SafePlace brings hope to the vulnerable
This is the second unit that has been established in the greater Port Shepstone area by the Genesis Trust as an immediate place of safety for vulnerable persons fleeing abuse, gender-based and sexual violence.
In December 1993 Nelson Mandela had a vision for the future of our nation’s children.
‘The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years.’
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Sadly, some 25 years later, this vision has still not materialised in many of our communities and it is with this reality in mind that the Lions Club of Port Shepstone has joined hands with the Genesis Trust, an outreach ministry of the Norwegian Settlers Church in Izotsha, to establish a ‘SafePlace’ unit in Merlewood.
This is the second unit that has been established in the greater Port Shepstone area by the Genesis Trust as an immediate place of safety for vulnerable persons fleeing abuse, gender-based and sexual violence.
The first unit was established in February 2019 in Bhoboyi.
The SafePlace concept had been developed in cooperation with the SA Police Service, Child Welfare, the Thuthuzela Care Centre and Wolf Security to provide a place of safety particularly for children and women fleeing dangerous situations.
At the opening of the unit which consists of a well-equipped and secure container within a fenced area, the Lions Club was thanked by the Genesis team for its generous support of the ministry and for having adopted the Merlewood unit as a project of theirs.
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