Care packs for rape victims

IF YOU’RE looking for a worthwhile way to spend your 67 minutes for Mandela Day, Rape Crisis will be hosting an event that could certainly use the help.

On July 15, Rape Crisis Mandela Day will take place to help rape survivors, and the organisation is hoping to pack 1 300 bags for women, men, girls and boys.

The event will take place from 10am to 3pm at Rosebank Methodist Church Hall and will include a rape survivor telling her story along with Rape Crisis director Kathleen Dey.

There will also be a crafting space where attendees can make cards while others knit or crochet small hearts to add to a care pack.

“Going through the forensic process can be traumatic, victims are anxious to be clean, so having a shower with some toiletries and brushing your teeth make a huge difference,” Dey said.

“It gives them a start on the long journey to feel normal again.”

Dey explained the care packs are not issued by hospitals, and have been made by particular people. They are meant as a comfort to rape survivors at forensic units.

“For the people who come to help out, they think it will be heavy going. but after they arrive they will get to see that it is more a festival vibe, and it is something for people to get involved in,” Dey said.

“There is the joy on the one hand and the sense of doing something that will have a deep meaning for someone at a time of suffering.

“You can make a powerful impact simply from spending a relatively short time helping out.”

Tickets to the event will be sold at the door for R67 each. If people are unable to attend, but want to sponsor a care pack instead, they can visit the Rape Crisis website for more information on how to do so.

IT GIVES THEM A START ON THE LONG JOURNEY TO FEEL NORMAL AGAIN