Pay it forward: Put your heart into it and change a child’s life

THEY say that it takes a village to raise a child, but what if that village is so trapped in its socio-economic struggles that the villagers can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Then you tackle the problem head on and you build a new village, so to speak. Speaking to Elmarie Kennedy, director of Greater Alberton Child Welfare, you soon realise that Eden Park is one of these so- called lost areas.

However, when somebody pushes forward, then everyone should push together. And at the heart of this village is Opelweg Primary. Under the leadership of the principal Roger John, this school is a prime example of a school pushing forward for the better of the community.

John explains that many of their children are trapped in the social ills surrounding them. “And we are going to change that. In 2015 we had wonderful results sending our children, with the help of Alberton Child Welfare sponsorships, to attend horse therapy. The changes in these children are just so positive – they have made a turn for the better.”

And now they are taking it further. Taking hands with Greater Alberton Child Welfare, they are aiming to turn their community into one of zero abuse – and it all starts with reviving the library at the school as the starting point of a life skills centre at the school.

If one can mobilise a community, then you can rebuild a village. “I firmly believe that change starts with our children from a young age. My dream is to get this off the ground, establish it and roll it out to the rest of the schools in Eden Park. We can all just benefit from it,” John said.

“I am grateful for the opportunity given to us by Roger John, principal of Opelweg Primary. He has made the school premises available to Alberton Child Welfare, which is rolling out the Zero Abuse programme to enhance the social skills of the children who are exposed to various forms of abuse,” says Kennedy.

At first Alberton Child Welfare will focus on the foundation phase, Grades 1 to 3. From there Kennedy and John’s vision is to grow this library into a place where the little ones will find the emotional and educational ‘nourishment’ they need – a place which will give them hope and dreams for tomorrow. “A place which will guide them into making the mind shift that they are not welfare children but children with futures,” John said.

“Children with acting-out behaviours become numbers and they fall behind. The focus will be to assist these children to manage their emotional challenges, which will enable them to cope with the pressures, giving them the chance to develop like any other child would in normal circumstances.

“We work closely with an educational psychologist, play and occupational therapists, assessing these children and giving us intensive reports from which we work. This is where the work starts, where children are empowered to overcome their fears, instilling the realisation that there is more to life than what they are used to and what they know.

“Alberton Child Welfare wants to create a safe environment within the school, where children feel safe if they have the need to disclose abuse. The focus of the Zero Abuse programme is to develop young people who are responsible and to help them make positive, well-suited choices,” Kennedy said.

Sadly, this is not going to happen overnight and there is always the lack of funding which kills most of these initiatives before they get started. And that is where Alberton’s community comes in.

Get involved:

*An appeal goes out to the community to support Child Welfare Alberton by buying Tekkie Tax stickers. They have a variety to choose from, so whether your soft spot is children, the elderly or animals, you will get one there. “If we can sell 25 000 stickers, we can raise R100 000 to give this project a good kick start and therefore ask the support of Alberton and any business or school who wish to help us sell these stickers. For everyone R10 ticket sold by Child Welfare, they get R4 – the remaining R6 goes to Tekkie Tax to fund their charities of choice.

In November, Child Welfare will receive another 30 percent of the amount of stickers sold by them.

*Donations of books suitable for the foundation phase will be most welcome.

*They will also need a flat screen television, bean bags, shelving, loose carpets, educational DVDs, and material to make puppets.

*A steel container which could eventually be used as the life skills centre.

*Volunteers – Opelweg Primary is a no-fees school and will rely on donations from parents and the community to pull this off.

*Skilled people willing to offer their skills free of charge.

Should you be able to assist, please contact Kennedy on 011 907-3004/5 or visit Child Welfare at 43 First Avenue, Alberton North.