Father Pablo Velasquez has reopened Scalabrini Centre’s Multi-faith Pastoral Desk, where migrants and refugees from all faiths and backgrounds, can seek spiritual discussion, guidance and support.
The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, an NGO promoting integration within the Western Cape, has developed a specialised project within its Employment Access Programme – and is seeing a near 100% success rate. Understanding the success of the ‘Aftercare Programme’ could lead to the model being used elsewhere.
High bank charges force immigrants to send money home “hand-to-hand. Billions of rands involved, says new Scalabrini Centre report. Read the full story here.
As a migrant woman in South Africa, accessing the healthcare system can be an overwhelming experience. Shortly after its foundation, Scalabrini’s Women’s Platform quickly noticed that many refugee and migrant women were not accessing health care due to their lack of fluent English or valid documentation.
Mama Placide, 63 years old, comes from Democratic Republic of Congo. She has been living in Cape Town since 2008. In her country she studied to become a nurse, but she has always nurtured her passion for sewing. Once in South Africa, she turned her passion into a business thanks to her skills, her strength and the support of the Women’s Platform of the Scalabrini Centre. She currently runs her business in Brooklyn, Cape Town. The sewing atelier “Uriphos” is located inside the “5 rand store” shop in Koeberg Road. From the shop window it is possible to admire her stylish creations: this attracts lots of clients!
The Scalabrini Centre has recently signed a partnership with Lady Liberty SA (NPO), a mobile legal office that travels to underprivileged and remote communities to empower women with access to basic legal information and case resolution around domestic violence, sexual assault, marriage, divorce, maintenance and wills.
We only have until the 30th September to tell the Department of Home Affairs to scrap proposals that could violate the dignity of our sisters and brothers across the continent. War, political violence and persecution are driving many to seek refuge in South Africa, just like many fled South Africa during apartheid.
