Children’s home hit 3 times in 1 week
The Durban Child and Youth Care Centre in Glenwood has reportedly been broken into three times in the past seven days.
|||‘It takes a special kind of nasty to hit on a children’s home.” These were the sentiments on social media this week after people learnt that the Durban Child and Youth Care Centre in Lena Ahrens (Manning) Road, Glenwood, had been broken into three times in the past seven days.
A microwave, two urns, speakers from a donated sound system, two plastic chairs, six school bags, and even lunch that had been prepared for the children had been stolen.
None of the children or the staff was hurt.
“We are just shocked that it’s been several incidents over the space of a few days. We are fully aware that crime is prevalent, and we take safety measures, but it seems that these criminals have realised that we are soft targets.
“We don’t have the best security systems, as we don’t have the funding. But for us every loss means we need to find the money to replace things, or rely on donors,” said Mandy Goble, the director of the home.
The facility, which houses up to 82 children on two properties, relies on subsidies and donations to keep running.
The children are between 2 and 18 years old, and in some instances, are orphans or from destitute families.
“The first incident was early on Sunday morning, when our rehab centre was broken into, but the robbers were deterred by the burglar guards.
“Then on Monday morning they broke into the teenage boys’ unit, where they stole an urn and speakers.
“Then early on Thursday morning they broke the burglar guards to gain entry into the special-care unit which houses our younger children, some of whom are disabled and have illnesses.
“Here they stole the chairs, school bags, the microwave, another urn, a DVD player and the music system.
“They even helped themselves to the lunch that had been prepared for the children to take to school the next day,” said Goble.
“Just the urns alone are a setback for us, as having an urn means that we use less electricity, as we don’t have to keep switching on a kettle to heat water. We will have to find the funds from somewhere or ask for donations to replace these items,” said Goble.
The music system and DVD player were important in that they met the recreational needs of the children, as they would in any conventional home.
Residents expressed their anger on social media.
Christopher Mark Lowe said: “It takes a special kind of nasty to hit on a children’s home. It’s the same as stealing from a hospice or taking an old persons’ home’s vehicle.”
Lindsay Ladeira said: “Robbing a children’s home is just below low.”
Goble said burglar guards from a donor would soon be fitted to the windows, and community members had offered to replace some stolen items.
“We welcome any donations, and the security and local residents have been wonderful.
We will have to consider putting up barbed wire.”
The centre can be contacted at 031 201 1301.
Independent on Saturday