World

Man who has lived on the street since age 1 finally gets helped by kind donors

Wednesday, January 06, 2021 at 12:34 PM by Ebenezer Agbey Quist Aba Afful

- Small is a young man who has been homeless since he was a year-and-a-half

- His biological mother dropped him off with an elderly homeless lady without even leaving a name

- Recently a local business owner, a homeless foundation and Engen garage employees worked together to help him

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Small is a young man who had a difficult upbringing. According to Joylyn Melissa Nyembe, he gave himself the name Small as he does not know his real name. Small's birth mother left him with an elderly homeless lady when he was a year-and-a-half old.

While Joylyn was looking for a home for Small on behalf of a foundation for the homeless, the Engen Garage N3 Truck Stop (outside Katlehong, Gauteng) employees looked after Small. She then thanked the owner of a local company for his contribution.

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Joylyn stated that Ayanda Gcabashe offered to not only give Small a place to stay but also train him to work for his company.

Peeps come together to help man who spent a lifetime on the streets — Small (left) has been homeless since he was one year old. Now members of his community have come together to get him off the streets. Image: Joylyn Melissa Nyembe
Source: UGC

Read Joylyn's full post shared to the #ImStaying group below:

"This young man calls himself Small, a name he got on the street as he does not know his real name. His mother left him with an old homeless lady at the Park Station in JHB when he was a year and 6 months. He has lived on the street since then.

"On behalf of Nceda Foundation I would like to thank the staff of Engen Garage N3 Truck Stop (just outside Katlehong), for looking after him the whole week while we were looking for a place for him to stay. May God bless you guys.

"Thank you to the owner of KBS Aluminium (Ayanda Gcabashe)! He offered to take our boy in, gave him a place to stay and also training him to work @KBS Aluminium. This is why I’m staying."

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The community work that was put in to help a fellow South African inspired many Stayers. Take a look at some of their comments below:

Jeanette Watkins said:

"What a lovely heartwarming gesture, thank you for caring for this soul!"

Julie Baxter wrote:

"Wow so heartwarming... People actually do care."

Vena Quiui commented:

"This is the best new year story. May he be blessed more and more. Praise God for all you caring folks."

Dawa Mafaku Matyila added:

"Now this is what I call Ubuntu."

In other inspiring South African stories, it was recently reported on a lady with no income that feeds the homeless twice a week. Nobuhle Virgie has no source of income at the moment but uses donations and the help of volunteers to feed the homeless every Wednesday and Sunday. On Christmas last year, she fed over 500 people.

According to Nobuhle, with the help of kind volunteers, she was also able to feed a number of homeless people on 1 January as well. She says she gets food donations from friends and family which allows her to cook and feed those in need.