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MOTHER ALIDA AND HER VOLUNTEERS
Article:
Supt Erica Holtzhausen
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Passion and dedication, bringing light where there was only darkness. That is what the Child Protection and Treatment Centre in Mogale City is about. Alida Wohlberg, the founder and managing director, devotes herself to helping children to get back onto their feet again. |
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| After identifying the need
for a temporary place of safety, Alida started this organization
three years ago. SAPS officials and social workers often spend
important hours, which could have been spent on the investigation,
trying to find a safe place for the child first. This is where Alida intervenes. She opened an immediate place of safety where children receive trauma debriefing in the vital 48 hours after being removed from their families/ situation. The centre always works in cooperation with the SAPS and a social worker appointed to the case, to ensure that they assist them in the best possible way and to the benefit of the child. The centre has a tranquil atmosphere where the child is provided with healthy food, counseling, reading and playing activities. Thanks to Alida and Tembi, all the differences between a house and a home quickly become apparent. In this real home there is warmth, loving smiles, soft eyes, food which has been prepared with care and people who share in the children’s joy, tears and fears. The children are prepared for court. The children stay at the centre for a period of six weeks or sometimes longer, depending on the finalization of court proceedings. |
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The SAPS and other roleplayers |
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| The centre has a multi-disciplinary approach and
networks with schools, the Department of Social
Services, the Department of Justice, the SAPS, and
other relevant organizations to address issues
including secondary abuse to traumatized children.
Alida also serves on the Gauteng Plan of Action
Steering Committee under the Department of Social
Development.
Child abuse is on the increase and there are not enough places of safety. The increasing number of child-headed households (as a result of the HIV pandemic) is a great cause for concern. The centre is currently also trying to assist the Department of Social Services in obtaining foster homes for some of the children. There are already three established foster homes in Dobsonville and a few in Krugersdorp and RoodepoortIn the three years of its existence the centre has helped well over 300 children. The centre can cater for twelve children at a time, but they would like to expand. They will appreciate assistance to extend the kitchen area and to build a cupboard for the boys’ room. They are also busy with negotiations to start centres in the Western Cape and KZN. The ideal would be to have the centres linked to all the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units in South Africa.
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Mrs Alida Wohlberg of
the Child Protection and Treatment Centre Capt P Nothnagel is the
Media Manager |
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