ONCE you start living for your community and make them the centre of your very existence, it is impossible to walk away when someone needs your help, no matter the circumstances.
This is exactly how Thamsanqa Nkevu from Nelson Mandela Bay feels, especially after witnessing his community, both children and parents, suffer from the effects of drug abuse.
Some of the children in his community are addicted to drugs, yet they are only 12 and 13 years old.
This takes a toll on their parents, leading to unemployment and destroyed marriages.
This was when Nkevu knew that he had to step in and do something.
Nkevu is no stranger when it comes to community service.
Apart from being a reverend, skilled martial artist and former lecturer, Nkevu has gained popularity for his selfless act of helping learners cross the “bridge from hell” in the open field across from Solomon Mahlangu High School, regardless of the weather, thereby ensuring that they weren’t robbed or raped.
This helped him bag the coveted The Herald Citizen of the Year Award, late last year.
Recently, Nkevu started a non-profit organisation called, Save A Child From Drugs, Save A Community. The purpose of the organisation is to offer support first to the parent that has to deal with the child using drugs and getting into all kinds of trouble because of their drug addiction.
Secondly, the organisation aims at helping the child addicted to drugs, by offering counselling sessions to both the parent and child.
“Having discovered what these youth’s drug addictions do to their families, especially the parents, and in most cases single parents who are not empowered, made me realise the amount of stress that these parents have to carry on a daily basis,” Nkevu said.
“What people do not realise is how depressing it is for these parents. I already have a parent who was forced to quit work and her marriage is ending. Some parents have to miss out on work because they have to tend to their children. They come back home from work to discover items and groceries missing from home.
“There is also the issue of their children missing out and dropping out of school,” he explained. He added that these parents have been neglected and there is little done to offer support for them.
“My organisation targets both the child and the parents.
“My training as a pastor involved community development and pastoral care and counselling and I have done most of my community service in rehab centres, during my six years of theological training. The organisation has a WhatsApp group for parents where they offer support to one another by sharing stories and offloading.
“Support also consists of me doing home visits and contact group sessions, which are held on Sundays at 16:00.
“Many of these children do not have role models and people outside their home who can point them in the right direction and help them to make the right choices in life.
“I believe that it is important to regularly visit these homes and conduct these sessions in their homes with them as families.”
He added that the organisation truly sought to address the issue of substance and drug abuse in the community by also addressing the issues of hunger and poverty.
That is why he will be starting a feeding scheme and soup kitchen soon.
“I have noticed how poverty and hunger are playing a role in the abuse of drugs by our youth and children,” Nkevu said.
“As founder of this organisation I have also been taking care of the kids on the street and in my community and ensuring that they eat.
“Some of our children, who start (taking) drugs early, do so due to the socio-economic conditions at home and to escape hunger and poverty,” Nkevu said.
“It’s the crime that hurts me the most.
“The number of children that we are losing to mob justice because of the drugs that we have allowed to be made available in our community – Save A Child From Drugs, Save A Community wants to save these kids from a life of crime and mob justice.
“I am currently in the process of converting my house into a drug information and counselling centre for the organisation, because it has had a positive impact on the lives of these children and parents so far. I am available 24 hours to anyone who needs my help.”
Anyone in need of help with drug addiction, can call or send a WhatsApp message to Nkevu on 078 517 9817.
