A non-profit organisation, now in existence for 27 years, has quietly been working behind the scenes to alleviate poverty and restore dignity in underprivileged communities in and around Durban.

Speaking to the Northglen News from their office in Mount Edgecombe, director of Crossroads KZN, Mahendra Singh, shared some brief history as to how the organisation was born.

“Crossroads KZN was founded by three men, including myself. One of the men was American, and he had a vision for this organisation. He and the other two men have moved on, but I remained on the board and then became director. Since 2000, Crossroads KZN has been a fully South African organisation,” said Singh.

He said the NPO works on a model of offering a hand up rather than a handout, however, relief is given as a start.

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“If a person is fed and healthy, they are in more of a position to be able to work towards providing for themselves,” he said.

“We provide necessities like clean water, food, clothes and seasonal medical clinics,” he added.

Singh said people from the communities in areas such as Verulam, Inanda, Indwedwe and the like, are then taught skills so that they go on to sustain their own livelihoods.

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“When it comes to young children, we offer free quality preschool education to students from underserved areas, as well as a peer-to-peer mentoring and life skills training. Because many children and families we serve face food insecurity, we provide nutritious meals as part of each of these programmes. Malnutrition is a problem. Some don’t have three meals a day. We believe that if their tummies are full, they are able to learn and educate themselves the way they should. The youth are involved in the peer- to-peer programme which teaches them leadership skills for the future,” he added.

Pre-Covid, Crossroads KZN fed over 4 000 children from different communities, but as companies tightened their corporate social investment belts following the pandemic, the riots and the floods, the numbers dwindled to 1 500.

“Businesses don’t have the budget to sponsor NPOs anymore. We get some funding from the United States and the public, as well as goods and materials from businesses to run our feeding and skills development,” said Singh.

“We support a lot of projects other than the ones we run. We help other preschools and hand out whatever overflow we have,” said the director.

He said the community can help by signing up as a donor to the organisation or to start their own collection of non-perishable goods which can be donated to the organisation.

“Eradicating hunger is the biggest issue. If we all do our little bit, it ends up becoming a lot and making a huge difference in the life of someone in need. Together, we can do more to break cycles of poverty – bringing hope to the communities we serve,” said Singh.

Crossroads KZN is also looking to expand its volunteer database and is looking for people to assist mainly on weekdays.

For more information, visit www.africacrossroads.com or email info@crossroadskzn.co.za