MUT collaborates with a local NPO to provide solutions to fatherless Boys

While the country is shocked by the resurgence of teenage pregnancy, the University’s Community Engagement and Development (CEAD) directorate has gone a step further in trying to give solutions to the social ills that are engulfing the society. The directorate has partnered with an Umlazi Township NPO (non- profit organisation) to provide a much-needed help to the young boy children who are fatherless. CEAD’s Dr Bonginkosi Zondi said they have joined hands with Sivusisizwe B2M Africa to help young adolescent fatherless boys with a variety of life skills that will likely empower them, so they do not become part of the bad statistics in future. The project is called Sivusisizwe Africa Initiative and registered with CEAD. Sivusisizwe Africa Initiative focuses on the plight of Fatherless Adolescent Boys and Young Men (ABYM) who are13 years – 24 years as well as single mothers raising boys without their biological fathers.

The aim of this project is to build better, productive, and purposeful young men
for tomorrow instead of “repairing” broken men. This will be achieved by providing values-based experience, where peers can have a shared learning environment, build trust, and create a safe space for their emotional wounds to heal. Several service providers contributed to making these aims a reality. SANCA gave the boys a lesson on drug abuse, while the South African Police Service (SAPS) talked to the boys about the dangers of abusing alcohol. Members of the SAPS advised the boys to tell their families that it was not right to send children to places that sell alcohol. By law, children are not allowed buy alcohol.