening yourself up to new experiences, you’re bound to meet new people. It was in Puvirnituq that Marie-Eve and Aline’s paths crossed. This meeting led Marie-Eve to a new project with the non profit organization code hearts & hands, which organizes humanitarian trips to South Africa. Marie-Eve will be taking part in the next trip to Africa, scheduled for 2024.
Marie-Eve is a passionate, open-minded nurse who loves new challenges and new encounters, but above all loves helping people. Filled with happiness and always with a smile on her face, she’s off to discover new cultures and new horizons. Always ready to enrich herself and take the best from everything around her.
Thank you to voyage westmount and Loyalty alongside everyone who has participated in the fundraiser Sept 1, and the ongoing fundraisers
