On the 8th of July 2023, The Street Kitchen (TSK) in partnership with Ignite Hope, Ignite Gentlemen of Purpose, Youth in Action and J.N Organisation came together to spread love at the Northcot Centre for Kids. This was done through donating food and clothing to the institution as well as investing time to converse with the children. The Northcot Centre for Kids was established in the early 20th century as a rehabilitation and skills development centre for young privileged boys run by the Rhodesian government during the colonial era. Post-independence it was converted into a mixed asylum for both boys and girls who had been accused of various crimes such as theft, vandalism and assault. Over the years it has also become a haven for children hailing from abusive backgrounds and is seeking protection from their families. The centre houses an average 40-60 children ranging from the ages of 11 to 18 with most of them being secondary school students. The school is open to children in the surrounding community to attend as day scholars in efforts to help integrate the Northcot Kids with the rest of the community.
The donation was chaired by Talent Sibanda the Volunteers Coordinator at TSK as well as Ignite Hope Leader. A panel of organisation representatives took the stage with Mr Thabani Sibanda the Director of Corporate Partnerships at IYO representing the organisation. Lizwe Nyanga, the IYO Creative Officer, was given the platform to educate the children on the mandate of IYO. He helped the students understand the meaning of purpose ‘Chinangwa’ and challenged them to discover their own purpose in order to live a fulfilling life.
Innocent Jonasi, one of the Ignite Hope Leaders, educated the children on one of the core programs at IYO, Ignite Hope. He explained to the children the importance of pursuing one’s purpose and upon discovering it using that same purpose to give back to the community. He emphasized the need to spread love and help one another by donating whatever we can to the less fortunate, serving our communities however we can and leading initiatives that can benefit the next person.
Josh Chikwiza, the Head of Program for GOP, and Tinashe Takarwa, the Events Officer (IYO), lightened the mood with entertaining icebreakers throughout the programs. After lunch the program was concluded with the handing over of donations to the Centre Supervisors by the representatives of the different organisations.
