Childline/LifeLine South Africa has returned to Khayelitsha to help survivors of violence and sexual abuse after pulling out for 10 years because of lack of funds.
The NGO’s service is open to the victims of abuse as well as those who want to be trained as counsellors.
Nomphelo Dludla-Mzandisi, a counselling administrator in Cape Town, said the decision was taken after seeing so many people coming to the city centre from afar for help.
She said the organisation realised that people don’t have money to travel and most do not speak English.
“Our counsellors here (in the city centre) are mostly English speakers. That creates a challenge for many of our clients. Another problem is that people do not have money to travel this far. We all know the unemployment problem the country is facing. We are now tackling the challenges.
“This will help them save the few rands they have. They will be assisted in their own language which again is a plus to them,” she said.
Childline/Lifeline Khayelitsha manager Mpho Modise said she was relieved that the services had been brought back.
Ms Modise said the services had already drawn a good response.
“I am happy to announce that we have already started with a counselling course. We have another one coming up on May 5. Upon hearing the news, people showed great interest. These services are highly needed here,” she said.
Once people had been trained as counsellors they could be a great help to the community, she said.
“That means people can counsel their own families and the community. I want to assure people that should they come to us, they leave a different person. We do not only counsel but upskill people. We want people to make a change where they live. We want them to be able to counsel and speak out freely. There is also a programme that we run called HAST, meaning HIV, STis and tuberculosis,” she said.
Childline/Lifelinecollectively to protect children from all forms of violence and to create a culture of children’s rights in South Africa. Call the Khayelitsha office at 021 361 9197.
