( IMAGE BY RICHARD BOLLAND) When it comes to loving the poor, I feel that I, along with many other Christians still have not got it right. Actually, we suck. Raise your hand if you feel good when you give some spare change to the boy who comes up to your car window at the intersection. I know I do. This is because I have learned to become satisfied with those "saintly" actions, they have become enough for [...]
Armed with a box full of paint, a giant sheet of metal, a pair of scissors and some red ribbon; the CAST staff made their way to the community of KwaDabeka. Once a month, our staff has what we call, “CAST SUNDAY”. This is a day when we head out to one of the four communities that we partner with and we join the church in that community for their Sunday service. This is a way of unifying [...]
‘When I was younger, my friend said to me, “People are suffering in the township. What are you going to do after school, Themba?” I replied, “I will not let myself suffer. I will do something. I will be like the gogo that sells vegetables; it’s not much, but at least she is earning something.” Themba Dlamini started developing his entrepreneurial skills from a young age. His dad was the breadwinner of the house and so, when he [...]
She had three sons and a daughter. One son was unemployed, one had an alcohol problem and the other was in and out of jobs. In June, 2011, she lost her twenty-eight year old daughter to HIV/Aids – the disease that has claimed so many lives in our country. Gogo Mchunu did not even have enough money to organise a funeral service for her beloved child. Suddenly she had to raise her two grandchildren- an eight year old [...]
Every Tuesday night, Cheryl Robbins walked the streets of Durban with the rest of our Street Ministry team, eager to see the four young boys who had captured her heart. One of them, Maxwell, would run up to her with his arms outstretched, shouting, “Mom!” That’s what happens during street ministry. Relationships and bonds are formed. Why would a young, black street child regard a white woman, whom he sees once a week, as a motherly figure? It’s [...]
“I decided taking photos would be a good business. I enjoyed it so much”. Every kid has a dream. All it took was a camera at his matric dance to get 18 year old Andile Gumbi to start dreaming. He had often told friends in the Kwadabeka community that he wanted to be a businessman one day, but was never quite sure of what he wanted to do. Then, on the night of his dance, as he was [...]
Every day was a struggle; trying to get R35 to pay for the shelter .It didn’t seem like much and it didn’t seem like it should be that hard to get, but try telling that to Sakkie, a man in his forties who spent his days trawling the streets of Durban looking for work. He would disagree. Having work experience as a boiler and a welder but not being able to get a job anywhere meant that Sakkie [...]
