St. John's Anglican Church Centre of Concern.
Social Outreach and Development Program

 As a parish in Walmer, we have been confronted with the plight of God's people in Walmer Township , living a street away from one of the oldest and most developed areas in PE.

The poverty, squalor and degradation which lead to crime, abuse, violence and unemployment have touched the hearts of the community of St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Walmer.

The Centre of Concern was started mainly to assist schools with school feeding projects to help address the hunger, high absenteeism of schoolchildren, but soon found that much more needed to be done to address the social ills in the surrounding areas.

Over the years our social outreach into the surrounding areas has increased tremendously in terms of projects as well as in terms of the areas we serve. We now also have an outreach into the Zwartkops area.

 The focus of our work has also taken a new positive turn and we are constantly striving for the empowerment and equipping of people in the disadvantaged communities. Women and children form the greater part of the community that benefit from our programmes, because we believe that they are the most vulnerable in the above communities and that in empowering and equipping them with education, skills and support we could help to turn around the moral decay in the our communities and country.

Our work in the above areas and with the people rests on four pillars e.g. compassion, restoring of dignity, generosity and sharing .

We strive to show compassion to those in need by identifying with them in their need and lending a hand in order to help them putting their lives back together.

Restoring of the dignity of people, particularly women and children are very close to our hearts and form the basis of everything that we do. Our intention is never to hold people dependent on us, rather to equip and empower people to take their rightful place not only in their families but also in their communities and our country.

Generosity and Sharing flows from our desire to share whatever we have been blessed with by the Lord, our time, gifts, talents and skills with the people we encounter through our ministries into the communities around us.

Over the last 5 years, we have experienced many changes, restructuring, new ministries, great excitement and challenges.

Many people's lives were touched, many have crossed our path, many have been enriched and many have seen Christ working in and through the lives and service of others. We have seen God work in wonderful and exciting ways through people and God has brought us so many people to whom we could minister and with whom we could share His love and mercy. Through this ministry, we as a church have been blessed tremendously. Our faith in Jesus Christ has grown and His ability to open doors for ministry and provide whatever is necessary was reaffirmed.

Our work over the years has mainly been supported by individuals who support our outreach into the communities of Walmer Township , Kwazakhele and Zwide. The extent of our work has grown extensively over the last months and the needs of the communities that we support, develop and train have grown beyond our own dreams.

Centre of Concern Members at St. John's

What are we doing?

1. Food parcels:

We are currently packing 170 food parcels monthly. These parcels are distributed to pensioners, the unemployed and HIV/AIDS sufferers who are members of our support groups e.g the Blind People's Foundation. The average amount spent on each parcel is now around R50. Our aim for 2008 is to increase the spending on these parcels to between R60-R70 per parcel. We also have bigger food parcels that amounts to about R250 which are distributed to our AIDS orphans and members of our Ruth Project, which is our group of elderly folk.

2. Second hand clothing, books and toys :

All second hand clothing, bedding, etc are carefully sorted and packed to distribute to those in need. Many times we have to assist families who have lost their belongings through fire and floods. Baby packs are still being distributed to hospitals in our area for newborns. Rape packs are packed to distribute to hospitals where care is given to children who go through the trauma of rape, by those who still believe the myth that sex with a virgin will cure them from the AIDS virus. Blankets and jerseys are collected in autumn to distribute at the beginning of winter to school-going children and vulnerable people, like the aged, HIV/AIDS sufferers.

3. Feeding Schemes :

Seven schools in an around the Walmer, Kwazakhele, new Brighton and Zwide areas are part of our Feeding Projects. Four are Primary schools, two are Pre-Primary Schools and one is a High School. About 1200 children benefit from this project and they are given one cooked meal a day. For many this is the only meal they will receive for the day.

This project has contributed to a significant drop in absenteeism, as well as ensuring that effective learning and teaching can take place in these schools that are all situated in areas stricken by extreme poverty and degradation.

 4. Feeding at 8 th Avenue Clinic

In this project soup and bread are provided to 110 TB patients as well as to +-100 other patients on a daily basis. Since many are disadvantaged this is in many cases their only meal on a day. This project assists the process of healing in TB patients since many are poor and the tablets have to be taken in conjunction with a meal. We also provide meals for the patients of the Gqebera Hospice.

Baby packs are still being distributed to hospitals in our area for newborns. Rape packs are packed to distribute to hospitals where care is given to children who go through the trauma of rape, by those who still believe the myth that sex with a virgin will cure them from the AIDS virus.

Blankets and jerseys are collected in autumn to distribute at the beginning of winter to school-going children and vulnerable people, like the aged, HIV/AIDS sufferers.

5. Recycling :

An awareness of our environment and the preservation of it is emphasised in the work of the Centre of Concern. We encourage our parishioners to recycle bottles, brown cardboard boxes, clear plastic bottles, cans, egg boxes, toilet roll holders, polystyrine containers, glass jars and plastic pill canisters and an area on the church property has been allocated for this purpose. The glass project has over the last year been handed over to three members of our HIV/AIDS support group and is still in the process of developing. This project has assisted in these three members being able to have some income.

6. Khanyisa Support Group

HIV/AIDS is spoken at St. John's .

We currently have a support group of about ten regular members. This group meets on a Monday and Tuesday morning. On Tuesdays the time is spent teaching much needed sewing, weaving, carpet-making and other skills to the group. It also provides a place where members can share their fears, concerns and joys as well as a place where both members and families are encouraged and supported.

Much help is needed to provide a sustainable project that will empower members to take charge of their lives as well as to be able to put food on the table and to provide for their families.

Breaking the stigma around the illness and providing support for those infected and affected are our main focuses.

7 . The Haven of Hope :

We currently have 11 children from the ages 16 months to 13 years old in the House in Walmer Township in Mkwabe Street . St. John's provide all the food and clothing for the children in the Haven on a two weekly basis and are also responsible to pay for all school fees, school uniforms and other needs of the children. St. John's provide after-care classes for the children of the Haven, where they receive instruction in English, Mathematics and Music. The eleven children are currently in schools in and around the Walmer area and their school fees and extra tuition are all paid for by our Centre of Concern.

8. AIDS Orphans

We currently have 6 AIDS orphans being cared for by the church. Four of them attend high schools in the area of Walmer, while one attends Technical College and one a Primary school in New Brighton .

St. John's pay their school fees, school uniforms and provide a monthly food parcel to the amount of R250 to the families that care for them. The amount of R5000,00 is needed yearly to care for each one of them.

9. Training and Development:

The aim in this project is to empower the women with a skill to enable them to eventually start their own business in order to provide for their families. This is based on scripture given to us from Exodus 35:31-35. We have made good progress. The members of the group have made great strides in mastering the skills that they are taught. Through marketing some of their finished articles we have been able to share the income from the sales just before the end of every year. Many of theses ladies are working on their own at home on the sewing machines we donated to them.

10. The Ruth Project:

This project currently cares for 10 elderly folk who are housebound. Two carers, Nomvuyo and Victoria, employed by the church, daily meet the needs of their 5 clients each. Many elderly folk are left alone at home by their family who have to go to work, or live on their own in squalor and poverty. In a community of extreme poverty this is not unusual, but as a church we have decided this is not usual and we have to start doing something to alleviate the plight of these people.

We have the use of a building located in the township, to which we have just added a much needed ablution block with shower facilities to the building. The cost of this was R24000,00. This building will be used in the future to extend this project in the sense that the elderly would be brought from their homes and cared for in a more hygienic and safe environment.

11. Masiphakame Foundation for the Blind:

In March 2007 we have started to minister to a group of partially sighted and blind persons. The group of consists of 13 people and they meet at the Parish centre every Monday. We have had a workshop where they were taught to make articles from waste materials. The group is eager to learn skills and to find other ways of using their energy.

12. St. Augustine's Play and Learn Centre in Gqebera, Walmer Township :

The Play and Learn Centre was built in 2006 through funds made available by the Savage trust and officially opened in February 2007 by Bishop Bethlehem, the Diocesan Bishop and is home to 97 learners and 2 teachers. The teachers are assisted by a cook, a baby minder and volunteer help from St. John's . The crèche caters for children from low income families and a minimal fee of R50 is charged per month. All the food, the training of the teachers and equipment needed for the day to day running of the crèche are sponsored by the Centre of Concern.