Butterfly Palliative Home is a children’s hospice providing holistic palliative care to vulnerable children in South Africa.
Founded in rural KZN, we currently have two in-patient children’s hospices and home-based care teams.
09/04/2026
A big thank you to DICE and Ackermans! 🛍️📦
We want to say a huge thank you to DICE and Ackermans for their wonderful donation to our children's hospice. 🫶🏽
It is through the kindness and support of partners like these that we are able to keep providing the best care and comfort for our Butterflies. We are so grateful to have you as part of our village! 💕💗
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08/04/2026
Look who celebrated her birthday over the weekend! 🎉👑
One of the best perks of a birthday on Easter weekend? Double the snacks. Easter eggs and birthday cake… absolute win! 🍫🍰🐰🎂
Happy, happy birthday precious Hope! You are loved beyond measure! 🥰😘💕
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07/04/2026
A massive thank you to James McIlrath for donating much needed garden tools and a lawn mower to our children’s hospice in Empangeni ! 🌿🌷🪻🌻
Because of your generosity, we are able to keep our garden neat, cared for, and a peaceful space where our little ones, carers, and visitors can relax and play. It truly makes such a difference to the feel of our home.
Now we are just one step away from completing our garden toolkit. A weedwacker and we are fully set!
James, thank you for being our garden champion and for helping us create a space that feels welcoming, calm, and full of life! 🌳🐝
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05/04/2026
Alleluia! Christ has risen! He has truly risen!
Wishing all our Butterfly friends and family a joyful and blessed Easter weekend.
"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed."
Isaiah 53:5
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03/04/2026
Thank you C for blessing our children and staff with yummy Easter treats and some much needed supplies🙏🏻 It takes a village and we are so grateful for ours🎉
02/04/2026
Hope and Lulu are starting to feel the Easter vibes here at Butterfly Home🐣
Neither of them are allowed to actually “eat” the chocolate eggs due to them feeding via alternative methods. But oh boy do these girls love looking at the bright colours and squishing the eggies 🐰🥚🐣🦋🩷💒
02/04/2026
Birthday = double the fun! 🎂🥳
With Josh and Ollie's birthdays just around the corner, we couldn’t help but look back at their very first shared birthday party three years ago.
At that stage, Ollie had only been part of our Butterfly family for eight months. Funnily enough, the very month he arrived was the same month that Joshie started walking on his own, so that whole season was just full of big, wonderful changes for us! This was Ollie's first-ever Butterfly birthday party, and seeing our two big boys celebrate together was extra special.
I just love how these throwback snaps remind us of all the beautiful celebrations we’ve had, and of course, it is amazing to see how our little ones have grown and flourished.
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31/03/2026
Calling all South African Businesses!
Are you wanting to make a positive change in the lives of vulnerable children through your yearly CSI donation, but were caught without enough funds in February?
Why not join our Butterfly Business Circle today! By donating to our Children’s Hospice each month, you will make a true impact and it will all add up at the end of the next financial year to a sizable amount that will make your tax returns smile! 💪🏻
How does it work?
- Make a monthly donation to Butterfly Home (above R1000)
- Receive your Section 18(a) letter in February.
- Claim back and smile!
Why choose Butterfly Palliative Home for your donation?
- Voted Best Charity for 25/26 by the Zululand Observer’s Best of Zululand Readers Choice Awards. 💪🏻
- We are the ONLY children’s hospices providing in-patient care to children in KZN.
- Full financial accountability and transparency.
- Fully BEEE compliant.
- You will be celebrated at our yearly business breakfast and stand a chance to win the Business Donor of the Year trophy.
- Making a real difference in vulnerable children with terminal illness’ lives feels really good. 🙌🏻
Get in touch today and become a Butterfly Business Circle member. 🎉
Are you wanting to make a positive change in the lives of vulnerable children through your yearly CSI donation, but were caught without enough funds in February?
Why not join our Butterfly Business Circle today! By donating to our Children’s Hospice each month, you will make a true impact and it will all add up at the end of the next financial year to a sizable amount that will make your tax returns smile! 💪🏻
How does it work?
- Make a monthly donation to Butterfly Home (above R1000)
- Receive your Section 18(a) letter in February.
- Claim back and smile!
Why choose Butterfly Palliative Home for your donation?
- Voted Best Charity for 25/26 by the Zululand Observer’s Best of Zululand Readers Choice Awards. 💪🏻
- We are the ONLY children’s hospices providing in-patient care to children in KZN.
- Full financial accountability and transparency.
- Fully BEEE compliant.
- You will be celebrated at our yearly business breakfast and stand a chance to win the Business Donor of the Year trophy.
- Making a real difference in vulnerable children with terminal illness’ lives feels really good. 🙌🏻
Get in touch today and become a Butterfly Business Circle member. 🎉
Doesn't our girl Siphesihle look precious in her little floral dress?! 😍🌸🌻🪻🌷🌼🌿
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30/03/2026
So, what are you guys doing today? Me? Oh, I'm just chilin'... 😎
Happy Monday friends!
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27/03/2026
“Nothing is louder than a child who’s been told to use their ‘inside voice.’”
If you think a shout is loud, you have clearly never been on the receiving end of a four-year-old trying to tell you a "secret" during a church service. How can a tiny human's "whisper" be so LOUD?! 🙈🙊🙉
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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.
Today Butterfly Palliative Home is a registered Non-Profit Company and in the process obtaining full Hospice status. We are growing from strength to strength, with the help of amazing sponsors and volunteers and a team of twelve staff members ensure that our children receive only the best care.