Help our hero to many children ‘Mama Rosie’ become a CNN hero

HER name is synonymous with goodwill and helping vulnerable children and adults in Khayelitsha. Now, almost three decades after starting her NGO to provide a haven for HIV/ Aids orphans in the township, Mama Rosie Mashale’s charitable endeavours have earned her global recognition.

Mashale has been nominated for the global CNN heroes award which honours people who have made extraordinary contributions to human aid, and a notable difference in their communities.

This year, Mama Rosie is one of 10 nominees vying for the title; and is the only South African nominated out of 17 000 entries from all over the world.

“I feel so blessed, I am not only representing South Africa but the entire African continent,” the former schoolteacher told Weekend Argus.

“A German friend of mine entered me into the compe- tition. I only found out when I had been chosen as a runner-up and the people from CNN started contacting me,” she said.

Baphumelele was born in 1989 after Mashale saw young children scavenging at a dump site near her Site B home in Khayelitsha. As a former foundation phase teacher in Matatiel and with a child herself, Mashale took the seven children in.

She helped them learn and recite nursery rhymes, fed them and put them to sleep. This was when she decided to start a day-care centre. “Today those seven children are social workers, lawyers or some or other professional. I am proud of my children,” she said.

But it was in 2007 that she decided to help child-headed households, the reason she was nominated for the award.

Baphumelele’s child-headed household programme cares for 145 children across Khayelitsha.

Through the programme “the children get everything they need, from education to clothes and food right down to toiletries”.

The households are brought to Mashale’s attention primarily by schools in the community.

“We work closely with street committees and the entire community to help protect vulnerable children while we try and give the as normal a life as possible.”

According to the NGO’s website, Baphumelele’s vision is to “provide a temporary shelter for vulnerable/ orphaned children and young adults with chronic diseases and HIV/Aids, and to provide skills development for the unemployed, early childhood care, alleviation of poverty, and healthcare information to the community in Khayelitsha and surroundings, so that the lives of everyone we touch can become more productive and accepted individuals who make a difference within society”.

Baphumelele also runs a hospice for children, a soup kitchen, a youth centre where young children are afforded an opportunity for skills development; and a hospice for adults.

To bag the grand prize of $100 000 (R1.36 million) for her organisation and continue the good work she does, Mashale needs your votes.

“I leave for New York tomorrow (Sunday) and the award ceremony is on the 17th. It would be a life-changing honour if we would win this award because not only will winning be good for the organisation, but the prize money would change the lives of so many of the children we care for. People can vote up to 30 times a day.”

To vote for Mashale, log on to cnnheroes.com. You can vote as many as 30 times a day via Facebook, Facebook Messenger and e-mail.

asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za

Rosie Mashale