A Belhar boy wants to help laaities become leaders in the future.
Cai Damane, 14, runs Happy Helper Edward, an after-school programme for struggling pupils.
Cai says that he started by helping his siblings with their homework in 2017, but his community had far greater needs.
“I wanted to help children that do not understand anything like writing their name, reading and building sentences,” he explains.
“I then started my own programme where I helped five kids with educational assistance.”
The Grade 9 Excelsior High pupil says that the pandemic forced him to suspend activities, but that he resumed immediately after it subsided and lockdown restrictions eased.
“Now my programme got bigger,” he says.
“I have a team of five kids aged 13 to 15 who volunteered with me, and I have 15 kids in the programme.”
From Monday through Friday, they assist laaities free of charge with their homework and reading. However, exam preparation and various school projects have a small cost involved.
“Our mission for establishing Happy Helper Edward is to create a movement in the community.
“Last year, three of my learners who attended my programme got awards and certificates.”
Tasha Maduna, 36, tells the Daily Voice that her nine-year-old son Joshua had made a number of improvements since he enrolled in the programme. “He was struggling with his Afrikaans, reading and his homework.
“I started sending him to Cai; now, he passed with sevens and sixes. He even got a diploma for Afrikaans.”
Cai says that his goal is to establish a registered non-profit organisation, but he lacks the funds to do so: “We managed to raise funds from our fundraisers and fees. This year, we want to raise funds to register our programme as a NPO.”
Sponsors and donations are welcome, he adds.