Making an impact through community work

IT is a proverbial saying that it takes a community to raise a child, nurture him/her, and make him/her a positive influence in society.

It is against this background, that the Sophia Community Development Association (SOCDA) was birthed over a decade ago by concerned residents of the Sophia Catchment area, who sought to influence positive change in the community.

The Pepperpot Magazine sat down with the Director of the Association, Sidney Nelson, who revealed that the purpose of the formation of this prestigious association was to combat issues such as crime and violence, domestic abuse, environmental hazards, etc.

As a result, in 2015, the association was registered formally as a non-profit organisation by way of a trust deed.

SOCDA’s mission, vision, and purpose are aligned to address the development challenges of the general Sophia catchment area.

During the interview, Nelson detailed two of the organisation’s main objectives. The first is to foster a sense of community identity by providing resources and opportunities to promote self-determination through educational and vocational training, civic engagement, community enrichment, and participation. The second objective is to provide effective programmes that enhance the well-being of community members, in particular, their needs of health and empowerment and to successfully advocate on issues that are relevant to the community’s needs.

“After conducting a community needs assessment, in 2016 SOCDA launched a CSEC Night School Programme. To date, this intervention has provided over 300 beneficiaries with the means of accessing a second chance at formal education. This intervention was later accompanied by a Pre-CXC Night School, which provided remedial support to individuals who were desirous of joining the CSEC night school programme but lacked the fundamentals to capitalise on the opportunity,” Nelson told Pepperpot Magazine.

He noted that, over the years, SOCDA has undertaken several initiatives including food and book drives, community dialogues, needs assessment, etc., and made strategic partnerships as it continues to serve its constituents. One of the principal challenges the community of Sophia, and by extension, the association, has faced is a lack of resources — resources to implement programmes, provide relief to community members, etc.

Admittedly, in recent years there has been improvement in this regard, inclusive of the commissioning of a multi-purpose community centre in 2022.
“Under the joint management of the Sophia Community Development Association, Community Leaders, and the Council, this resource will serve residents for years to come,” Nelson said.
He reiterated that, in spite of the challenges, it might encounter, SOCDA remains grounded by an awareness of the needs of the Sophia catchment area and a commitment to addressing those needs.

According to Nelson, SOCDA understands that the community’s needs are not static. Further, in the ‘post COVID-19’ context, the remaining vulnerability level needs to be measured.
“Hence the organisation will be conducting a community dialogue within a couple of months. The findings from this dialogue as well as from other needs assessment methods, will inform our post-covid intervention, in short, as far as we can of achieving our principle objective, which is to address the community’s needs”, Nelson told Pepperpot Magazine.

Nelson outlined that many people have made a name for themselves and have been positively impacted by having gone through training at the Sophia Community Development Association.
SOCDA is a Community Development (NGO) that is aimed at empowering youths and residents through community participation & development.
SOCDA has started to promote education and youth empowerment as interventions to respond to increasing crime and violence in the community.

 

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