There were broad smiles at the Baphumelele Children’s Home in Khayelitsha when the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) officially handed over a renovated playground and well-stocked library.
The handover ceremony on Tuesday formed part of celebrations for Türkiye’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.
Baphumelele Children’s Home Managing Director and founder, Rosalai Mashale, said she established the home in 1989 after she saw children searching for food at a dumping site nearby.
Mashale recalls: “I found out that their parents were leaving them there because they don’t have someone to take care of them.”
She took seven kids to her home where their parents later fetched them in the evening.
Now she cares for 145 children and Mashale is overjoyed at the fantastic new additions.
A grateful Mashale says: “This is a really amazing playground and it’s beautiful, it’s out of this world and I’m glad it’s enclosed.
“Thank you so much, for them to come and make the children here smile. Because it takes a village to raise a child.”
TIKA’s Programme Coordinator in Pretoria, Albulkadir Abukan, adds: “When we came, this playground was really in a bad condition and the walls were not stable.
“When they played, it was almost certain that the kids would hurt themselves and the library was dilapidated, the roof was leaking. So we renovated it.
”Following the ceremony, the children and staff were served lekker treats. Abukan and his team are active in all nine provinces around South Africa, with the aim of creating and strengthening ties between SA and Türkiye.
Turkish Consul General in Cape Town, Sinan Yesildag, says: “Last year in February, Türkiye had a big earthquake and we cannot forget the support and help of our South African friends.
“So this is a small thing we are doing, but when we see the children’s faces, they look happy, so we are also happy.”
The Turkish public holiday is significant as it commemorates the inauguration of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, on 23 April 1920.