Wednesday mornings, at Albertville Church of the Nazarene, always sees those displaced and underprivilege receive a plate full of warm food.
On November 26, however, it also saw them get assistance from home affairs, as their mobile unit came to the church, all in a effort to help the community with their identity documents.

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Kylie Makumbe, of the church, said, along with their regular food scheme, this day saw them being of aid to the broader community. It was an act of service which was important for them, as they aim to help empower the community. A community struggling to access their Sassa grants without the proper documentation. “To help empower them in anyway is important to us.”

To help facilitate this day, the church got into contact with Ward 86 councillor Chantelle Fourie-Shawe, who said home affairs is usually very keen to go out and conduct this service for the community. The day served as the perfect opportunity to have this activation, as it is a day the church commonly opens it doors to be of aid to the larger community. “I had met with the church a while back,” said Fourie-Shawe, “and they pointed out that people needed help applying for IDs, or even just a better understanding of the process of getting one.”

This was the first time such a service was hosted at the church, and their hope is that they can have more such days in the coming year. “The more days like this we host, the more people of the community we are able to help,” said Makumbe.

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She highlighted how a large majority of the people they help through the food scheme are people in low income homes. “Knowing they can come in on Wednesday and get that one meal for the day does help. Some are displaced people, who walk through various communities to be able to get this meal, but everyone’s situation is very different.”

The church hopes people who see their efforts as ‘bringing negative elements into the community’, would possibly be more empathetic. “Everyone has their story, and we don’t know how people get into the situations they are in, so just give people grace. That is what we’re doing, demonstrating God’s work on earth.”

It is also the councillor’s hope to have more engagements within the community, adding how things cannot solely be fixed by government or the church. She says that it takes a collective of people, and this is just a small example of doing things together.

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