Victim support and crime prevention
Ross Muir, our volunteer support coordinator, shares his experience of interning at victim support with the South African Police Service and how volunteering with at-risk communities can help prevent criminal activities from taking place.
Ross started interning at the Walmer Police Department in June 2022. His motivation was to assist his local community as he had witnessed the effects that crime can have on one’s psyche, known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD affects family dynamics as well as forming relationships and maintaining relationships. However, with short term trauma counselling, otherwise known as debriefing, the client has the potential to overcome the traumatic event and thus not develop PTSD symptoms.
What I have learned
While working within the South African Police Service, I became aware of the nature vs nurture debate and how it applies to criminal activities. This debate emphasises how someone who is brought up in an environment that does not promote growth and/or economic opportunity can be led to unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms. The environment you are brought up in tends to change your world perception both in regard to oneself and others. This is apparent in South Africa, as South Africa is a country that has a traumatic past, specifically, in regard to Apartheid and the long-lasting effects it has imprinted on generations. Apartheid is well known for the racial divide that was enforced and the unequal distribution of resources. What has resulted from apartheid is the generational impact that these unequal resources have had. While acts of corruption and criminality are contributing factors to the lasting impacts of unequal living conditions amongst different communities, the historic injustices of the past, are still present. This, in part, has resulted in petty crime, such as the theft of copper pipes from the country’s infrastructure, for sale on the black market and, in more serious cases, armed robbery. These acts of criminality have a psychological impact on the victims of these crimes, and on the public as a whole.
While providing support to victims is important, what is more critical and overall, more effective, is the prevention of criminality, through both direct and indirect means. This is why volunteers are of such importance. While not directly contributing to the prevention of criminality, food drives, education initiatives, emotional support are of importance in combating criminality. Good Hope Volunteers provides support to these initiatives both through providing keen and willing volunteers who want to make a difference, and through providing a financial means to allow these projects to carry on assisting previously disadvantaged communities.
Projects which assist at-risk communities
This unique project merges both wildlife conservation activities as well as community initiatives such as weekly reading schemes, food drives for youth, education schemes at schools, and other community-based initiatives to the local residents of Paterson.
This historically disadvantaged but none-the-less vibrant, multi-cultural rural township community in the greater Plettenberg Bay region has been supported by this project since the early-2000's. The community has been particularly hard hit by the impact of Covid as local business operations cut back on their activity levels and general unemployment soared to worrying new heights. From necessity, much needed feeding schemes were set up to help sustain the hard-pressed community through the very uncertain times. And although the worst of times appear to have passed, the community remains in need of valued support on a variety of fronts while it slowly rebuilds.
Flexibility as to the community’s needs and the ambition to really make this world a better place is the quality we look for in our volunteers during times like this.
This project caters for the children in a developing community near Hout Bay. As a volunteer, you spend mornings caring for young children while their parents are at work. Afternoons are spent in an aftercare programme that assists older children with their homework and creative activities once school has finished. Meals are also provided daily for the children.
Volunteers joining this multipurpose facility can assist with education and social welfare programmes as well as outreach work focused on health and economic development. This project is set in Nyanga, a township in Cape Town, where the need is great.
Caring and loving volunteers help the staff at this unique organisation empower vulnerable children. The focus is to provide quality education and developmental programmes so that children reach their full potential and grow to become leaders in their communities.
"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair." (Nelson Mandela)
This project provides both educational assistance and surfing lessons to the children of vulnerable and disadvantaged local communities. Surfing is a sport that teaches participants self-belief, determination and perseverance, and creates a deep sense of belonging.
Set in the heart of Cape Town, this unique urban farming project will allow you to experience sustainable farming, education, and health promotion. The project encourages change in the way the public sees food production and purchasing and also teaches the community where our food really comes from, and how it can benefit and sustain the city and the families that live here.
Yours,
Ross Muir (Volunteer Support Coordinator)
The Good Hope Volunteers Team
To be part of our amazing volunteer community, please contact us.
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