Butterfly Palliative Home

Butterfly Palliative Home Butterfly Palliative Home is a hospice providing end-of-life care to orphaned & abandoned children.

Yesterday we laid our sweet Rosie to rest in Ingwavuma where she spent most of her life before moving to Butterfly Empan...
08/01/2026

Yesterday we laid our sweet Rosie to rest in Ingwavuma where she spent most of her life before moving to Butterfly Empangeni. It was a tender and heartfelt goodbye to a little girl who has made such an incredible impact on so many lives.

Rest gently our sweet Rosie. Your infectious smile will be missed by all. We know your body is now fully healed and for that we will rejoice.

Our children’s hospices are currently running low on the following essential items...Preschool stationery for our crèche...
07/01/2026

Our children’s hospices are currently running low on the following essential items...

Preschool stationery for our crèche:
⭐️ Jumbo Crayons
⭐️ Twist Crayons
⭐️ Glue
⭐️ Printer Paper
⭐️ Watercolour Paint
⭐️ etc...
.... as well as:
⭐️ Lactogen / Infacare Nr 3
⭐️ Nappies sizes 4 - 7

Any donation of these items, or a financial contribution towards purchasing these items, would be greatly appreciated!! ❤️

Any hero willing to bless our Butterflies can have it delivered to either one of our homes:

EMPANGENI:
Butterfly Palliative Home
1 Eland Crescent
Nyala Park
Empangeni
3880
Contact Nr: +27 66 435 1302

INGWAVUMA:
Butterfly Palliative Home
Main Road
Ingwavuma
3968
Contact Nr: +27 71 580 4719

Alternatively, a donation can be made with the reference “wishlist”.

It truly takes a village to care for our Butterflies and we are so grateful to our virtual village who keep our hands and hearts strong! 🙌🏻💪🏽🤟🏻

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We love the bond that Joshua and our new Butterfly pup, Teddy are forming. They decided that today was a day to chill in...
06/01/2026

We love the bond that Joshua and our new Butterfly pup, Teddy are forming. They decided that today was a day to chill in the garden, have a splash and a nice snooze together. Zululand is hot!😅

01/01/2026
As we reflect on one incredible year filled with so many new challenges and floods of blessings, our team would like to ...
30/12/2025

As we reflect on one incredible year filled with so many new challenges and floods of blessings, our team would like to take the time to thank our amazing donors and friends.

To everyone who celebrated the victories, held us during the hard times, sent gifts to the children and staff, supported our new home and thrift/coffee shop, and especially to the Empangeni community for welcoming our second Butterfly Home - thank you!

There are thousands of children still in need of compassionate palliative and end-of-life care. We are determined to widen the net; find these precious kiddos and offer whatever we can to make their lives as beautiful as possible. God has given us a mandate and YOU are the ones fanning our flame.

Here’s to the end of a whirlwind 2025 and the beginning of a brand new 2026 - filled with hope and determination🙌🏻

Thank you for your love!

Regards,

Tarryn, Christoff and Team Butterfly🦋

Thank you to each every one who helped make Christmas special for our Butterflies. Both in Ingwavuma and Empangeni our c...
25/12/2025

Thank you to each every one who helped make Christmas special for our Butterflies. Both in Ingwavuma and Empangeni our children had a lovely day filled with love and laughter as we celebrate the birth of our King🙌🏻

Merry Christmas! And thank you!!!🛍️🎁

From all of us at Butterfly Home, we wish you a merry Christmas and a wonderfully blessed and joyful festive season! 🌟✨W...
25/12/2025

From all of us at Butterfly Home, we wish you a merry Christmas and a wonderfully blessed and joyful festive season! 🌟✨

We are so deeply grateful for the incredible support, generosity, and prayers you’ve shared with us throughout the year. You’ve helped us provide love, care, and hope to the precious little lives we serve, and for that, we can’t thank you enough. ❤️🥰

Wishing you a Christmas full of God's joy and love and a new year filled with His hope and grace! 🙏🏽💕✝️

Lots of love in Christ,
Tarryn & all at Butterfly Home

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Get ready for some Christmas cheer! 🎄✨🔔Our Empangeni and Ingwavuma Butterflies all dressed in their Christmas best, surr...
24/12/2025

Get ready for some Christmas cheer! 🎄✨🔔

Our Empangeni and Ingwavuma Butterflies all dressed in their Christmas best, surrounded by sparkles, tinsel, and plenty of smiles. These festive shoots are always such a highlight. The kids love posing and playing with the Christmas props… at least at first. Then the shoot goes on a little too long and the silliness takes over! Bouncing off the walls, funny faces, and very clear opinions about being finished. 😂

This year feels especially bittersweet, knowing that some of our little ones who were part of these moments are no longer with us. Still, we remember them with joy and the tenderness, celebrating the precious memories made together. ❤️‍🩹❤️🩷

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Thank you so much to Solid Ground Church, Empangeni for the kind gesture of dropping off beautiful roses and muffins for...
22/12/2025

Thank you so much to Solid Ground Church, Empangeni for the kind gesture of dropping off beautiful roses and muffins for the staff. The roses are called “Rosey Cheeks” and it is such a sweet gift during this time. We appreciate our faith community and all that you do 💗🦋

Dear friends,Following a full few months and our recent heart-breaking losses, Butterfly Home Empangeni, including our t...
22/12/2025

Dear friends,

Following a full few months and our recent heart-breaking losses, Butterfly Home Empangeni, including our thrift and coffee shop, will be closed as our team takes time to rest and reflect.

We will reopen on 5 January 2025.

Thank you for holding us in your hearts. ❤️

Love, Tarryn and the Butterfly Team

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Address

1 Eland Crescent
Ingwavuma
3880

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 00:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+27712773861

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Our Story

Nestled on top of the picturesque mountain community of Ingwavuma, South Africa, is a very special place called Butterfly Palliative Home. Here we care for orphaned and abandoned babies from all over South Africa who need a family and special medical care due to life-limiting conditions. All of these little ones have a story to share. Their stories are mostly heartbreaking, filled with sad memories and many visits to the hospital. But they all have one thing in common: they are survivors - they are little warriors - and they now call BPH their home...

It all started in January 2018 when our founders, Christoff and Tarryn Bell, received a phone call about an abandoned baby boy from Soweto who needed a home. This tiny person happened to be discovered by a jogger out on his morning run who heard a noise and found a tiny baby discarded in the bushes. At the time baby Si was thought to have Down Syndrome and was estimated to be about six months old. Cold, dehydrated and emaciated, little Si was rushed to a nearby hospital to receive emergency medical treatment.

The Bells adopted their son Joshua, who has Down Syndrome, in 2015 and the hope was that they might be interested in adopting another little guy with the same diagnosis. Christoff Bell, a medical doctor at Mosvold Hospital, and his wife Tarryn, a social worker, were running a Christian non-profit called Izandla ZeAfrika at the time. It soon came to light that baby Si’s condition was much more serious than anticipated and he was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 or “Edwards Syndrome”, a condition which is widely regarded as not being compatible with life. Baby Si was in bad shape and not given long to live.

The Bells could not shake the feeling that they were called to help this little one as well as others like him. After much deliberation and prayer they decided to take Si into Foster Care and opened Butterfly Home for babies with palliative needs. The little home was started as a project under Izandla ZeAfrika and started with four home-based caregivers who were trained to look after children with special needs. A week after Si arrived at Butterfly home the next butterfly was placed, and soon after that another one. The little ones kept coming and the home grew and grew. Si began to flourish and was quickly surrounded by five brothers and sisters.