Reds Back Unicef Project

UNICEF Ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson and Reds keeper Ben Amos took time out of the DHL pre-season tour on Tuesday to learn about the impact of violence and abuse on the country’s orphans and to call on communities to play an active role in protecting and supporting vulnerable children.

South Africa has close to four million orphans - around 23 per cent of all children - and many of these youngsters have lost one or both parents to HIV. These children often live in extreme poverty and face huge challenges in their everyday lives and suffer from trauma, stress and grief. They are especially vulnerable to abuse, violence and exploitation.

Visiting an ‘Isibinidi’ project in the rural community of Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal, Sir Alex was joined by Amos to see the work of UNICEF and local partner, the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers (NACCW), in protecting and supporting orphans and vulnerable children. ‘Isibinidi’, which translates as ‘Courage’ in the local Zulu language, is a community-based project that was developed to care for vulnerable children and to break the cycle of abuse and violence that they face, by providing both practical and emotional support.

Specifically, ‘Isibindi’ trains and provides orphan families with individual Child Care Workers. These Child Care Workers conduct regular home visits and provide vital practical support with important everyday activities such as washing, cooking and doing homework, as well providing much needed psycho-social support to children who have been through the traumatic experience of losing their parents and other damaging situations. In addition, ‘Isibindi’ builds and maintains a network of ‘Safe Parks’- areas within communities where children can play safely, study and learn important life skills such as confidence, home management, and HIV prevention.

Whilst at the programme, Sir Alex saw a ‘Safe Park’ in action and spoke with three youngsters who were orphaned when both parents died in quick succession over five years ago.

Talking at Ndwedwe village, Sir Alex said: “As an UNICEF Ambassador and through United's 13-year ‘United for UNICEF’ partnership I’ve visited many projects, but to hear how young people, especially orphans, suffer is always shattering.

“Orphans and other vulnerable children often live in abject poverty. They miss out on the love and care of parents, miss out on the rights and opportunities that every child requires, face abuse, and risk being pushed into a life of crime, forced labour and sexual exploitation. This should not be the case.

“UNICEF is calling on all communities to step up and play a more significant role in protecting all children, especially the most vulnerable, from abuse and violence. Projects like ‘Isibindi’ are making a real difference, but to reach the millions of orphans in South Africa UNICEF needs more support. Manchester United is committed to supporting UNICEF in this cause, and I’m calling on others to do the same."

Amos, who tried his hand at drumming during the visit, echoed his manager's sentiments adding: “The work UNICEF are doing at helping to create safe environments for these kids is fantastic and all the youngsters I met really seemed to enjoy all the activities that are on offer to them. Being able to come and see how these schemes work and the great work UNICEF do in struggling communities is one of the great things about coming on tour – we’re really lucky to have the opportunity to lend our support.”

The visit, the latest event in the pioneering 13-year partnership enabled Sir Alex and Amos to see for themselves the kind of work that has been funded by the ‘United for UNICEF’ partnership which has raised over £2.5 million for UNICEF programmes, benefiting more than 2.2 million children worldwide.