THE Nelson Mandela Youth Centre and Mobeni Heights Women’s Group hosted a roti-making session on Saturday at the Chatsworth venue in a bid to help the youth gain independence and pay homage to their culture.
The initiative was the brainchild of the women’s group, which wanted to instil useful lessons to the younger generation, given that the country is celebrating Youth Month.
The group’s secretary, Pushpa Perumal, 67, said they decided to teach a roti class because they felt that “today’s youth lacked basic cultural knowledge and skills”.
Around 40 children booked a seat for the roti session.
“For Youth Month, we usually do a fun walk or fun run, but this year we wanted something more valuable. We in the women’s group have noticed a decline in our society, especially among the youth, when it comes to keeping our Indian heritage and culture alive.
“Roti is a simple but beneficial meal. It fed us when we were young and had little income as a family. I think it is also important that the youth understand where they come from and who came before them.
“We see a lot of young people becoming ungrateful and expecting expensive things from their parents, but they fail to remember that we all come from humble beginnings. We were machine workers, factory workers and fishermen. All that we have today, we worked hard to achieve.
“It is important to us as an organisation that we teach those lessons and virtues to our younger people. They need to understand the essence of who we are.
“We wanted them to adopt an attitude of gratitude towards those who came before us. This simple meal can help them understand,” said Perumal.
Clive Pillay, programme director at the youth centre, said he was happy the women’s group had hosted the campaign because it was a novel way to feed the community and teach a valuable lesson to the youth.
“We do a lot of feeding from the youth centre and often the younger crowd is involved. I think using this novel way of feeding people can be beneficial in times when resources are not available in abundance.
“We also try our hardest to reach the youth in whatever ways we can. Teaching them a skill like cooking from a young age is important if they are going to grow into independent adults who understand that good things come with hard work. It will also get them involved in charitable works."
After the programme, the rotis were distributed with a meal.
The POST