When I was 9, my biggest problem was fitting into my new school in Copenhagen International School, after moving for the first time. At 12, it was moving again to the American School of the Hague. At 14, I was worrying about not having any facial hair while my friends were starting to grow full beards…

In late November, there were shootings on 5 consecutive days, 50 metres from where the children of Levana Primary School are educated. In December, an 18 year old man was shot and killed 5 minutes after school started, directly in front of Levana.

In a community 10 minutes down the road, Grassy Park, a 10 year old child was shot and killed in gang crossfire.

http://ewn.co.za/2016/01/28/Community-devastated-after-boy-10-killed-in-gang-crossfire

On Thursday, January 28, 2016, Levana Primary School participated in a protest. It was a protest set up by the local community to take a stand about the gang violence in the area.

There were children from 9-14 holding up signs pleading “Please Don’t Kill Our People”, “Make Peace Plz”, “Give Our Place Back”, “We Want Peace, Stop The Shooting”.

The school is directly opposite a housing estate where a local gang resides, where many shooting occur. It was quite an image to see these children hold up their signs in the direction of this housing estate, with many people stopping to see what was going on.

Young children are being forced to plead with gangsters to stop the violence. Where is this being publicised in the national media? Let alone the international media…

While the media feeds us the latest comments of Donald Trump, the latest ISIS plot and what Kim Kardashian is wearing, there are people dying everyday due to gang violence. And that is just in South Africa.

These gangs and gangsters are nothing to be afraid of. They are too preoccupied with their own petty feuds. They aren’t criminal masterminds, these are people who have grown up in poverty, without the hope of a better life. People who felt their best option was to join a gang.

Education is the most crucial way to give these children hope. Hope that there is a way out of Lavender Hill. Hope that they can earn enough income to survive. To help their families survive.

I hope our leadership and sports programs give at least 1 child the hope that they need to get out of Lavender Hill. Maybe not even to get out of Lavender Hill…maybe to become a role model within the community to help others strive to take a better path than those mapped out for them.

On February 1, The Compass Trust will have both a sports development and leadership program in Lavender Hill.

I look forward to sharing updates on how our programs are progressing in February.

Please take a look at the “Our Finances” page on our website for all our transactions up until January.

If you want any more information, please get in touch.

Always good and love to all.

Matt