Emalahleni Men of Destiny under the leadership of Pastor Ignatius Mahlangu wants to deploy unemployed youth to all schools of eMalahleni to teach the Crossroads curriculum.
According to Pastor Mahlangu the curriculum is a tool for teachers and parents to help young people internalize positive values and beliefs which can guide them to be good decision-makers as well as to foster communication between adolescents and adults. Crossroads is the place of decision-making; it’s a place where a person needs to make decisions. Taking a decision based on the knowledge he has, added Pastor Mahlangu.
“Our teens are exposed to many dangerous things which were not there in our time like crime, drugs, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. They need proper parenting, guidance and community support. The number of young people using drugs, abuses alcohol and is sexually active, is increasing every day. More than 85% of children grow up without both parents. This is a big challenge which needs to be addressed,” Pastor Mahlangu pointed out.
Pastor Mahlangu also commented about the Ethembeni Children Haven under Pastor Jeremiah Zulu who has started the spiritual rehabilitation called the Salvation Hope Programme during level one of the lockdown. About 150 people attended the 30-day programme and had an 80% success rate. Pastor Mahlangu is supplementing the programme with his Crossroads programme and wants it to be introduced to schools to protect young people who are still growing up. The children will grow up to be survivors.
Pastor Mahlangu believes that there is no dustbin for children and therefore parents and community members must join hands in raising children.
“Among the survivors, we have some children who were rejected by their parents. We are calling upon young people who want to be volunteers to come forward and request companies to assist us financially,” added Pastor Mahlangu.
