Local church helps Diepsloot locals

Celebration Church Johannesburg and Vumilia Africa Group recently collaborated to distribute hygiene hampers at Rabasotho Combined School and Diepsloot 3 Secondary School.

Vumilia Africa Group, a skills development and consulting company in Fourways, planned and rolled out a programme to take care of the sanitary needs of 67 schoolgoing girls living in vulnerable conditions. The initiative was inspired by Nelson Mandela’s legacy to serve communities for 67 minutes.

The idea for the programme was ignited during a virtual Celebration Church group meeting in which members were urged to make a difference in the community. Rabison Shumba, the managing director of Vumilia Africa, spoke about the need to invest in vulnerable girls in South Africa.

Dr Tawafadza Makoni, the pastor of Celebration Church Johannesburg, said, “It was a pleasure to partner and work together with Vumilia Africa’s Victor Foundation to make this day a success. We appreciate both the congregants and Vumilia’s partners who generously funded the programme.”

Shumba said, “The success of this launch would not have been possible if we didn’t have an able and established partner that was already working in the community we were targeting.” The hamper that each of the 67 girls received included four months’ supply of sanitary pads, toilet paper, lotion, toothpaste, a face towel, toothbrush, lip balm, sanitisers, soap and hand wash.

Organisations such as Kaya FM, Geo Theta and Glamping Adventures joined a number of individual donors to make these hampers a success. Celebration Church Johannesburg also distributed 77 blankets to widows, orphans and infants in the Riverside and Diepsloot areas sourced from congregants.