A group of University of Johannesburg (UJ) students donated blankets and cooked for the elderly at an old age home on Monday as their way of giving back to the community on International Mandela Day.
Isiphosethu Foundation – a non-profit organisation (NPO) run by students from the university – donated 21 blankets to elderly women at Junes Haven in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Monday.
The students also served breakfast and lunch to the elderly. June's Haven was established in 2010 and looks after the frail and elderly.
The foundation, which was started in December 2020, consists of 18 students who are concerned about skills development, poverty alleviation and the championing of women and children’s rights. The members are between the ages of 19 and 23.
The students use a portion of their government student allowance and donations from family and friends to buy goods they need for the projects they run and for e-hailing services as they go to areas where they are helping out.
Founder and chairperson Bandile Mathebula, 22, said it was a great experience assisting the elderly.
Mathebula said 11 students were at the facility to provide assistance to the senior citizens.
''We decided to relieve the elderly and staff at the old age home of their duties. We were cleaning the place and making the beds of the people at the facility. The ladies were excited and grateful to receive the blankets. They were happy to see new faces around them,’’ said Mathebula.
He said it was important for young people to appreciate old people when they are still alive and acknowledge the role that caregivers play.
''We recognise the care workers at this facility. We want to thank them. They are heroes for the amazing work they are doing. It was a good feeling to see them [elderly and workers] happy. This makes us realise that we as the youth are playing a great role and making a huge contribution in putting a smile on their faces,’’ he said.
Secretary Phindi Mathibela, 22, said the elderly at the facility gave them a warm reception.
''We prepared oats for them and helped the staff to feed them. We cleaned their yard and sat down to speak to them and find out about what they do on a day-to-day basis. They opened up to us and it was such a great atmosphere spending the day with them,’’ said Mathibela.
Owner of Junes Haven Joy Flowers-Borley said the Isiphosethu members were kind and caring towards the elderly.
''The blankets will be helpful for the ladies because it gets cold at night. They will be perfect for them. The volunteers from the foundation made the ladies feel incredibly special and loved. They had a wonderful time,'' said Flowers-Borley.
Meanwhile, the basic education department in partnership with the national reading coalition and national education collaboration trust, will celebrate Mandela month by providing 17,200 mother-tongue storybooks to pupils and parents in efforts to create awareness about reading and expand access to storybooks in the nine indigenous languages in the country.
kokam@arena.africa
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