The founder of Baphumelele Home of Safety, Evelyn Makasi, struggled to contain her emotions when her children received musical instruments, among them three guitars – electric, bass and acoustic – a keyboard, three amplifiers and a set of drums from Cultural Care Au Pair, on Friday August 19.
Baphumelele, in Khayelitsha, is currently home to 40 children.
The home also offers children after-school music classes, but recently classes were put on hold as the home struggled to get new musical equipment.
Of the donation received on Friday, Ms Makasi said: “This brought joy to my children and all the staff members here.
I am also delighted because this means I will have singers coming out of this home. It is an unbelievable gesture. We are grateful to the donors,” she said.
Ms Makasi urged companies to invest in children to ensure that the country had a pool of professionals.
“More of these types of investments are needed. If we believe that children are the future, we need to put that to test. There is a lot of talent in the townships. There are safety homes with great children, but there is a lack of funding. I think for us to grow, we need more investors. I am impressed with the donation,” she said.
Simphiwe Mabuya, the founding director of Siluncedo Community Projects, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) rendering a free outreach after-school programme for places of safety in Khayelitsha, was ecstatic about the gesture. He said music classes would resume soon.
“This donation will motivate the children with the music. It will also give them a great chance to excel in music. This will also grow their creative side. We must remember that not all will grow academically,” he said.
Mr Mabuya said he appreciated the relationship his organisation has with Cultural Care Au Pair. “The children love music and they are very talented. With the donation, we would like to have our own music teachers that will take the music much further,” he said.
Cultural Care Au Pair’s Monigue Jesson said she was grateful that they were involved with children. She said through their “Kids First” programme, they help many places of safety.
“It is so nice to see them happy. But credit should go to Mama Makasi and her staff. Not everyone can do what she is doing. I am glad to we came,” she said.
