Women leaders from Overcome Heights informal settlement are passing on their knowledge to the younger generation in a pilot project aimed at training women from the informal settlement on how to manage and deal with fires, flooding, plumbing and general services.
Karen Mentoor, a community leader in the area for 17 years, is the go-to person when a crisis unfolds.
“I have been working and volunteering in the community every day, sorting out complaints, working with City officials and councillors to get services to Overcome Heights.”
The women leaders in Overcome Heights are empowering unemployed women by providing training.
“I’ve been a community leader for 17 years. We decided that we are over the age of 50 now, people are still so dependable on us and we are always so busy that we never have time for ourselves and our family.
“We decided that we will be training 35 women in the community. We will teach them everything we know and how we operate.”
The project that started five months ago is aimed at training leaders from different areas in Overcome Heights on how to handle emergencies such as flooding or a fire.
“Overcome Heights is one of the biggest informal settlements in the area. If someone is killed or dying or there are fires and flooding people come to us.
“We need to get the younger generation involved and for them to also take ownership of what they are doing. Because Overcome Heights is so big, we decided to take one person from each block.”
She added that the women volunteers are all unemployed and living in the community.
“This is one of the first pilot projects that we are busy with. We train them for when there is flooding and a fire, what to do and who to call. We asked the ward councillor and disaster risk management to assist in giving plumbing, electrical and fire training.
“We asked the women if they wanted to volunteer and be developed and to empower themselves. If there is an emergency in Overcome Heights, they must be the first on hand. If the taps are leaking, they should fix the taps. We as women doing something for ourselves, we spoke to people and the ward councillor.”
She added that being a community leader was not for fame or fortune.
“We are doing this out of our hearts.”
A resident of Overcome Heights said the women leaders are seen as heroes in the community.
“These women are seen as heroes in the community and we feel they must be recognised for all the work they are doing.”
