Cape Town - The wet weather could not dampen the festive Eid spirit for a group of children from predominantly child-headed households in commemoration of Türkiye’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on Sunday.
Fifteen children from majority child-headed households were identified and treated to an afternoon of gifts and an array of confections by Fusion Inyameko Foundation SA and the Turkish South African Youth Association (Turksay) in Ottery.
Fusion Inyameko Foundation SA co-founder Nizaam Abdol said: “On the Cape Flats we have hundreds and hundreds of homes like this, absent of adult supervision.
“Reasons for it could be imprisonment of parents, parents living on the streets, parents passing away, parents just not being there. So often we have grandparents and family members chipping in and assisting and even communities helping out. We know one of the biggest challenges for these kids is providing for their most basic essential needs such as food, clothing and shelter.”
The organisation’s Child-Headed Homes project has expanded to meet more than just a child’s immediate basic needs but also academic and emotional/psychological support through coaching and mentoring via its My Chance Incubator project.
The foundation has for nearly 10 years worked across Cape Town with a strong footprint in Manenberg, Hanover Park and Philippi.
Over the past two weeks, children within the programme visited a dentist for the first time.
“It’s something very low on the priority list of kids, in actual fact it’s not on their list. They are looking at survival, their next loaf of bread and that kind of thing.”
The team was also able to clothe and feed about 200 children for Eid.
The partnership between the two organisations was cemented by the signing of a formal agreement.
Turksay general secretary Resat Onur ER said the organisation, working with the foundation, would be supporting 50 children to provide for their educational and living costs for a year.
“Within this project, we want to help them to first survive and then build up their careers, and then in the future they can be good citizens of South Africa who will contribute to their communities,” he said.