BAPHUMELELE CHILD AND YOUTH CARE CENTRE IN KHAYELITSHA, A GLOBAL ROLE MODEL

By Lumka Oliphant.

• The Baphumelele Child and Youth Care Centre in Khayelitsha is not only impacting the communities of the Cape Flats, but communities globally.
• Volunteers come from far and wide to work at the centre, which is proving to be a dynamic and life-changing training ground.
• One young volunteer from Munich, Germany, is now considering changing her life path based on her experiences at the centre, and the mentorship provided by Baphumelele founder Mam’Rosie Mashale.

The Baphumelele Child and Youth Care centre in Khayelitsha is not only a beacon of hope for orphaned and vulnerable children of that township, but also a training ground and place for an exchange programme for volunteers from different countries.

Currently, five young people from the United States, Ukraine and Germany are volunteering at the centre.

One of the volunteers is Lea Franzky (26) from Munich, Germany, who has been at Baphumelele for 10 months.

Franzky stays at the centre with the children in Khayelitsha and believes that since setting foot in Baphumelele, her life will never be the same again.

A Ludwig-Maximilians University art therapy and theatre student, she said it was difficult to adjust at first when she arrived in Khayelitsha but now she wants to extend her stay in South Africa, thanks to Mam’Rosie Mashale, founder of Baphumelele, whom she says, has completely changed her life and the direction of her career.

She now wants to study social work as she wants to give back, just like her role model, Mam’Rosie.

“After working with her, I definitely want to do what she is doing. When I see her giving back to the community with so much passion, she is a role model that one can follow,” she said.

Franzky said she will forever be grateful for the North-South cooperation between South Africa and her home country for opening her eyes and, most importantly, to the community of Khayelitsha for embracing her.

She believes that Khayelitsha, and South Africa for that matter, “need good PR!”

“I realise the horror stories about Khayelitsha are exaggerated,” she says.

“I feel safe, and the community is welcoming.”

When she was preparing to come to South Africa, she attended a safety meeting at home, where she was taught what could potentially happen in the country she would be heading to.

“I think those things can happen everywhere. In Europe. In America and I don’t see a big difference,” she continues.

But her biggest takeaway is the experience of working with orphaned and vulnerable children.

“They are very open and have big hearts, they accepted me, and they are not just kind but very intelligent!”

Baphumelele has seen more than a thousand volunteers from different countries since 1992.

Through the South Africa and Germany partnership, they work with other non-governmental organisations in Germany that assist with placing volunteers.

At any given time, they usually take 10 young people from different countries.

Mam’Rosie wishes South Africa could have a similar programme that inculcates a spirit of volunteerism, but she understands that the socio-economic situation of South Africa may not allow for that.