Children who've had to put playtime on hold because HIV/Aids has taken the adults in their families out of the picture will get their childhood back and be able to play freely, without having to worry whether they and their siblings are safe.
Children who've had to put playtime on hold because HIV/Aids has taken the adults in their families out of the picture will get their childhood back and be able to play freely, without having to worry whether they and their siblings are safe.
This is the vision of the National Association of Child Care Workers' Safe Parks project for orphans and vulnerable children. The initiative was presented to the Social Services Portfolio Committee recently by a Diocese of Grahamstown missionary, Monica Vega, and national Safe Parks coordinator, Lulamile Yedwa.
It's a project of the association's Isibindi Model, a community based programme, whereby child and youth care workers visit orphans and vulnerable children in their homes, particularly those in child-headed households, and provide ongoing support.
Vega said the Diocese of Grahamstown was dedicated to the development of children and the youth, and had been a partner in the implementation of the Isibindi model since 2006.
Safe Parks had been implemented in seven areas in the Eastern Cape and they were hoping Makana would enter into a partnership with them to make it happen here. "We bring the model to you in an open way… we may be able to bring what is already successful to the municipality," she said.
Safe Parks was based on the concept that "children have a right to be children – to play and to dream". Yedwa said it had developed with reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 31, which upheld the right "to play and recreational activities appropriated to the age of the child, and the right to participate freely in cultural activities and the arts".
Yedwa said, "The concept of play is understood as unstructured and free from adult direction, even though it may be facilitated and overseen by adults." He said structured, goal-directed activities such as sports, performing, creative arts and games were but one aspect of recreation.
He said Safe Parks articulated the key pillars of the Children's Act, such as offering early interventions and psychosocial protection to vulnerable children and their families. He said children heading households needed places to play and socialise, as well as after-school care, with the assurance that their siblings were safe, with access to adults and adult supervision.
"Safe Parks was one of the tools to help young people meet these needs, he said. The Safe Parks concept embraced both formal and informal structures, he explained. The former required land formally allocated by the municipality or traditional leaders, fenced and equipped with playground equipment, stored in a container, and toilet or water facilities.
Informal Safe Parks could be set up on any piece of land, with temporary fencing. Gazebos, equipment and toys were available through a partnership with the Toy Library Association. An informal park cost about R50 000 and all the Safe Parks were facilitated by child and youth care workers.
Activities ranged from recreational to special focus programmes, such as Life Centre Programs, in which adolescents engages with societal issues affecting them. "The programme helps build their strength and capacity to make positive choices in life," he said.
It was proposed that the Social Services Portfolio Committee explore the idea and that the Isibindi Model team could discuss practicalities with Kevin Bates, of Makana's Parks and Recreation department.
