Uniting to uplift children in Amandawe

Members of the Scottburgh Community Policing Forum and the Youth Desk, together with Scottburgh Saps and Men for Change, united to assist children at a creche in Amandawe last week.
The team visited the Khayelihle Educare Site along with donations of rice and sugar for the youngsters.

Before handing over the donation, the team addressed members of the community (mainly women) on various crime-related topics.

Sergeant Christopher Mahlawe explained how to go about reporting different crimes and what a police station notes as priority cases. He also touched on gender-based violence and femicide.

“Right now, we need community intervention most of all,” said Mahlawe.

“It is important for members of the public to report crimes of any nature to the nearest police station so that we can keep track of what is happening in each area. Even if someone is not a victim of crime but may have witnessed or heard about a neighbour or friend being a victim of crime, be there for one another and do the right thing by going to the authorities.”

Sergeant Joel Singo then addressed the crowd on domestic violence and explained how protection orders work and how they can be obtained. He also spoke about the different types of abuse cases the police deal with.

“People know of physical and emotional abuse, but we also have cases of financial abuse, such as parents not paying child support or using that money on everything but the child,” said Singo.

Being at a creche, Hlengiwe Madondo from the Youth Desk spoke to the crowd about bullying and drugs at schools and how parents need to get involved in their children’s lives from the early stages.

She also advised parents to check if their children are doing their homework and to look at their school books to ensure work is being done, as many children bunk school and are depriving themselves of their own education.

The community members felt empowered through these talks and interacted well with the team, too. Thereafter, the creche children joined the community members and Saps team to receive the food donation.

The children’s excitement simply could not be contained when they saw the big bags of food, some even bigger than them.

Vivian Mdluli, who runs the creche, said that she was grateful for the rice and sugar donation, which will go a long way.

“We at the creche have not been this happy in a long time, and we give a big thank you to everyone who made this possible,” said Mdluli.

The creche is always in need of donations and asks the public to contact them on 066 1612864 if able to assist.

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