Re Ya Kgathalla (We Care) NPO from Tsietsi is asking the community and businesses to support it with donations to assist poverty-stricken families and children faced with food insecurity among many other things.
Re Ya Kgathalla is located at the home of its founder, Matshidiso Mokebe, at an informal settlement at Tsietsi, Phase Five.
The NPO was established by Mokebe in March 2020 to support children with their school needs and activities to keep them off the streets.
She said the children’s academic calendar was disrupted by the lockdown last year because learners were not going to school and now, they attend three days a week.
She said she thought of establishing the NPO when her grandchild and friends asked her to help her with their homework, which made her realise that a lot of children from Grade One to Grade Six cannot read.
To give children a little break from the books, she later introduced dance activities, citing that some children are embarrassed to come for study seasons because they cannot read, but dance helps them to slowly open up.
“After school, the learners come here for a two-hour season with our volunteer tutors before we allow them to go play. Some of them come straight to my house after school because they do not have food at home,” explained Mokebe.
“This pushed us to start feeding children on Saturdays. We do not have much, we rely on donations from community members.
WATCH: Children from Re Ya Kgathalla NPO dance.
“Mostly, my partner and member of the executive Marry Pico would go to spaza shops and street vendors for donation or combine whatever we have from our homes to cook for children. It is really painful for children to go through such an experience to get a decent meal,” she said.
Challenges
Mokebe said what they are doing is not an easy task in a poverty-stricken community that has high unemployment, deals with drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, high school dropouts and no electricity.
“There are many children without birth certificates and identity documents. Some are South Africans and others are from other African countries. Most of these children are subjected to abuse. As an NPO, we have been trying to report cases of child abuse without any success, we need help because the future of these children is at stake,” she said.
Vision and mission
Mokebe said the NPO’s mission is to expand to other provinces.
They currently have three branches in Northern Cape and the Free State. She said they all have different challenges but the majority of them are the same.
“I want the NPO to grow to help more people. We want to have programmes and provide training for the youth because our community is confronted by high unemployment and school dropouts,” she said.
She said there are many activities they would like to introduce that will help the NPO to generate an income.
“We want to introduce baking and sewing among other things to generate income because although we are unemployed, we do everything from our own pockets as some children rely on us for food,” said Mokebe.
She said they need a container for after-school classes because, at the moment, they conduct classes inside a shack.
“We want to grow and have our own transport to make it easier for us to go out to collect donations, be able to provide courses and salaries for our staff members,” she added.
Donations
As the festive season is approaching, the NPO has asked community members who will be spring cleaning their garages and storage rooms to donate anything that the NPO can use. It can be anything, from new or pre-loved clothes and shoes, old furniture, toys, reading books for children aged six to 18, a container for classes, school uniform and stationery.
To donate to the NPO, contact Mokebe on 073 637 4869.
