Park Hill shelter in urgent need of help
The damage has prompted Durban North resident, Joy Chiang to appeal to residents of the area to help fix the problems facing the shelter.
LAST month’s devastating rains across the province caused millions of Rands of damage to buildings and infrastructure and displaced hundreds of residents whose homes were washed away in the torrential floods. One building badly affected by the rains was Khulani Children’s Shelter in Park Hill.
Several rooms were compromised with whole sections of the wall being damaged and ripped off. Some of the wooden beams in the shelter were also affected. The damage has prompted Durban North resident, Joy Chiang to appeal to residents of the area to help fix the problems facing the shelter.
As a longtime supporter of the shelter, Chiang said she was appealing for residents to donate building materials to help shore up the home. The shelter, registered as an NPO was established to provide a place of safety for orphans, abused and abandoned children as well as to equip disadvantaged youth with life skills and currently looks after 13 children.
“There’s a contractor I work with who I called once I saw how badly damaged the shelter was after the rains. One section of the wall in the boys room had completely broken apart and the same had happened in the girls room. He nailed a plastic ground sheet across the sections which was only a temporary fix. I’ve had sleepless nights thinking about the damage to the shelter and what it means to the children who live here,” she said.
“I’ve worked with Prudence, who runs the shelter for many years and she has some amazing success stories in helping the children who’ve been through the shelter.
I’m hoping the north Durban community will support Khulani either with building materials or people who can assist with the damages to the home.
This area needs this shelter and I will try to raise as much awareness and funds where I can but this problem is bigger than me,” she said. Prudence Mwandla of the shelter concurred with Chiang.
“We would welcome any bit of help from the residents as it will go a long way. We are grateful for the help from Joy but we need help to fix the issues at the shelter,” she said.
If you would like to offer assistance to the shelter you can contact Prudence on 031 563 0032 (working hours) or 084 822 1682 or you can contact Joy Chiang on 083 256 5993.
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