Cape Town - Hanover Park is a township on the Cape Flats which has become synonymous with crime, gangsterism and drug abuse.
Residents are aware that every time they venture into the streets they are taking their lives into their hands.
However there are some groups and individuals who are making it their life’s work to change things.
One such group is the Ceasefire Cure Violence project which is based on a violence-prevention model developed in the US by the NGO Cure Violence.
The Hanover Park programme operates out of the First Community Resource Centre, a non-profit organisation founded by Pastor Craven Engel.
Engel said the organisation took a holistic approach when helping communities, especially young people.
“Our aim is to reduce high-risk crime activities relating to shootings, killings and stabbings in communities in the Hanover Park area.
“We do this by recruiting high-risk individuals in the community to become participants of our outreach programme. Once recruited, these individuals are offered behaviour modification programmes, life skills programmes and job readiness programmes in a bid to help them exit the gangs or even avoid them altogether.”
One of the programme directors at Ceasefire is Engel’s son, Urshwin, 27.
“I grew up in Athlone, in a place called Kewtown. Kewtown is known as the place where gangsterism started. My life was one of privilege relative to other kids in the area.
“Growing up, gangsterism was the norm for me. My best friend in primary school was from the family of one of the biggest gang bosses in the area and so I got to see things the ordinary people in the community would not have seen.
“When I reached high school age, my parents sent me to a school away from the neighbourhood to get me away from the influences of gangsterism and drugs that were taking over other youth in the area.”
After finishing his studies Urshwin joined Ceasefire, where he works with youth at risk.
“We do gang interventions and conflict mediations. Because of everything I’d seen in my own life growing up, I know the dangers that we are trying to steer the young people of Hanover Park away from.
“Preventing something is better than curing it, and what we do at CeaseFire is prevention. This has driven me to work with schools to stop young kids from quitting school to join gangs.
“I also do some work for Ceasefire’s parent organisation, the First Community Resource Centre. There I am director of the Camp Joy programme which is about restoring dignity to people. It is an in-house six-week programme for youth at risk and people struggling with substance abuse.”
* For more information about the Ceasefire Cure Violence programme, contact Craven Engel on 074 601 9867.
The Cape Argus Starfish project aims to help encourage young people to steer away from crime. The project offers a platform for individuals and organisations to tell our readers what they do to empower the youth, and to share their knowledge. Email us at [email protected]