The Baptist church in Gugulethu held a holiday club programme to keep children occupied during the winter school holiday and to encourage them to live healthy lifestyles.
The objective of the programme was to provide a safe learning space where young people could be assisted with academic work and empowered with self-development skills.
Among those who were involved in presenting programmes to the youngsters were Iziko Museum and Fire and Rescue Services.The programme also sought to encourage boys to become positive male role models in their community and instil family values.
Senior pastor, Mpumezi Hombana, said such programmes gave them the opportunity to teach the children how to deal with conflict, violence, alcohol and drug abuse and sexuality. He said the programme also taught the youth about leadership and critical life skills so that they could become agents of change in their communities and become examples to their peers.
In addition to this, he said, they also included lessons from the Bible and talks about healthy living.
Part of the role of the church, he said, was to invest in, and help shape the community.
“We are a country that is known to have Ubuntu and we should depict that. It’s us who have the responsibility to change our society. We must rally behind the youth so that they don’t find themselves lured into criminal activities.
“We want to be among the people that have contributed positively in this community of Gugulethu. Change is within us,” he said. Firefighter, Thumekile Nazo, said such programmes enabled them to share information on what to do when there is a fire.
Lukho Yanta said he had learnt a lot from the programme and had enjoyed every minute of it. He added that he would share the information and knowledge he had gained from it.