Safe spaces for the city’s children
JOBURG - The old Drill Hall is at the epicentre of a difficult but ground-breaking project that will offer hope to some of the city's most precious and vulnerable assets - its inner city children.
The project, being undertaken by Johannesburg Child Welfare, the city’s Region F, and a myriad of non-profit organisations, community volunteers and other stakeholders, will see the heritage site transformed into a beacon of hope.
Johannesburg Child Welfare director Lyn Perry said the Best Life for Every Child project was the first inner city project of its kind in South Africa.
“We aspire to create an environment that is healthy and safe and that children can thrive in,” she said.
Executive Mayor Parks Tau and his MMCs also gave the project their full support.
The project began 18 months ago, when Perry began an inclusive, collaborative approach for the city’s children, and invited Region F and other stakeholders to join her cause.
“We want citizens to help us make the hall a beacon of hope for children in the CBD: to have safe, proper playing areas for children who live in high-rise buildings surrounded by congested pavements and chaotic traffic, and for those who use the Thembalethu precinct at the hall,” said Perry.
The project will also work on transforming the Plein Street corridor, which links the hall with the beautiful, historic St Mary’s Cathedral.
“Community members and formal organisations are starting to identify themselves as ‘agents for change’ and collaborators in creating an island of optimism in downtown Joburg,” she said.
The initiative is being facilitated by Dr Barbara Holtmann, one of the country’s leading experts in transforming fragile social systems.
Perry first contacted Holtmann in 2011, when Child Welfare staff reported that they were too scared to enter the Thembalethu Centre’s neighbourhood to work with women and children desperate for help.
Holtmann’s work brought together children and community members, which led to the creation of three forums to establish safe spaces for children and their families to live in.
However, according to Holtmann, there are “no quick fixes”.
“Resilience and mutual support are essential to taking the long view and ensuring that what we do takes us closer to that long-term common vision. We share an important vision of what it looks like when it’s fixed.”
Region F assistant director for citizen relationship, Shaun O’Shea commented, “I can report seeing better relationships forming around the square of the Drill Hall, and that is a fundamental building block for sustainable change.”
Details: 011 298 8500; www.jhbchildwelfare.org.za
