By Nangamso Mabindla
31 March 2004

Since opening its doors in August last year, the Tembisa Maclean home for abused women and children has developed a solid reputation and now offers shelter to more than a dozen people.

Officially opened on 13 August by Buffalo City Executive Mayor, Sindisile Maclean, and named for his late wife, the Tembisa Maclean Safehouse oozes warm motherliness from every pore and it is clear that residents have had no problem in adapting to their new environment.

Thanks to caring individuals like executive director of the Living Waters Ministry, Melonie Gobel, the house has been decorated with love and everything from the modern kitchen to the bedrooms ensure the atmosphere is a comfortable home away from home.

In partnership with service organisations like the Bonza Bay and East London Rotary Clubs, the Nahoon Round Table Society and the Port Rex Lions, Gobel has helped equip the home with modest furniture, a television and DVD machine and has even put up posters in the family bedrooms.

"With their help we've been able to make victims feel at home here at the safehouse. Pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson have also been supplying us with basics such as soap so that we could get together hampers to give to each victim," says the spirited Gobel.

Each hamper consists of toothpaste, a face cloth, soap and other essentials. In addition, some victims are supplied with clothes as they arrive at the house with nothing.

All 7 rooms are currently occupied, says Gobel, adding that people come in time of need and move on when they have had a chance to recover. After checking in, says Gobel, abuse victims make the house their home for up to three months, during which they are counselled by social workers who help prepare them to re-enter society. "When they're out there, they can help abuse victims by either giving them moral support or direct them to one of the organisations who can refer them to the safehouse."

However, the path to rehabilitation is not always a smooth one. "Though it's been a pleasure, it's not been easy running this house. It is expensive as we have a lot of people coming here," says Gobel.

The biggest challenge, says Gobel, is getting involved parties to work in unison to make the refuge a success. "We are in a chain here so in order to succeed, all the links need to pull together," says Gobel. "If everybody understood their responsibility and functioned accordingly in this social chain, we could realistically and easily achieve our goals."

The chain she speaks of includes local and provincial governments, the corporate world and society in general. The Living Waters Ministry, an organisation that assists victims of abuse and is responsible for running the safehouse, works closely with non-governmental organisations like Famsa, Nicro, CMR, the Magistrate's Court and the Masimanyane Women's support centre, all of whom send abuse victims to the safehouse.

On the whole though, Gobel is pleased with the safehouse's progress. "Our motto 'touching the heart of the community...its people' is what keeps us going," she says.

For more information call Living Waters Ministry on (043) 736-9213 or Melonie Gobel on
084 710 4524. Or visit www.livingwaters.org.za