Neighbourhood watch opens new horizons for residents
THREE crime-fighting women from the New Horizons community, just outside Grassy Park, took up paint rollers as their instrument of change, when they embarked on “Operation Elderly Care” at the weekend.
Saadiqah Ganief, Renash Blaauw, and Eustacia Yon, from the New Horizons Neighbourhood Watch, spent three hours sprucing up the home of an elderly resident, as they embarked on their month of September theme, in a bid to continue showing care to their community.
Ganief, treasurer of the neighbourhood watch, said they had leftover paint from a recent project, when they had “untagged” marked walls in the Parkwood community, by painting over it.
“We had paint left over which we received from the City for our Mandela Day project. So, in line with our monthly drives that we have, we decided that September would be Operation Elderly Care. When people had moved into the Breaking New Ground (BNG) homes, their homes were raw and had to be painted by themselves,” said Ganief.
Ganief said the neighbourhood watch then started identifying elderly residents in the community, who could benefit from their initiative. The first person identified was Jean Lamb, 61, who had recently recovered from a stroke and shares her two bedroom home with her four children, and two grandchildren.
“Our beneficiary has lived in the community for eight years, since New Horizons came into existence. One of our neighbourhood watch members then spoke to her about wanting to do this for her home, and she was delighted and said yes right away. She was very excited.
“While we were busy painting, Lamb was there and looked on while we painted her room. You could just see the gratitude on her face. She was full of smiles and said she was very happy,” said Ganief.
The three women said they intend continuing the initiative, for pensioners who cannot afford or are not able to have their homes painted.
“This project definitely boosts the morale of the neighbourhood watch, but it just goes back to our motto: to serve and uplift. We do not just stop at the safety aspect of things. We want to show our community that we care about them, especially our elderly. This is work that is close to our hearts, and shows our members' compassion and being neighbourly,” said Ganief.