On Monday the 3rd of December 2007 we all got up very early because we had to get to our first workshop in Murraysberg, which is about a one and a half hour drive away from Beaufort West. But even before we left Beaufort West, we were stopped by the police! A female officer reminded us that we all have to wear seat belts, so we all buckled up and gave her a pamphlet.
Mr. Blekiwe had organised a community workshop at the Congregational Church hall and he had said that he wasn’t sure how many people would attend the workshop, because it was all pay day, but luckily 25 people came. There was a wide range of ages in the workshop, all the participants were very active and asked a lot of good questions.
Jemina and Flo were the facilitators and did a very good job. Michelle and Maxi assisted with registration.
Everybody had a good laugh when we did the icebreaker, where a pen was send around.
At the end of the workshop three police officers joined the workshop. The rest of the group showed their frustration with the police and asked them a lot of questions. Johanna told everybody about their rights at the police station and in court and some of the participants at the workshop filled out complaint forms.
After a succesful workshop we all went to Murraysberg SAPS and handed out some pamphlets. Velda and Mandisa, who had attended the workshop, showed us around the police station.
They told us about the problems they had on all pay days, because on pay days people in the community would go out and get very drunk, and then they would make trouble and the police would end up arresting them. Velda told us they had a lot of problems with alcohol in the area and that it was difficult to do anything about the problem.
After a nice drive through the beautiful Karoo we arrived back at Donkin Guest House. At 6 o’clock we had our daily debriefing, everybody gave feedback on the workshop and we talked about what was going to happen the next day and made our plans and preparations.
Congratulations on a successful first day. It seems that you got off to a great start and reached the community. Well done team. Meaka
Left by Meaka Biggs, Rape Crisis on December 5th, 2007