Returnees partner to combat violence
An initiative, ‘Returnees against Violence’ launched on Monday by members of the Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust is the first phase of an overall plan.
According to Trust Director, Magele Vernon Mackenzie, their invitation to their stakeholders and community networks evoked a healthy exchange of ideas so as to further develop the counselling component of their services.
“I feel to meet our objectives we need to incorporate the families and support systems in the villages. Hence, we are on track to make this a reality through a milestone joint venture for the Trust,” said Magele.
“We have aligned our programme with the Samoa Victim Support Group (S.V.S.G) Men’s Advocacy who facilitated the workshop with an emphasis on a spiritual and cultural approach.”
Magele said that the recent fighting amongst the students (at risk youth) is the tip of the iceberg and is indicative of the wider issues of violence in our country.
“As you know the precursors to this recent initiative was our ‘Act Right Do Right’ intervention campaign at the schools as well as our ‘Reality Check Programme’ that is on-going through our partnership with the Ministry of Police, Samoa Corrections and Community Probation & Parole under the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration.”