NPO brings hope to Dimbaza youth
An Eastern Cape non-profit organisation founded to serve impoverished families is tackling the lack of jobs in Dimbaza and the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV).
Never Give Up has recently employed more than 200 young people who are providing much-needed services to those needing assistance, including abused children and GBV victims waiting for justice.
These workers, who include caregivers and GBV officers, visit households where there are bedridden people or rape and other abuse victims and support them.
Never Give Up founder and rape survivor Babalwa Lobishe said the organisation worked hand-in-hand with the department of health, the police, ward councillors and others.
“We started in 2003, when HIV and Aids were still new and people were dying,” she said.
She said the organisation had grown and now tackled many other issues, including reaching out to rape and GBV victims and other health matters.
Lobese said she was supportive of GBV victims because she understood the pain they had to endure.
She said that when Covid-19 hit SA in 2020 she witnessed an increase in GBV.
During the pandemic, she fetched pills for patients from clinics and delivered them.
In some of the households she assisted, she would find women who had been physically assaulted and she had decided to act.
“I am a rape survivor and I understand how people feel when their rights are violated.
“I have been stigmatised. I know how it feels to have a low self-esteem, but fortunately for me I have had my mother’s support.”
She said her background had been a contributing factor in her standing up for the victims at all times.
“Seeing a vulnerable child drives me to do better. When I see them vulnerable I just want to lend a helping hand.”
She said Never Give Up had managed to get funders on board to help the unemployed people of Dimbaza.
“Our main goal is to ensure that the people from Dimbaza and surrounding areas are getting the help they need.”
Lobese said the employees gave support to people living with HIV and Aids by doing home visits and offering psychosocial support.
Other team members focus on GBV victims by giving them counselling, preparing them for court and educating the community about the scourge, as well as protection orders.
Others are responsible for gardening, to help ensure food security.
“I am happy to see the organisation growing and having a meaningful effect on people,” Lobese said.