By Nangamso Mabindla
28 February 2005

CONCERNED about the ever-increasing number of poverty-stricken people in East London, the Seventh Day Adventist Church has started a soup kitchen for the city's homeless.

Every Sunday at 5am, homeless people from the suburbs of Quigney, Cambridge and Southernwood, including people living rough in the bushes, gather at the church for a bite to eat.

Daluvuyo Mkhethi says the initiative was triggered in December last year when the congregation met to discuss the plight of homeless people. "We discussed various ways we could help and then decided that in January we would start this project."

"We don't just give them soup, we eat the food with them. And the soup is very nutritious," adds Mkhethi

The church also gives the homeless people clothing and helps with rehabilitation. "We have one-on-one sessions with them."

Mkhethi says some of the intervention strategies have been successful. "We sometimes try to get people off the streets and find jobs for them."

The church is planning to expand the project by involving local social workers and finding a permanent place - a halfway house - where people can be rehabilitated.

"We're in the process of opening a bank account for anyone interested in assisting us," Mkhethi says.