SAKHE Family Care, a Humansdorp–based, non–profit organisation, is one step closer to achieving their goal to refurbish a suitable building to better serve the youth and families with various social issues in the community.
In July, Kouga Express wrote about Sakhe Family Care which since its establishment in 2014, has embarked on various community initiatives which include psychosocial support, alleviating poverty, and job creation.
According to the founding director of Sakhe Family Care, Thanduxolo Buka, to effectively run the organisation’s various projects, they needed a suitable building as their previous office space in KwaNomzamo which they had utilised for three years was too small and the roof of the office leaked when it rained.
Fortunately, the organisation received permission from Mziwamadoda Ntlokwana, the owner of Baracks in KwaNomzamo, to make use of the building to run their programmes.
The building, however, which had not been utilised for over 10 years needed to be refurbished.
Buka said that since the organisation attained the building in July, they have received help from various donors and have already refurbished 70% of the building.
He said the Department of Correctional Services sent ex–offenders who were equipped with various skills to help with the renovations of the building.
“With help from ex–offenders, we did not have to use our funds to pay for labour,” said Buka.
In addition, he said Woodland’s Dairy had donated all the furniture they needed for the centre and fencing for the main gate which have been a great help.
“I was surprised by the response from various donors who have helped us refurbish our new centre. I always write individual thank you letters to each donor to show my appreciation,” said Buka.
With help from donors, the organisation has been able to place the first coat of paint on the outside of the building, replace the broken windows and replace the doors.
Despite the great progress they have made in the last four months, Buka said they still needed a great amount of material for the centre before they would be ready to open their doors to the public.
“We need tiles, plumbing equipment, electricity connection equipment and ceiling boards for us to be able to utilise the building,” said Buka.
He said he hoped the Kouga Wind Farms and other companies in the Kouga region would invest in their project.
“This centre will be used to serve the community, so any company who is able to help our organisation will therefore be giving back to the community,” said Buka.
