KNYSNA NEWS - As the Sinethemba youth development centre turned 16 this year they also managed to overcome what has been one of their biggest challenges – to raise enough funds to purchase a vehicle.
The development centre is an NGO dedicated to keeping children off the streets, encourage self-sufficiency and to give them hope for the future. They have had various fundraising efforts over the years, and they finally got it right.
The organisation has been using an old bakkie to transport children and for the running of the centre, but it eventually broke down and the repairs cost was more than the value of the bakkie.
Sinethemba director Michael Smith said it has been a blissful week with their new Nissan combi. "This is an answered prayer. We are obviously excited – we've been praying, hoping for and working towards getting a vehicle that suits our needs and caters for the children, so this is really something special."
Smith, who ended up transporting the children with his own car back and forth after the bakkie broke down, said now that they have the vehicle the next challenge is to reach out to more children and impact more youth, adding, "Which means organising programmes where there are issues with children, and we're good for it."
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
