For 25 years, this woman worked as a child psychologist and baby expert in the UK.
And today she’s saving the lives of South African children who have been abused, trafficked and abandoned on the streets.
Aziza Nolan’s home in Parklands has become a safe haven for the “forgotten ones”.
PROJECT: Aziza, founder of home. Photo: Jack Lestrade
Seven years ago Aziza founded Peace Home in Parklands, and without any government funding, she educates, clothes, feeds, counsels and loves those who have been rescued from a life of abuse.
She has dealt with many heartbreaking scenarios, including children who have been sold for sex by their own mothers.
In 2005, Aziza met former President Nelson Mandela at Trafalgar Square in London, and she says this meeting inspired her to realise her dream of healing children.
“Madiba said his suitcase wasn’t big enough to take us back with him to South Africa,” she recalls.
“He asked that when we do come back home, to bring back the knowledge.”
Her first case involved five children who were left destitute in Mitchells Plain.
“My late sister, Washiela, called upon me to assist her and that is how it started, how I became the voice for the children.”
She says her Parklands home has been placed in a trust, “so when I am gone one day, my legacy will still live on”.
Currently she has 12 children, between the ages of one and 14 years old, in her care.
LABOUR OF LOVE: Aziza with some of her vulnerable children. Photo: Jack Lestrade
“Our main focus is the forgotten children, the children who stand at the robots, live in squatter camps and who are begging,” she says.
“We deal with a lot of child trafficking cases where children are being sold for R10 for sex by their own mother.
“We need to break the cycle of grandmother, mother and daughter living on the streets and becoming prostitutes.
“They come in here with a lot of pain, but now these kids have ambition and they know what love is.”
Her biggest challenge is funding.
“We have money going out, but nothing coming in,” she says. “The children need stationery, toiletries, food.”