By Nangamso Mabindla
19 April 2004

When former Daily Dispatch reporter Gaye Taylor saw the miserable plight of Buffalo City's street children, she felt compelled to help.

Moved by pity, Taylor started the Sakh'ingomso Children's Ministry aimed at assisting street children, finding out about their problems and giving them life skills so they could become valuable citizens of the city. "We're a non-profit organisation only interested in making better human beings out of individuals."

In February 2002 Sakh'ingomso (we're building a better tomorrow) was launched on a small scale, meeting with street children once a week, every Friday.

Now the ministry utilizes two facilities: a privately owned hall in River Park, where teenagers and young adults are counselled and taught various life skills; and a home in Southernwood where younger children live.

The older group, some 40 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 25, meet three times a week to share experiences and learn various life skills.

The ministry's workers take time to get to know each youngster - to find out their deepest feelings and why they are on the unforgiving streets of Buffalo City. "In most cases these children run away from home because of maltreatment or just bad situations at their homes," said Taylor.

"They take to the streets because they feel they're safer there."

Sakh'ingomso Children's Ministry also has a facility in Southernwood, which caters for younger street children, aged between 10 and 16. The children are taken in, given food and taught them life skills. Here they can "enjoy entertainment in our lounge, sleep on our modest beds and enjoy a home cooked meal for their young bodies". "We do this in an effort to rehabilitate them," Taylor said.

After a period of rehabilitation attempts are made to help the child return to his or her family. However, for some children home is where they didn't want to be in the first place. "When we're faced with such a situation," said Taylor, "we're forced to come up with an alternative. We either take them to children's homes or to foster homes. We really don't want to see these children back on the streets again."

The ministry's home is a welcoming place. Step through the front door and you'll see a group of happy children with ready greetings. Each is busy with a task. Some are working on beautiful drawings, with friends watching. On the walls are brightly coloured Biblical scripts. The children have really turned the building into a home.

At present there are five children in the home, but numbers fluctuate.

Taylor's assistant, Mzukisi Hada is a role model for the children. The tall, dread-locked 32-year-old is a former street kid. He met Taylor as a nine-year-old, and has been friends with her ever since.

"She encouraged me and showed me there was a life beyond just doing drugs," said Hada. "She helped me to sort my life out."

Hada managed to get off the streets and find a job. Through this period Taylor and Hada stayed in touch. When he later lost his job, Taylor suggested he help her set up the home.

Hada works mainly with the younger children, teaching them about the importance of taking control of their lives. "I tell them they don't need drugs. Rather they should stay clean before they become slaves to the drugs," Hada said.

Taylor stressed she could not do this work alone and is grateful for all the help she gets, such as the assistance from people like Melonie Gobel of the Living Waters Ministry, and her cooking staff, Margaret Meyers, Margie Crole and Martha Fourie.

"I'm grateful to these people for their assistance and would like to appeal all the citizens of Buffalo City to support our efforts. They are our children too."