About us

Currently, there are 24 children at Emasi (20 who are sheltered by the home and 4 from the community - who only receive their meals and clothing from the home). Emasi consists of three very small bedrooms which house all the children in addition to small common spaces. The vision is to extend the premises to address the needs of the children better.

The aim of Emasi is to address not only the basic needs such as clothing, shelter, education, and food but also a holistic and nurturing environment that will help facilitate personal growth in the face of extreme odds. The children at Emasi and in the local community face many obstacles and live in an area experiencing very high rates of unemployment, crime, and overcrowding.

Despite these challenges, we continue to work on the development of new strategies to provide meaningful support to the children and the community. We are grateful to generous donors without whom the home could not function. More importantly, we are blessed to have these beautiful children in our lives.

How Emasi started

Mama Zelphina Maposela (founder & Director) moved to Nyanga from the Eastern Cape in 1974. She had always been interested in community development and worked for years with community health programs focused on home-based care for patients suffering from tuberculosis (TB), and HIV/AIDS. In 1981, Mama and her colleagues started a door-to-door mobile clinic to visit those who were sick and couldn't help themselves. As many of these patients lay in bed dying, they worried about their children’s stigmatized future as AIDS orphans. So Mama promised to find them a safe home.

When she couldn't find foster homes for these children, she decided to create one herself. Mama Maposela wanted to stay true to her promise. Mama grew up as an orphan herself and therefore had empathy for the plight of the children. In 1994, she became an official foster parent to three of these AIDS orphans. Mama extended this home over time and by 19 October 2004, Emasi became an officially registered safe home with the South African government on 19 October 2004. In May 2016, Mama Zelphina tragically passed away leaving 30 children without a mother. After Mama's passing, the leadership of the home was then taken up by Hazel Maposela and Siyanda Nkewana. Hazel has been involved in Emasi for over 10 years and continues to give of herself tirelessly. Siyanda lived at Emasi as a child growing up and in the face of adversity managed to obtain his university degree from UWC. Siyanda gives back to Emasi out of the goodness of his heart.

Currently, the home is headed by Wendy Maphosela and Mzoxolo Rubushe.