“When I got here, I was extremely depressed because of the physical and verbal abuse I experienced from my previous relationship but by being at Bloem Shelter, I was given a chance at life through access to education,” shared resident and activist Funeka Sokhela.
Sokhela and many others who walk through the doors of the shelter, found themselves in vulnerable positions after abuse and various other circumstances that lead them to the gates of the shelter. Bloem Shelter’s manager, Heidi Morgan, said through their four-phase system, the shelter aims to take those who walk through their doors through a transformative journey.
“The idea is to have a phased system to upskill the women. Phase one involves helping them feel safe and creating a safe haven for them. Then we start looking into phase two, which we call ‘dreaming of hope’. Here we look into what they would like to achieve, which moves us into phase three – implementing their dream. If their dream is to go to school, we help them register and so on. Phase four would then be the exit plan, which essentially we make sure they leave equipped with the necessary skills to make a life for themselves. This has proven to be successful for many,” said Morgan.
As the 16 Days of Activism campaign is in the spotlight now, the shelter shares what they do throughout the year for women and children who have faced abuse.
“We are a safe haven, so we want to fundamentally improve women’s value systems. I may not have faced physical abuse, but I experienced emotional abuse and it breaks down your value system. So based on my personal experience, we strive to [return to] women their [sense of] value, taking one back to who you were before the abuse, and building on that,” shared another resident.
The shelter not only focuses solely on making it a safe haven for women, but for their children as well. “We try to ensure that children also have fun activities. We take them to museums, so they don’t feel like this is a ‘shelter’. We also have a playground that is built with child developmental purposes in mind,” says Morgan.
A volunteer at the shelter, Promise Meyers, said being a part of the shelter and the various projects they have has been the best decision she has made. “Helping others has helped me grow as a psychology student, as well as personally.” The shelter is always in need of funding, so the residents have become creative and started running some projects to raise funds. “We are always trying to bring in money with initiatives such as the cookie project, our pop-up thrift shop, the pancake project, and the laundry project – to name a few.
We also run these projects in efforts to upskill our residents,” says Morgan.
To find out more about the various projects and how you can show support, visit their Facebook page at Bloem Shelter, or alternatively contact infobloemshelter@ gmail.com/ 079-394-0142.
Bonolo Moloi
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