“I am who I am today because of the people who care”
How the UNICEF-supported Asiphilenikahle safe park nurtures children in Mpumalanga township.
Mpumalanga Province - In KwaGuqa, a township in Mpumalanga where unemployment and limited opportunities are part of daily life, the journey of life for many children and young people can increase their vulnerability to substance abuse and unsafe peer influences.
Skhumbuzo Miya (18) is growing up in this context, where such challenges shape the environment around him, and where pathways into adulthood are often uncertain. However, with the guidance and care of Child and Youth Care Workers at the Asiphilenikahle safe park, his story has turned out differently.
“I’ve been coming to this safe park since I was six years old. I am who I am today because of the people who care for us here.”
Safe parks, supported by UNICEF, provide an enabling and welcome space for children to receive peer support and assistance from Child and Youth Care Workers, Social Workers, and Caregivers. In doing so, these spaces make a meaningful difference to the lives of children who access them in various parts of South Africa, ensuring that children are protected, supported, and referred appropriately when additional needs are identified.
“Over the years, the staff have helped me with schoolwork, providing nutritious meals for us, food parcels to take home and even fun trips during the holiday period. As soon as I became old enough to get my identity document, the care workers here helped me apply for it.”
Today, Skhumbuzo now helps out at the safe park, engaging with younger children by serving meals, playing sports with them, and helping with homework.
This, he says, is his way of giving back to children like Mnqobani Nkosi (9), who enjoys spending time at the safe park with his friends.
“I love coming to the safe park because here, we play, they help us with our schoolwork and they teach us to be kind and respectful to others.”
Nurturing children and seeing them grow to become successful and fulfilled young people is at the heart of the work Dinah Masango has done since she began managing Asiphilenikahle from inception in 1996.
Despite facing many setbacks over the years that have stunted the safe park’s development, she says her love for children is what has kept her, the auxiliary child and youth care workers and volunteers she works with going.
“We arrive here early every morning to prepare for the day. We do different activities with the children, such as playing with them and cooking nutritious meals. We also assist children and their families with things like applying for birth certificates and social assistance grants as well as tertiary bursaries for children who have excelled in their matric results.”
“One of our children whom we’ve assisted is now a doctor in Gauteng,” Dinah says with pride.
At the end of each day, children leave the Asiphilenikahle safe park with stronger protective relationships, improved wellbeing and continued access to community-based support systems that enable them to thrive.
