WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-18 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
Abused and neglected children in Khayelitsha have secured a new source of protection, guidance and support with the newly opened Nonceba Family Counselling Centre in the area.
In Khayelitsha, statistically one in three children, whether boys or girls, will be sexually abused before they reach age 18, according to the centre’s project leader, Nocawe Mankayi.
Nonceba, the Xhosa word for “sympathy”, has counselled clients as young as four years old for the past 10 years that it has operated from two tiny rooms and a bleak reception area.
But Mankayi predicts that with their new premises they will be able to “accommodate all of Khayelitsha”.
| ‘Women come to us crying, with scars from being beaten by their husbands’ |
While the area has seen an increase in child abuse statistics, Nonceba is training volunteers, counselling survivors and spreading awareness about child abuse.
The move places Nonceba in a more central location next to the new multi-purpose centre, making it far more accessible to the community.
With the new space, Nonceba would be in a position to beef up its services significantly, including adding a safe house for abused children, a women’s shelter, increased counselling space and the ability to provide training and workshops for the Khayelitsha community, all key elements in halting abuse.
“Women come to us crying, with scars from being beaten by their husbands. At least we will now be able to keep these woman for one, two or three months while we are trying to help sort out their problems,” Mankayi said.
The centre’s old reception area was very small and often played host to a line of grim-faced mothers and timid children trailing outside the door, but has now more than doubled in size.
| ‘Mankayi was a respected figure in Khayelitsha’ |
Now the waiting room is light and bright, boasting tiled floors, a pale blue wall and has access for the disabled.
“From one tiny place to a centre like this, it’s like a dream come true,” Mankayi said, standing in the new boardroom which overlooks the large central hall.
While the opening of the new facility marks an encouraging development in the fight against child abuse, Mankayi has been intimidated and threatened as a result of her unyielding activism. But the plucky social worker refuses to give up.
“Well if I’m killed, I’m killed,” she said bluntly.
The 55-year-old mother of four said she had no intention of slowing down.
“Maybe when I’m 60 I’ll get tired,” Mankayi said, adding that “you must have a passion” to do the work. “It is in my genes.”
Mankayi has now set her sights on raising funds for a Nonceba vehicle to assist clients with transport to court, to visit abused children in hospital and to visit clients in their homes.
Nonceba trustee Hazel Black said Mankayi was a respected figure in Khayelitsha.
“If she goes into the community, they listen. If she calls the police, they come. She has a stature within the community.”
Black said strong community input and support, combined with professional and strategic guidance, had contributed to the success of the Nonceba Centre.
“You can’t stop child rape without uplifting the community,” she said. “It had to be a community-driven project from the beginning.
“The community itself realised that no child should ever be abused.”
A grand opening celebration in conjunction with the centre’s 10-year anniversary festivities is expected later in the year.
Black, however, stressed that there was still much work to be done. “The day that there aren’t any children who have been raped sitting on the front step will be the day for celebration.”