There is nothing quite like a cup of hot soup on a cold winter’s morning to chase the chill away.
Learners at Constantia Primary School received exactly that last week when members of the Diep River Community Policing Forum and officers from Diep River Police Station paid them a visit.
A few weeks ago, the Diep River CPF Exco sent out a call for any donations of vegetables and loaves of bread to go towards a Soup Day with Constantia primary. The event, which was planned in celebration of Youth Day, was held on Wednesday 15 June.
Diep River CPF chair Fiona Schwimmbacher says local security providers Zone Security, SRU Security and SRT quickly got on board. As did a local business, Uncanni, which donated the bread.
“They have all donated, whether it be bread or a pot of soup or a monetary donation,” says Schwimmbacher.
She says outreach events like these form part of the CPF’s mandate.
“It is part of our programme that we have to follow with the Department of Community Safety. Police officers go to schools and give talks on safety and security, human trafficking, drugs, you name it. On our side, we are involved with outreach.”
Const Zak Marais, spokesperson for Diep River police, says they have a lovely working relationship with Constantia primary.
“We do projects with the schools in terms of awareness campaigns but for Youth Day we wanted to do something different, hence the Soup Day,” says Marais.
Located at the junction of Spaanschemat River Road and Ladies Mile Extension, Constantia primary is tasked with educating about 510 learners.
Most of the children who attend the school come from impoverished households.
Alastair Adams, principal at Constantia primary, says they do feed their learners on a daily basis and that whatever supplements the feeding is welcome
“The learners look forward to it. You can see the appreciation on their faces. A huge thank you to the community who goes out and do everything they can to provide. As you know, a hungry child cannot work. Youth Day is all about the kids. They will be our future and the future leaders. A job well done to everyone who organised it.”
Adams says events like these are also instrumental in building trust.
“They are going through lots of things in their lives that they are scared for. They know, with lots of interaction with the police forum and the community, that we need to speak out and that there are people who you can trust, who will listen to you. Whether it is bullying, whether it is abuse, they need to speak out because without that we won’t know,” said Adams.
