Community hero, Merlene Mattew goes beyond the call of duty in every aspect of her life as a devoted mother and wife, the chairperson of the Athlone Park Community Police Sub Forum, a business owner and an active member of several community charity organisations.
No two days are the same for her as she takes on a variety of tasks. Growing up in a impoverished background is what drives the inspirational woman to add joy and hope to learners of disadvantaged schools. Her father worked as a care taker in a primary school and was the breadwinner of the family, this motivated her to strive for excellence in her career.
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At the age of 12, Merlene began teaching Sunday school and believes that working with children was a calling from God. She was introduced to a prayer group at Amanzimtoti Primary, by Debbie Green of Mothers Who Care when her daughter started Grade 1 and has never looked back since. She went on to start prayer groups at other schools in Isipingo. But her desire was still to reach the children with the Word of God which prompted her to join Scripture Union, which is an organisation that adds hope to children.
She distributes literacy books to Grade R, 1,2,3 and Bibles in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu to Grade 7 learners in disadvantaged schools. The community of Amanzimtoti has been home to her since 2009 and this is where she resides with her husband Jodash and two children, Celeste and Josiah. She also recently became a volunteer at ‘Being Helping Hands’ where she supports the breakfast programme at disadvantaged schools.
After being part of fun day hosted by a neighbourhood watch group, Merlene was inspired to become more involved and was elected as the chairperson of the Athlone Park neighbourhood watch in November 2018. Since her joining, the neighbourhood watch was turned into a sub forum of the CPF. She also launched a Community Policing Business Forum two weeks ago.
Merlene believes that her time management skills is her biggest advantage. “I have good time Management skills and I am meticulous about following my diary, I plan my month and try not to deviate from my schedule. I do most of my community work during work time as I run my own business. So my evenings and weekends are free to be with my family. I do go out for meetings on specific nights and patrol only when the need arises like special ops.” She finds joy in inspiring and motivating the youth.
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Running a business together with her husband has also proved to be an exciting venture. “I run my business with my husband quite well. I see to the financial and human resource side and he sees to the technical. We have separate offices so that helps a lot,” she chucked. Merlene’s favourite aspect of Amanzimtoti is the friendly and welcoming people.
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