BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF IMPILO “Our Vision is to provide a stable environment in which our children can shine” The conception of Impilo was born when 2 adoption social workers, one of whom was Sue Krawitz, the current Director, with many years of experience in the field of adoption, began to see an increase in the number of abandoned children and children affected by HIV/Aids in South Africa. Children were placed in care for extended periods of time with many of them becoming lost in the system. They wanted to establish a home based environment for a small number of children and to offer intensive social work services so that children could be placed in a permanent family environment as early as possible. The word Impilo means “to give life” in Zulu. After about a year, in 2003, Impilo Place of Safety was set up as a Section 21 company and NPO initially as a project of Johannesburg Parent and Child Counselling Centre. The doors opened to the first child in November 2003. Initially Impilo accommodated 6 children but after 18 months this increased to 12 children. Impilo is now an independent organisation.