The Strathyre Girls Home in Kensington urges the community to help with host families and tutors
KENSINGTON – A girls' home needs your help.
Strathyre Girls Home in Kensington is in need of the community’s help.
The home provides a secure, caring and loving environment where the girls’ past hurts are addressed and a spirit of hope for the future is encouraged and nurtured.
“We want what is best for the girls. They come from difficult backgrounds and here we try to give them back their lives and help them to become the best they can be and all of that is through the support of the community,” said the home’s administrator, Major Naomi Malinga.
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She said the home is in urgent need of host families and people who can volunteer to assist with homework. Malinga said, “The children are committed to us through the Children’s Court due to varying degrees of abuse, neglect, poverty, abandonment or incapacity of their caregivers.”
The children need families who can host them for the holidays as some cannot visit their families for various reasons. “There are processes we follow to allow families to host the girls. They go through a screening first to establish if they qualify.
“Currently, we have a number of girls who don’t have host families and, because of that, they never leave the home during holidays.”
The home can accommodate 60 children and currently houses 46 girls ranging from three to 18 years old.
Malinga said education is important and the girls are encouraged to do well in school for a chance at a better life. “We encourage our girls to work hard at school and obtain good marks. That way they stand a chance of getting a bursary to further their studies because, as a home, we can only do so much. We are in need of volunteers to come in the afternoon to help the girls with their homework.”
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Although the home receives a subsidy from the government per month per child and The Salvation Army supports the home, they are in need of support.
“The community has been amazing over the years. They support us in many ways and also donors help us a lot. We appreciate that and we thank them for always being there for the home.”
Details: 011 615 7327; administrator@strathyre.org.za
Edited by Stacey Woensdregt
