Turning tragedy into opportunity to help others
AFTER giving 22 years service to the SAPS, Jennifer Chetty set up Sinika Uthando, a registered NGO based in the grass roots of the Chatsworth community, in 2003, to assist government and community structures already in place to create a space for healing and restoration for broken individuals and families.
Chetty and her team are committed to confronting the injustices of the past by finding ways to address the inequalities of the present. The outreach is involved in drug rehabilitation programmes, and fights against poverty, domestic violence and abuse.
Through their victim/survivor empowerment programme they attempt to address the massive unemployment rate of people between the ages of 18 and 30. They provide job readiness programmes, life skills and accredited training, partnering with business and other service providers to help many find work. Audited 2017 statistics speak for themselves: number of jobs created 871; job readiness and personal mastery graduates 1 245; counselling appointments 1 056; learnerships and internships 83.
But what made Chetty decide to channel her talents outside the police force?
It took a tragic disaster, which will live on in the memories of the Chatsworth community – when 13 teenagers died and more than 100 were injured in a teargas attack on a nightclub on March 24, 2000.
“I was one of the first officers at the Throb disaster, where young children lost their lives with no one to protect them,” explains Chetty. “This devastating incident changed my life forever.”
Add to this other crime scenes involving fathers taking their children’s lives instead of protecting them, and Chetty began to realise that “there was a greater need to serve outside the
Chetty is a firm believer in Albert Einstein’s comment: “It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out.”
Believing that the social ills which stalk our communities were already evident in 2003, she felt the need to create a centre that would become a “powerhouse of hope to others”.
“Setting up an NGO was just the natural thing to do. God was graceful in the setting up and everything fell into place. Before we knew it, Sinika was operational and relevant. It has created an opportunity and a platform to continue my work, but to a greater extent,” she said.
Asked for insight into her life while growing up, she said that her mother “was and is my rock, she continues to amaze me with her kind and giving heart”.
While they did not agree with all her choices in life, her parents were unstinting in their support.
“My dad was not impressed when I decided to join the SAPS in 1986. He was more comfortable in me securing a safer career, but was my greatest supporter.
“Emboldened by their overwhelming support, I drew strength even when times got tough.”
While Chetty had not been the perfect pupil in school, she never gave her teachers a hard time. “I was responsible and irresponsible at the same time.”
Her days in police college were the worst of her life, she said.
“Training was a hard and difficult road, but one I travelled. My memory of carrying an R5 rifle all day during lectures and training cannot be easily forgotten. However, I’ve embraced all those memories and surmise that it has taught me about my own strength and much about discipline.”
She feels Sinika’s greatest achievement is that it has become an accredited training provider for the Sector Education Training Authority – validating the fact that it exceeds the minimum standards of quality. Instead of just providing support services to the community, it provides recognised skills to unemployed youth.
“This process has enabled us to contribute positively in fighting unemployment at no cost to our candidates,” she says proudly.
If given the opportunity to start her life again, Chetty says she would not change any of her choices or experiences. “It has become the stock of who I am. My experiences, both good and bad, have shaped me and prepared me for today. I loved every opportunity to serve my country through the SAPS, and strongly believe that being a police officer and a community activist is quite intertwined and should be seen as serving with the same purpose, just with different caps.”