Believe and Achieve is a five-year-old non-profit organisation based in Booysen Park, Gqeberha. They have a community kitchen that provides a meal three days a week in Chatty 11, where they feed anywhere between 300 and 500 children.
“After identifying severe poverty in our community, we could not stand by and not do anything, so we started out with feeding both children and adults, but realised that we often would run out of food before all the children were fed, so we then decided to prioritise them instead,” said vice-chairperson, Cowan Johnson.
Believe and Achieve is involved in a number of initiatives that assist the youth, including helping learners with their homework, feeding schemes, mentoring, entrepreneurship courses and now, a father and daughter dance.
“Fathers, and father figures, are important in the lives of young girls, there are so many ills that can be avoided just by fathers having a proper relationship with their daughters,” said Cowan.
He added that this event is also an opportunity for men to stand up and act as father figures to children who are part of homes that are led by single mothers.
“What keeps us motivated to do the work we do is seeing those little faces smiling and eating. They always say thank you when we give them food; they are well-mannered and deserve to have a chance at a bright future too, despite their difficult backgrounds,” said Johnson.
The father-daughter dance event will be held on Saturday, October 28, at the West End Community Centre. Tickets cost R350 per couple (father and daughter), and R150 for an additional child.
For more information and tickets, those interested can contact 074 222 4532 or 061 307 9861.
