They might have made a name for themselves as up-and-coming artists, collaborating with the likes of J’Something and YoungstaCPT, among others, but these musician brothers will never forget that their roots are planted firmly in Bloemendal in the northern areas of Nelson Mandela Bay.
That is why Waven (24) and Ruwayne Sebia (22), known collectively as Jay Em, will be partnering with local NGO, #4ourKidsPE, by running a campaign from July 20 to July 24 in an attempt to raise funds for the organisation.
#4ourKidsPE is a feeding scheme that has been catering for the needs of approximately 230 hungry children in Bloemendal over the past few months. Since they rely solely on donations, it has been a challenge keeping heads above water and cooking warm, nutritional meals for the needy every week.
“That is why we decided to step in,” the brothers, who now reside in Johannesburg, said.
“Port Elizabeth will always be our home. COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in life as we know it. People are losing their jobs, musicians like ourselves are not able to perform, schools are closing and the sad reality is that there are some people who really have it way worse than some of us do.
“We heard about the feeding scheme in Bloemendal and wanted to help out where we could,” Jay Em said.
The brothers added that since they hail from this community, they have first-hand experience about the struggles children face here.
“Kids are surrounded by drugs and gangsterism; the unemployment rate is extremely high and youngsters are losing their lives every single day due to gangsterism because they think it’s the only way to survive.
“In most cases, residents think that nobody cares.
“We, however, are proud to be from the northern areas and want to be the voice of the people. We want them to know that they are not alone and some of us actually do care,” Jay Em added.
“The children in the community need to know that there is so much more out in the world and they can achieve whatever they put their minds to.”
As part of the campaign, the brothers will be doing a special live performance on their Facebook page.
Quicket link will be created and shared on Jay Em’s social media pages.
Donations will start from R10 and go directly to the feeding scheme for the purpose of buying groceries and other necessities to keep their doors open to the community.
“Involving local businesses is important too because we cannot do this on our own.
“Although the end goal is to raise as much funding as possible for the feeding scheme, we think the most important goal should be for everyone to come together and to help one another, to unite and tackle the problems in the community together as a team.
“In life, people need people and that’s what we hope to achieve,” Jay Em said.
One of the founders of #4ourKidsPE, Veroneeq Breda, said that she was “super excited” to still be able to help her community during this time.
Breda started the organisation with a group of friends after it was announced that schools would be closing as a result of the lockdown.
“We started the feeding scheme because many children were dependent on meals that they received at school,” Breda said.
“Our organisation has grown from feeding 80 children to 220 and ultimately 224. We’ve had massive help from the community, Astra Primary School, The Anglican Diocese, Round Table PE West 142, and family and friends,” she added.
For more information on the campaign or how to get involved, readers can visit Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and find Jay Em using the handle, @wearejayem. Direct messages can also be sent to the brothers on these platforms.
