Kliptown NPO Phenomenal Women still going strong
Only established in September last year, Phenomenal Women has already achieved feats that even the team’s members themselves could not predict, and the group is still going strong.
Only established in September last year, Phenomenal Women has already achieved feats that even the team’s members themselves could not predict, and the group is still going strong.
Phenomenal Women is a non-profit organisation that was initially founded to offer support to victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), but has become so popular that people have begun reaching out for several reasons.
“At first we were a support group for people affected by gender-based violence. But we noticed that people were knocking on our door for many other reasons as well. There are many challenges that people have turned to Phenomenal Women for support, we would not turn them away,” said Phenomenal Women chairperson, Chriszelda Jooste Swartz.
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In addition to Jooste Swartz, the team includes Cathy Beukas, Precious Adams, Tracy Bennet, Charmaine Thomas and Daphne Pienaar. Amongst other achievements, they have managed to organise and lead the largest breast cancer awareness walk Kliptown and Eldorado Park has ever witnessed, seeing just over 500 people turn up. They also led the clean-up of Kliptown CBD after the July riots.
“We had no idea that people would take a liking to the work we do. People recognise us now on the streets and know that they can trust us to help whenever we can. It is a proud feeling,” explained Jooste Swartz.
For all their work, Phenomenal Women has received support from the Motsepe Chairperson of Phenomenal Women, Chriszelda Jooste-Swartz. Foundation, Samsodien Foundation and Joshco. All those were however temporary sponsorships and the team is still in search of an official partner. In the meantime, they have had to rely on donations from the members’ families and friends.
“There is so much more that we feel we can do and want to do for the underprivileged. We are looking at rebuilding a community centre and rebuilding a few houses. We are still searching not just for sponsorship but even for someone to partner with us. It doesn’t have to be money, there are many ways to help out,” said Jooste Swartz.
As their search continues, the Phenomenal Women team is not resting on laurels. “There is quite a lot that we are busy with at the moment. We are working on a food garden in Kliptown where we have planted some vegetables. This garden will cater for people that cannot afford to put food on the table. It’s in its early stages for now but we hope to see it grow and we hope to be able to teach little children. We are also planning that the garden will support a soup kitchen.”
Those who are interested in joining the team or sponsoring Phenomenal.
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