On 27 July, UP students from various departments, residences, societies, and faculty sub-houses partnered up to renovate the children’s play area at SOS Children’s Village in Mamelodi. The collaboration of these various groups was spearheaded by M-Empowerment Care, a student-led non-profit that hosts several charitable projects a year throughout the City of Tshwane. PDBY caught up with Similo Siyenga, M-Empowerment Care project coordinator and EBIT student, to find out more about the events.
According to Siyenga, M-Empowerment Care has a long-standing relationship with SOS Children’s Village due to prior initiatives between the non-profit and the village. The renovation of the jungle gym was a project that emerged because of the state of the previous jungle gym structure, which had experienced significant wear and tear over the years. As a consequence, it became a hazard to the children who frequently played on it after school and during the school holidays.
For M-Empowerment, the fact that the children had a need for a safe and fun recreational area prompted the non-profit to engage in a collaborative partnership with various UP stakeholders and student bodies to refurbish the play area at SOS Children’s Village. Siyenga explained that “the need was the call to responsive action”, and they responded because the poor state of the jungle gym touched not only M-Empowerment but also the student community at UP, from faculties and departments such as EBIT to societies like Tulip and Pledge a Pad.
Siyenga further highlighted that the renovations and refurbishments to the children’s play area were made possible through the donations of various partners and the efforts of the student volunteers who came to help transform the play area. It is because of these efforts that SOS Children’s Village now has a safe and beautiful recreational play area for the children there. This play area includes a refurbished jungle gym and a netball pole.
Siyenga concluded that they achieved their goal “to see a nice and safe play area for the children [to enjoy], as well as for the children at SOS Children’s Village to feel loved by their community”. Through their act of service, this group of UP students have shown that any meaningful change and transformation should begin within our local communities.
