Jeffreys Bay – While volunteering at the St Francis Animal Rescue, Caskin White met two remarkable boys from Sea Vista who inspired him and community leader, Jerome Visagie, to launch a transformative housing renovation project.
White, who moved to St Francis Bay two years ago with his wife, Laetitia, became involved with the St Francis Animal Rescue, where they were exposed to the harsh realities faced by many underprivileged people living in Sea Vista.
Fortunately, through volunteering for the animal rescue organisation, they met two remarkable young boys, aged 11 and 13, who also volunteer every Thursday despite facing significant hardships at home.
As an occasional treat, the couple takes the two boys out to KFC and has previously bought them a pair of shoes since they had none.
By communicating with the boys, White said they learned that their father was a drug addict and was unable to take care of them, while their mother left for Cape Town during the COVID-19 lockdown to sort out their identity documents, but never returned.
White said the children are now being cared for by their uncle and his wife, who have generously offered them a place to stay.
“These two boys have given everything just to help and be present at St Francis Animal Rescue on Thursdays, even though they don’t have to,” said White.
After giving them money on one occasion, he said they told him they used it to buy electricity.
White said that when he heard this, something had “clicked” for him, and he knew he had to do something more to assist them.
Since he and his wife have always wanted to do work that goes beyond animals to help people in the community, they wanted to use this opportunity to make a difference.
White reached out to Visagie, a respected Sea Vista community leader and local entrepreneur, who has inspired him over the years.
Visagie, who has built a diverse business empire spanning cleaning, construction, painting, removals and airport transfers, provides vital employment opportunities for residents while remaining deeply rooted in his neighbourhood.
Considering his connection to the community, White asked for Visagie’s assistance in improving the boys’ family home.
“I’ve always believed that if you can give someone a good place to live, a place that’s sanitary and clean, a quality living space, they can have something to come home to every day,” said White.
He said the renovation project is designed to be sustainable and community-focused, with all work being outsourced to Richard Bosch, a single father of three who has previously worked on renovations with Visagie.
White said connecting with Visagie has been a great experience as he is someone whom he looks up to and feels inspired by, given that he has, for many years, been making the Sea Vista community a better place.
“I would not be able to do this without Jerome. He is really the key ingredient to this change that we are trying to deliver to a family in Sea Vista,” said White.
He said the initiative relies on donated materials and items from local businesses to keep costs down.
“We want to feed the community with assistance from the community. By redoing this house, giving Richard a paycheque through these renovations, we can hopefully extend this to other families in the future,” said White.
While the long-term goal is to assist more people in the community, for now, he said the focus of the project will be on families with children at the centre.
“Children are the next generation. It is the generation that we can change, the generation that we can hopefully activate and motivate to lead better lives while saying thank you to the generation that is taking care of them,” said White.
He said the current family caring for the boys has made significant sacrifices, taking on additional children when they already have their own to support.
White hopes this initiative will bring the St Francis Bay communities together.
“It’s about a regenerative sustainable programme that really feeds back into the community, and hopefully we can bring St Francis Bay together where it’s really needed,” said White.
For more information about the project or to contribute, contact Jerome Visagie at 078 558 7370.
