Aziza Nolan’s vision is to not only be a voice for the voiceless but to also equip these children so that their voices be heard. To build them up, care for them, look after them, and have them be a part of a loving family.
Blaauberg, South Africa (21 January 2020) – For 25 years, Aziza Nolan worked as a child psychologist and baby expert in the UK, today she’s saving the lives of South African children who have been abused, trafficked and abandoned on the streets.
It would seem as if Aziza’s earlier life and education thoroughly prepared her to be the rescuer and loving mother she is to the 11 children presently in her care at Peace Home.
Ziza’s House of Hope for Abused Children (better known as Peace Home) is a charity which helps rehabilitate young victims of abuse and neglect, giving them a second chance in life, status, and dignity. Very few cases of child-neglect, deprivation and abuse are even brought to light due to inadequate child support structures. However, for those children discovered and brought into Peace Home, a safe haven exists. The tragic reality is that most of the children brought into Peace Home are uneducated, homeless and living in poverty. Peace Home aims to give them the expert counselling, education, health-care, LOVE and understanding they so desperately need. Furthermore, in the long term, to reintegrate them into society, to give them a voice, providing them with a loving home environment where they are a part of the family and in this way give them their childhood back.
“Peace Home’s mission also includes providing support in ad-hoc cases in the short-term by being a temporary safe haven for children removed from dire and dangerous circumstances. We act as a temporary refuge and safety net while Social Services are investigating each case, and a more permanent solution be found.”
In her teens, Aziza had a vision of a child reaching out to her, and it was as an eighteen-year-old that she ‘rescued’ her first child, a six-year-old begging by day and living in a car at night. As she was determined to fulfil her dream, she worked to support herself and pay for her education, which included the study of psychology. She also later acquired an NNCB, an international qualification in child care. In 1998 a child care position enabled Aziza to travel abroad. In the UK, she furthered her studies in psychology, training also in maternity nursing. She is an international expert in infant care.
What persuaded Aziza to return to South Africa happened during Nelson Mandela’s 2001 visit to London, where his public address in Trafalgar Square made her aware of South Africa’s great need for workers with experience and knowledge.
“Madiba said his suitcase wasn’t big enough to take us back with him to South Africa; he asked that when we do come back home, to bring back the knowledge.”
On her return, she would have liked to live and work in a township, but the need to earn kept her working and saving, travelling back and forth internationally to do this. She was thus able to help some families in Cape Town, sending money for children’s education and food.
Aziza helps rehabilitate young victims of abuse and neglect, giving them a second chance in life, status, and dignity. Very few cases of child-neglect, deprivation and abuse are even brought to light due to inadequate child support structures. However, for those children discovered and brought into her home, a safe haven exists. The tragic reality is that most of the children brought into are uneducated, homeless and living in poverty.
Aziza aims to give them expert counselling, education, health-care, LOVE and understanding they so desperately need. In the long term, to reintegrate them into society, to give them a voice, providing them with a loving home environment where they are a part of the family and in this way give them their childhood back.
Some of the cases Aziza has dealt with include, three siblings, being abused in gang-related activities, a toddler witnessing a murder, siblings (aged from 3 to 11 at the time) living on the streets and begging from a young age. They had never been to school and had been “sold” and abused numerous times before being rescued, and an infant found abandoned on the street.
“A major reason why so much child-abuse goes unreported is that the victims are “voiceless” being only children.”
Aziza’s vision is to not only be a voice for the voiceless but to also equip these children so that their voices be heard. To build them up, care for them, look after them, and have them be a part of a loving family.
They are a family open to all cultures, religions, and races respecting other’s religions and views, because in love – we are all the same. We are driven by love – to give love, and teaching the children to receive it.
In the end, love is the most powerful weapon against abuse and neglect.
“Thank you so much for everything you do for these children; you are a truly a South African Hero and we love you!”
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