Windmill Park youth still on the road to recovery
An organisation called the Youth Information Desk, was recently established in Windmill Park to assist the youth to curb teenage pregnancy, drugs and other issues that are having a negative impact on the community.
The birth of this organisation comes after the Advertiser published a story titled, ‘Ex-convicts plead for second chance‘, last year.
Due to the scarcity of jobs, the young men from Windmill Park who are mentioned in the article, seemed to have no choice but to reconsider a life of crime or resort to drugs in order to forget about their troubles.
Since last year’s article, the young men claim the response from the public didn’t meet their expectation as only the Department of Community Safety responded to the call.
According to Romano Johnson, the department introduced a youth programme to empower young people in Windmill Park but because of political conflicts within the programme, it ended.
“Irrespective of the split of the programme, I got major support from the public who encouraged me to go on, showed me respect and supported me as one of their own.
“I have been involved with different organisations such as the #Buwa’ Moja – a platform for youth to raise their voices and other projects, which have kept me busy,” he said.
Johnson said it was not easy breaking away from his bad habits but the support he gets from friends and family keeps him going.
Some of the other young people the Advertiser spoke to are still unemployed. Others have opened a car wash as they are still on the road to recovery.
The Youth Information Desk has been doing their bit to assist young people to better themselves and refrain from engaging in negative activities.
The organisation also provides care to homeless people, child-headed families and elderly people. They aim to develop the community holistically.
Shadrick Norman from the YID said: “Many young people in our area don’t have matric so we want to equip them with skills. When they have acquired the knowledge, they will be able to go out and look for jobs and be employable.”
One of the success stories of the YID was the Mandela Day event which saw them work with other organisation such as Sam Creations.
Some of the programmes YID is planning at the moment include an after school programme to assist school children with their homework.
Johnson said some of the challenges the organisation faces include a lack of funding to sustain the organisation.
“We are still without resources such as computers, office materials, sport facilities and our own YID offices from which to run our programmes.
“We know that once we have computers we will be able to help children learn about computers and they will be able to research and do school work free of charge,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, YID will be hosting a gospel show at Pastor Dube’s Church opposite Jaffies Park, on August 18.
To assist the organisation in any way, contact Anna Vries on 063 107 2300 or Samantha Saul on 072 381 6099.
