There were two main reasons why we decided to start a guest house.
Rosie (Roseline Diamond), our domestic worker, soon revealed that she is capable of much more than organising our house. Another reason was that we wanted Rosie (who was living with her parents and six children in a two bedroom flat) to have a place of her own.
The day we saw the property at 35 North Rhodes Avenue in Die Boord, Stellenbosch, we knew the time for renovation had started…
Today, Rosie, her beautiful daughter Samantha (who is completely deaf) and Samantha’s fiancé (also deaf) are all part of the wonderful team we have at Baruch’s Guest House. Both Samantha and Samuel have permanent positions at the Guest House.
During the renovations, Pretty (a Xhosa woman) came walking past the Guest House. I started talking to her and heard that she is without work at the moment due to the fact that she had to look after her husband who was completely bedridden and later passed away. Only after Pretty started as a permanent employee did she tell me about the dream she had the night before she came to Stellenbosch for the first time. She dreamt that she needs to go and seek work at a place where she will see the “Tall Trees.” There is a park right next to Baruch with tall trees! After a year I asked Pretty to phone her sister in the Eastern Cape to come and join our team.
Baruch is the Hebrew word for “blessing” and I can honestly say that Baruch has been living up to her name! We serve guests from all around the globe and have the wonderful opportunity to get to know them on a personal level.
