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“Reach Out” is an organisation that was established with the aim to help children and the elderly who are unable to help themselves. We are based in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, and deal mainly with an informal settlement called France. France comprises of Ambleton/Shenstone and Slangspruit. The area has high levels of poverty and unemployment. Many of the children there are AID’S orphans and most of them are forced to fend for themselves.
This informal settlement is situated on the outskirts of the city, off the Richmond Road. Historically, this became the place to move families from troubled areas during the politically tense years. Other families were relocated to France after the devastating floods of 1990. High levels of poverty, unemployment, HIV and AIDS greatly affect this community.
Reach Out has been very fortunate to receive material support in the form of food/blankets and other necessities for those that we help. However, up till now, its Founding Director/Chairperson, Mrs M. du Plessis, Management and Staff have been serving the people of France informal settlement without salaries. We would appeal to your organisation for help with salaries and running costs. We have been actively supporting children, the elderly, and men and women who find themselves in vulnerable situations. We encourage them to improve and better their opportunities. Our people in France are in desperate need of a Community Centre in order to meet the extreme hardships that they experience on a daily basis. There are no established clinics in the area and people have to travel far, usually on foot, to be attended to. Most of them are so ill or poor they are not even able to make the trip, especially the elderly.
Plan of Action
Having worked in France for the past 12 years, Liberty Properties in conjunction with Liberty Midlands Mall and various sponsors have built us a Community Facility Centre on acquired land from the local Municipality – Site 2886, Ambleton/Shenston. Reach Out has been given a 20-year lease on the land. The Community Facility Centre will cater for child-headed households in particular and will incorporate a Drop- in Centre, Soup Kitchen, Laundromat facilities, a much-needed Child Advocacy Centre and a Clinic which will provide daily health care.
The Child Advocacy Centre is to be set up to assist sexually and physically abused children, with trained counsellors, with the purpose of:
- protecting the child from further harm
- providing counselling for the child and family
- minimising the risk of further trauma
- protecting society from the offender
- holding the offender accountable for his actions
Since most of the residents are unemployed and untrained, we also envisage setting up a much-needed Education and Training Facility. This will assist school-leaving children by training them on the basics of certain trades, to see where their talents lie, in order that they can be sent for further training. We will also be approaching various colleges to obtain bursaries for those who show exceptional potential.
Following this, within the next two years, we aim to build a fully fledged Old Age Home. The elderly in the community are heavily burdened with the responsibility of taking care of the orphaned and abandoned children. This leaves the elderly experiencing extreme hardships, stresses and strains. They have no time for themselves, or their health, just a continuing cycle of struggle and torment. Their suffering and hardships are such that no human being should have to endure. The Old Age Home will serve to bring relief to the elderly and provide care that is presently not available. This facility will also serve as a Pensioners’ payout point. |
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