The only child “Drop-In Centre” around Mahikeng is in dire financial straits and quickly needs financial help and any other means of donations to feed more than 150 children daily. This 100 percent Black Female Owned (BFO) entity is on the verge of closing due to a lack of funding. The four-year-old Centre which is a registered NPO is located in Golf View and is accessed by children from Golf View, Ramosadi, Lonely Park, Signal Hill, Stadteng, Top Village, New Stands and Magogoe villages seven days a week.
Hazel Makubs, the Deputy Centre Manager told Mo Media that their aims and objectives when starting the centre were motivated by their concern of an alarming rate of kids roaming the streets. “We got very worried with many children taking to the street life without anything to eat. They had to scrape for leftovers from rubbish bins in town and this really touched us. These are our kids, they also need love and support like any other child,” stated Makubs.
The Centre has been in operation since 2019 and has survived on donations from a private donor overseas. It is fully registered and compliant with SARS producing a clean audit for the past four years.
“Our aim is to get children off the streets, and back into school and ensure that each child has enough food, clean clothes and adequate support to complete school successfully. Get in touch with us to learn how you can help make a difference in these children’s lives,” added Makubs.
Not only food is offered to these impoverished kids but activities that keep them off the streets. The centre also offers homework sessions where volunteers assist them with their homework and assignments.
The Centre has a fully-fledged study area with tables and chairs for the children’s after-school care. The centre’s long-term vision is to open several satellite branches in the rural villages of the North West province at large.
“We do not discriminate against any kid coming here for a meal. What we do not condone is those children coming here high on substances such as cannabis and nyaope for food without the intention of turning their lives around. We also seek to subject them to hygienic conscription hence we also ask the public to donate clothes they no longer need,” added Makubs.
The centre has already established a girls’ and boys’ soccer teams which train in Lonely Park four days a week and play their matches on weekends. Another crucial factor that the centre management is focusing on is to equip those children who dropped out of school with skills such as pothole-filling, recycling of scrap metals and general gardening.
The centre humbly pleads with Good Samaritans out there to come to their rescue for the sake of the children. “Remember these are our children and they are the future of our country. Please help us to groom them into responsible citizens,” Makubs concluded.
The good news for the Centre and the children being taken care of there is that the North West provincial government was made aware of their plight. This is after the Mo Media reporter assigned to cover last week SOPA engaged the Department of Social Development MEC Boitumelo Moiloa about the challenges and needs for assistance at the Centre.
“Right now we are busy with the SOPA programme for the day and next week we will be engaged in the legislature debating the SOPA, but what you could do is to send me a reminding WhatsApp message so that I can make time and pay the Centre a visit,” said MEC Moiloa.
