By Linford Molaodi
Responsive constable Mpho Dodo helps a 16 year old school girl in the rural villages.
Mpho Dodo, newly crowned constable of Biesiesvlie Police Station in North West remarkably responded as a concerned parent upon meeting a 16 year old girl in a primary school during Adopt a Cop project. This is South African Police Service project aimed at ensuring safety and support in schools.
During their visit to the primary school, the constable was touched by principal’s request for assistance on learners who only attend school at the beginning of the year and drop out at a later stage.
When Mpho Dodo and colleagues visited the learners’ homes in the farms they came across a 16 year old girls who could not attend school due to lack of school uniform. “We told her that only education is capable of rescuing her from that situation. She got emotional but listened.
I was literally crying. We visited her school the following week and she was there and I was happy. I realized she loved school,” Said Mpho. The emotional constable then promised to buy her school uniform from her own salary. When asked about her inspiration behind such kind response, Mpho replied:
“My background is not perfect. I am not going to sit, look good and waste money when there are people out there who need more. She is just 16 and in Grade 5. It is heart-breaking bigtime. It is very bad in rural areas and I was tearing to see that. I feel bad, I just wish I could help everyone. Not sure where to start. I wanted to go to the province or media to help those people.”
With only a service of a month as a constable, the 31 year old fulfilled her promise and delivered the uniform after a week. She is a mother to two boys and believes in the Tswana phrase, “motho ke motho ka batho” (loosely translated- a person can only develop through assistance of other people). “My mother had only two children but our house was always full. I learnt from her,” she said.
What inspired you into being a police officer?
I just loved being a woman in blue to make a difference in the community. I have already started by helping one girl.
What kind of assistance do you need?
More helping hands and sponsors to help children from the community.
From your experience, what would you like to share with your fellow constables?
Some of my fellow constables have become police officials just because they needed a job, not that they loved it. They need to realize that we are dealing with lives of human beings. Thus, we should not go to work for fun.