Jewish women feed and help Alex kids with homework
ALEXANDRA - The township's schoolchildren will no longer have to come home hungry and resort to playing in the streets at the expence of their homework.
Alex schoolchildren will no longer have to come home hungry and resort to playing in the streets at the expense of their homework.
A group of Jewish women, together with their Alex counterparts, saw the need to establish an aftercare programme when they realised that too many children came home and resorted to playing in the streets and often neglected their schoolwork.
They then set out to establish an aftercare programme in 2012 out of the desire to assist the children with their educational support after school. “Many of these children would come home from school and play on the streets and neglect their schoolwork, ” said Cindy Kree, a projects manager at the Houghton-based Union of Jewish Women.
The Jewish women, together with Badiredi, a women’s organisation of the Lutheran Church in Alex, came together and established the aftercare, with the financial backing of Bidvest. The aftercare is facilitated by two employees, Lydia Makhoba and Thabo Kekana.
As the workload grew, the two employees subsequently required assistance with the monitoring and supervising of the children and they relied heavily on the services of volunteers. There are currently three local volunteers including Andile Rasmeni, Mbongeni Moyo and Mpho Malatji, who have been joined by two additional volunteers from the Jewish community, Ruth Hompes and Miriam Isaacs.
“Rasmeni and Moyo have completed their schooling and are moving onto university which we are extremely proud of, but it means that we are losing two exceptional volunteers.” Malatjie has just found new employment but has still committed to trying to come once a week.
Currently the aftercare is run from Grade 2s and upwards, with more than 50 pupils currently participating. A private sponsor has been providing food parcels to seven families of some of the children who come to the aftercare programme.
The programme for the day includes the children receiving lunch, doing their homework under supervision and additional academic support. They also get plenty playtime under good supervision. Last year, the children were treated to an outing at Zoo Lake in June last year and had a Christmas party last December.
A feeding scheme, which is run parallel to the aftercare programme, was established in 2007 and provides a warm cooked meal by the kitchen staff to 296 adults and 250 children per month. The meal consists of rice or pap, delicious soya and veggies.
All these activities are run from the premises of the Lutheran Church in 3rd Avenue.
Details: Cindy Kree 011 648 1053.
