Local children’s centre advocate against GBV

Rena Le Lona Centre for Children hosed a GBV and HIV awareness day at Extreme Park on February 04.

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The centre which provides after school meals and extra classes to local children invited locals to be part of the day.

The day was joined by ward 26 Councillor, Sthembiso Mashinini and social workers from the Johannesburg Child Welfare and HIVSA who engaged with the attendees on issues of GBV and HIV and AIDS.

According to HIVSA social worker, Nonzwakazi Bonga some of the residents still lack information on issues of GBV and such programmes can help instil knowledge to them which they can later use to teach others.

She added that some of the prevalent cases of GBV in the community include intimate partner violence which refers to abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship between dating partners and is believed to be mostly caused by the high rate of unemployment.

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“The issue of unemployment among young people is one of the leading causes of abuse in most cases because the victims have fewer choices than to endure abuse caused by perpetrators which may be their partners and since they do not have any source of income they are left with less choice but to remain in the relationship.

“HIVSA condemn acts of violence and we urged community members and victims to kindly come forward and report cases of abuse to their nearest police stations or local organisations that advocate against GBV,” Bonga said.

Cllr Mashinini applauded Rena Le Lona Centre for Children for taking initiative and effort to raise awareness against abuse.

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“Almost every day in our community we deal with cases of abuse and this is a call for concern. This is why it is very important to now shift the focus to children when raising awareness on these issues because they are our future leaders and if we teach them as young as they are they will go back home to pass the information on others,” Cllr Mashinini said.

He added that the community is privileged to have the centre and its invested workers who spend their time working with the children and sometimes even use money from their own pockets to fund such initiatives.

Mashinini also called on local sponsors and residents to work with the centre and pledge donations that will help the kids where they can.

The day featured performances of drums, poems, dance as well as soccer matches from children from Rena Le Lona with the winners being awarded medals and trophies for their participation.

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“Our parks are usually filled with locals drinking publicly and our children hardly get time to use them for extra mural activities.

“Today we want to change the narrative and use these facilities for what they were initially created for and also keep local children from the streets.

“We are glad that the day was a success and we hope to have more of such events in the future,” said Rena Le Lona Centre for Children’s centre manager,” Mlungise Mvelase.

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