Mama Rosie Cares for Over 5000 Children
KHAYELITSHA, SOUTH AFRICA: CNN Hero 2017 – Rosie Mashale, Founder and Managing Director of Baphumelele. CNN Heroes 2017 – Rosie Mashale shoot ID: 27437_004 Photograph by: Jonathan Torgovnik ??
In 1989, when Rosie Mashale moved to Khayelitsha, Cape Town in South Africa, she was shocked when she saw children who were searching for food. She decided to take them under her wing and opened a free daycare center that lasted for ten years. In 2000, when Mashale was just about to retire, she found an orphan at her doorstep. She told CNN, “He was between the age of two and three. He was naked and full of sores. He didn’t even know his name.” After Mashale, took him in, she decided to create an orphanage. While the word was spreading, more children were being found on her doorstep which meant that more care had to be given. After a while, her program turned into an organization that took up a block in Khayelitsha.s
In an interview with Mashale CNN said, “How do you help the kids once they age out of your organization’s homes?”
Mashale responded, “Our Fountain of Hope program is for all the children who are above 18 to 21 years who have graduated from the children’s homes. Remember, most of them are abandoned; they do not have parents. That’s the reason that we are teaching them skills…We are empowering them with living skills so that they can be independent…”
CNN went on to ask Mashale, “How do you help the kids once they age out of your organization’s homes?” Her program doesn’t stop when a person turns 18. Mashale stated, “Our Fountain of Hope program is for all the children [including those between] 18 to 21 years who have graduated from the children’s homes. That’s the reason that we are teaching them skills — they learn how to plant their own vegetables, how to write their own resumes, work etiquette, computer training.”
She continues, “We are empowering them with living skills so that they can be independent. We mold all those children to prepare them for work and provide them with job opportunities. For others, we help them to finish their education.”
Mama Rosie cares for every child that comes to her with love and she hopes for her children to achieve their dreams. She told CNN. “Everybody has got a dream, and my wish is for their dream to be fulfilled.”
