Around 25 residents from Overcome Heights received training to volunteer as “block leaders” to deal with daily emergencies in society.
The volunteers, who are mothers, fathers and some matriculants, took part in different workshops in the last six months. The workshops included how to respond to emergencies such as when a tap or cables are stolen or when a fire breaks out.
Thandiwe Herbs, a resident and volunteer who moved to Overcome Heights in 2020, says she decided to volunteer after failing to get a job.
“I came from college and didn’t find a job. I came to volunteer as a block leader and it was a good experience because I learned a lot.
“My experience has been good because I have learned skills such as how to work with people and how to operate around different cultures.”
Karen Mentoor, a community leader who assisted in training and guiding the block leaders, said they had been instrumental in assisting the City.
“Because Overcome Heights is so big we have 25 block leaders.
“Since they started working with the committee, they have assisted in doing a survey, which the council could never finish.
“The City could never estimate how many shacks are over here and for example how many taps. The block leaders assisted in gathering this information.”
Mentoor added that volunteers learned valuable skills that could assist them to work.
“I just want to congratulate these block leaders. I feel that they have done so much and worked so hard even when it is a rainy day.
“They go out and listen to complaints such as when the people’s cables are stolen or electricity is off. Before the block leaders, we only had a committee of three people but now we have all these hands to help.”
According to Mentoor, Overcome Heights has around 2 780 shacks, with an estimated 40 000 residents with either four or eight per shack.
Gracia Fortuin, a resident of Overcome Heights for 11 years, said being a block leader had its daily challenges.
“As a leader, there are challenges and it is not easy. We deal with different types of people and cultures with different types of problems. We will find people who would be fussy and then others who work with us and want to do everything on their own.
“For example, if someone’s cables are stolen, it’s our job to go out and assess the matter and if we can resolve the matter ourselves we do that as a group, and if not we will report back to the committee that will then speak to the City or whichever department.”
Their duties as block leaders include monitoring learners to ensure they remain in school.
“We monitor the children; who is in school and who is not. We will find out where the child lives and why he or she is not in school.
“We also assist with emergencies such as fires because we are prone to fires in Overcome Heights, especially runaway fires.
“We would go out and assist the fire victims, find out who was affected and take down their details and then the committee would get the necessary NGOs here to assist the people affected.”
Theo Gilton, a resident and block leader, says he was grateful for all the skills he has learned in the past six months.
“I have learned how to work with different people. Sometimes you get rude people that maybe don’t understand you.
“I want to thank the committee leaders for giving us the job and for teaching us. Thank you for the opportunity. We have learned a lot. We’ve been to workshops and we learned different things, such as how to reset an electric box.”
