Our history

The story of LITTLE EDEN begins with an ordinary housewife and mother of six, who believed she should do something to help children with intellectual disability.

Domitilla Rota Hyams (1918-2011) knew nothing about social work. She had no money, no government backing and no influential contacts.

But what she lacked in resources and experience, she made up for with dogged determination and unshakable faith in God's divine purpose.

With the help of a group of friends, advice from experts in the field and a R10 donation, LITTLE EDEN opened its doors to the first three little girls in 1967. Initially, it was simply a day care facility, operating in the Edenvale Methodist church hall.

By the second year, there were 23 children and a nursing sister supervisor and LITTLE EDEN had taken occupation of an old house awaiting demolition in Kempton Park.

Then Domitilla promised the dying mother of one of the children that she would look after her child – and the need for permanent residential care was born.

By 1971 there were 18 children in the hostel and a further 30 attending during the day. The organisation was forced to move into the Hillbrow Clinic, where it occupied four different floors and the children sorely missed the freedom of a garden. Still the numbers grew - 100 children and 50 staff in 1973 – and LITTLE EDEN moved again, this time into three different houses in Edenvale.

Here we fell foul of our neighbours, who complained that the value of their properties would be reduced by having intellectually disabled children living in the vicinity. The future of the organisation hung in the balance, until 1974 when we were finally able to start building the present permanent home on land donated by the municipality at the corner of Harris Avenue and Wagenaar Road in Edenglen.

In 1970, Domitilla insisted that land be purchased for future development to accommodate the children as they grew into adulthood.

A 43ha farm in Bapsfontein was acquired, but over a decade would pass before the Elvira Rota Village (named after Domitilla's mother) was finally built, owing to lack of funds.

Today, LITTLE EDEN is a benchmark non-profit organisation accommodating 300 children and adults with profound intellectual disability in two specialised residential care facilities.

We encourage the community to see our 'angels' through our eyes - to recognise each as a whole complete being created by God - with a mind, a body, a spirit and a soul - and the right to be treated with dignity, kindness and respect.