Jewish women open Alex aftercare centre
As part of its welfare programmes, the Union of Jewish Women has set up a an aftercare centre in Alexandra.
Chairperson Diane Levine gave the North Eastern Tribune a tour of the centre, which is based at the premises of the Lutheran Church.
She urged members of the Alexandra community to volunteer for the cause. “We need more people to come forward and donate their time to the project, even just for a few hours in the day,” she said.
The centre caters for children from disadvantaged families and employs five people from the community.
Lydia Makhoba told this newspaper that the centre provided lunch to more than 245 people everyday of which 85 of those were children.
Makhoba added that after lunch they helped the children with their homework, and those without homework were accommodated in a separate room where they played games, and sang and danced.
Another employee, Thabo Matthews said, “The situation in some of these kids’ families is dire. Some of them only get something to eat in the mornings and evenings. I can’t imagine what would happen if they were not provided with lunch at the centre.”
Makhoba said on Fridays the children did artistic projects which were then displayed on the wall.
Volunteers Mbongeni Moyo and Andile Rasmeni are some of the volunteers at the centre who help the children with homework.
