Sergeant Sibongiseni “Angel” Mkhize was assigned to the Youth Desk at the Estcourt Social Crime Prevention Police Station where she has started to teach kids to grow food.
Sergeant Sibongiseni Mkhize was assigned to the Youth Desk at the Police station she works at. She decided to start a project that involved the youth and made use of the space around the station.
Sergeant Sibongiseni started a vegetable garden to teach the youth how to grow their own food. By teaching the youth to be self-sufficient, she is empowering them to make better choices and giving them alternative choices. By learning to grow food the youth could give back to the community and support themselves and their families, thus helping them divert from living a life of crime to survives.
“The garden was established in August 2017 and is a teaching tool. Youth from Estcourt are invited to the police station where they are taught how to plant and tend a garden. The aim of this project is to encourage the youth to start their own gardens in their communities. This will offer them an opportunity for employment and will serve to feed themselves and their family.” – Captain Nqobile Gwala, Police Spokesperson.
The garden yields spinach, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, and green pepper.
“The vegetables are donated to members of the community who visit clinics and need to eat a healthy meal while taking medication. Other recipients are households where there is no breadwinner.”
Sergeant Sibongiseni also went out into the community to teach them gardening and responsible water usage, she even advocated the use of grey water to water gardens.
“She started out with a few packs of seeds she bought herself. Since then a local farmer saw the initiative and supplied more seeds which Mkhize has distributed to schools and the community so that they may start their own gardens.”
“She believes that if you do something yourself, with your bare hands, others will trust you and follow your example.”
One of the challenges the youth now have is space to grow their own gardens. Thankfully Sergeant Sibongiseni was approached by a farmer who has offered to help. She cannot wait to see the initiative take off and grow.
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