Human Rights Office, Projects and Progress

Sobambisana

Sobambisana, meaning “togetherness”, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and developing their community. They are situated in Crossroads, which is one of the poorest areas in the Western Cape. The township has a sprawling informal settlement and is home to around 200,000 Xhosa people. The area is full of unemployment, neglect, poor health conditions, crime and substance abuse creating a desperate need for care, development and education and also a great need for uplifting the spirits of the community.

Sobambisana aim’s to improve the quality of life in the community and rebuild the dignity and worth of the people who live there. They reach out to the most vulnerable of groups, including the children, the disabled and the aged. Focus is on important aspects such as early childhood development, youth development, old age care, family enrichment, and training and education.

Sobambisana have a number of projects including educare for pre-school children, special day care for children with disabilities, after school care for learners, programmes for elderly people, parent enrichment training and a volunteer skills based programme.

PAHRO work in partnership with Sobambisana to effect these changes. The wheels have been set in motion in creating a legal clinic within Crossroads, similar to that of Lavender Hill. The legal clinic will be somewhere for the residents of Crossroads to come and seek free legal advice on a number of issues. Volunteers with legal experience are welcome to get involved in this project, both in getting it up and running and with maintaining the clinic within the community.

As well as the legal clinic, we are also working with a group of high school kids, setting up workshops with career planning. These youths find it hard to break away from the ‘social norm’ of drugs, gangs and violence and so showing them another way is so important to their future. These workshops aim to give the youth advice for their future careers and give them options for a bright future. These kids are bright, motivated and ambitious. Volunteers will find working with them a thoroughly rewarding experience.