With the 2016 Local Government elections approaching, Cllr Doris Nayler is actively concluding projects which she started during her term as Eden DM Speaker. A typical example of this is the “House 2 Home” Project which came into existence in 2013. The project was initiated and managed by the Speaker’s Office, aiming to make a difference in the lives of people in need, irrespective of age, race or colour.
Over the past few years, Eden District Municipality (Eden DM) through this project, helped residents from the region that have lost their possessions, with household items, such as blankets, mattresses, crockery and cutlery. “We started to help people who have lost their belongings in fires, which are a common phenomenon in our region, especially during the winter months, but soon we realised that there is a much greater need out there,” said Cllr Nayler.
To address this greater and changing need, the focus of the project constantly changed, to women and children, providing needed essentials and to alleviate poverty, especially in our informal settlements. The driving force behind the project remains the same, “to make a difference where it’s really needed”.
During the past week, Speaker Nayler, accompanied by the Deputy Executive Mayor of Eden DM, Cllr Lionel Esau, handed blankets, stoves and baby necessities to the Manager of the Sedgefield Clinic. Sister Combrink was very grateful towards Eden DM for the generous donation and assured them that the clinic will distribute it to people in need.
Thereafter, the Eden delegation visited the Phambili Centre, a shelter for battered women and their children in Rosemoor, where they also handed blankets and baby necessities to the Social Worker and Manager of the facility. Their last stop was the Child and Youth Care Centre at Bethesda in Rosemoor, where Eden DM, through the “House 2 Home” Project, donated blankets, cutlery and crockery to the centre.
In closing, Cllr Nayler said: ”This project has made me realise once again how big the need is out there. Throughout these handovers, many tears flow when you see the people’s responses to things that we take for granted every day. I want to make a plea to people in our communities to assist where possible. The smallest thing makes a big difference in another person’s life. Let’s stand together to build humanity”.
