Work that is done by various charity organisations can never be fulfilled without community support.
Refilwe Community Project based in Lanseria has received enormous donations and support from corporate organisations, non-governmental organisations and the public.
But, the organisers of this charity organisation say, they still need more donations, finance and volunteers to help them.
“We are faced with socio-economic challenges – unemployment, child abandonment, broken homes and educational challenges. We have 14 informal settlements that we support and our donations and support can only go so far and we desperately need the public to donate and volunteer their time with us,” pleads Lelani Brits, CEO of Refilwe Community Project.
Refilwe has four areas of focus that are strongly advocated and which include community development, child care, skills development and organisational strengthening.
This charity organisation has partnered with other countries including Canada, United States and England.
“We work with churches, schools and different organisations which send volunteers to us to help with our charity work. At the moment, we have Ari Beyers from California, Megan Strydom from Little Rock, who has since married a South African, Kate Jenkins from Memphis and Ryan Moore also from the US,” explains Brits.
One of the volunteers, Andy Harris of the UK, has been coming back to Refilwe for the past five years to volunteer at its pre-school.
“Everytime I come back to South Africa, I feel at home. It probably sounds clîchè, but it is true. I like working with children and I feel so happy knowing that I am giving my time to such a worthy cause,” says Harris.
He first came to Refilwe in 2007 with his school, Calday Grammar School.
Other volunteers are Lindsey Highgate and Bridget Lane who are pupils from Kings College and Preparatory in Bryanston.
“We came here to help because the schools are closed. We are always encouraged at school to community work, so we made our own arrangements to come and volunteer here and we like it a lot,” says Highgate.
They help Nicole Gillette, the social worker who takes care of 11 children who range from seven weeks to 23 months old.
Gillette from the US says, “I volunteer here and look after the babies. People who want to come and help will have to be screened before they can take care of the babies. But we are always in need for nappies, Nan, cereal and all the baby stuff because it runs out quickly,” explains Gillette.
There is also another project which seeks to teach children about the environment and recycling.
Engelbrecht said, “We have an after-care where children come and do their homework. They are also encouraged to bring stuff like bottles and boxes which we recycle. Children earn (moulas) points which allows them to choose stationery, pens or things that they need.”
Nomaza Mariba, one of the teachers who help children with their homework, explained that children swop their recycled stuff for moulas but they are not given money.
“We help them with their homework and then we do the bible study and later we go to the Swop Shop where children bring their recycling stuff and they get (moulas) points. These points enable them to choose things that they need and you can see in their faces the joy of getting something that they have earned.”
Details: Refilwe Community Project 082 465 6972; www. refilwe.org or Lelani Brits 083 653 7425; Corne` Engelbrecht 071 577 9969
