The Lower Albany Woodworkers Guild (LAWG) are doing their bit to help shape the future of underprivileged youth in Ekuphumleni by donating handmade wooden toy items to Kenton-on Sea’s Child Welfare Office.
LAWG members gathered at the Masonic Hall in Port Alfred on Tuesday to hand over an assortment of toys among them wooden cars, carts, miniature tractors and doll cradles to social worker Nomaxabiso Sojola and her assistant, Gladys Hani.
“This is the only place that offers toys for the children … we say thank you to the woodworkers guild and appreciate it because the children love the toys, said Hani.
“We are looking after 76 children in Ekuphumleni from very underprivileged homes and their parents are unemployed. These youth come to us after school and we provide them with meals. Our trained counsellors and nurses also do educational talks to warn them about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. We also speak to girls about risks of teenage pregnancies,” she added.
Hani says while appreciative of the LAWG outreach, they are still in desperate need of assistance.
“We are also taking in second-hand clothing, and food. We would like to perhaps invite people with the necessary skills to come forward to volunteer to teach the children skills such as woodwork, sewing and sporting activities.”
LAWG outgoing chair, Rob Moss, says though they did not donate as many toys compared to last year, he was very pleased with what had been produced by members.
“Some of the members probably didn’t have time … this is a labour of love which takes time especially the painting side,” said Moss. We encourage members from the beginning of the year to produce items … I am very happy with what has been produced for child welfare.
“We have a cross-section of items and we also have an idea of what the child welfare social workers want, so in future we can aim for that, to have a good balance of toys for boys and girls.
He says they are encouraging younger members to join the guild.
“At the moment we are 19-member strong members; they belong to the club because they enjoy what they do and most of them are retired. They are though mostly older persons and feel they can’t do as much as they used to.
“We don’t do it as a career – it’s a skill and we are self-taught. We are looking for younger people to come in. However equipment is expensive and they can’t be too young because we work with power tools and the safety aspect is important.”
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 7, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
