Cape Town - A group of teen girls from Athlone have completed a personal development and woman empowerment course hosted by Athlone SAPS, as part of their community outreach programmes.
After six weeks of hard work, the teens from Ned Doman High School were treated to a lunch and ceremony along with their mothers in Athlone.
Sergeant Zita Norman said the teens, aged between 15 and 18, attended classes each week as part of the Shine Project.
“Shine is a personal development and women empowerment course designed to teach women and young girls about their worth, strength and purpose ...
“We ran the course for six weeks with the graduation held in the sixth week.
“The need for the project to reach out to teen girls in the precinct stems from the junior station commissioner project run by SAPS to help bridge the gap between the youth and police.”
Norman said the project is aimed at showing youngsters alternatives to crime.
The project is run in partnership with ward councillor Rashied Adams and under the guidance of station commander, Colonel Junaid Alcock.
He said: “We will be rolling-out the project to include more schools in the new year in Athlone. The project will be called The Strength Programme and will also see the introduction of a course for male teens.”
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus