Finding comfort in other's unhappiness

This weekend, I skipped my weekly night on the streets. At first I planned not to write this week. I thought if I skip a week people might think that I must have been too exhausted from sleeping on the streets so poor me... Sometimes, I am afraid that people might perceive me as weak and uncommitted for not doing a night on the streets every week! I...

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Shoes Part 2: Barefoot

My feet left home for the streets wearing my old faithful sneakers and a comfy pair of socks. I returned home cold and bare foot. In between, I met Jaco. Jaco was an ex-Eastern Province under 18 rugby player. At a young age, he showed promise and captained his school rugby team. In 2000, just before Jaco's final exams, his Father fell into a...

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Shoes Part 1: Those annoying car guards

Today I purchased myself two exciting new best friends. I bought myself awesome running shoes. I promise to show a photo of these shoes in a years time so you can see if they have been used or they have in fact collected dust. I faced a real conundrum in the shop... To buy or not to buy. They were not the most expensive running shoes,...

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Gangsta

So there I was, begging at a petrol station with one of my junkie friends, Gareth. A pleasant guy. We get along pretty well. He was robbed 2 weeks ago. He got punched in the eye. It still hasn't recovered. While we were hanging out, 2 other guys walked up to us and had a long chat with Gareth. Neil, the leader of the two, came up to me and asked...

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Raining questions

Spending time on the street sucks! I enjoy meeting new people, but it is never easy. Firstly, I feel scared being on the streets. I have been going on the streets for some time. I am still scared. Secondly, everything is intensified when the heavens open and it starts raining. We live in Africa. God's home continent. You might think that in Africa it...

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Meeting a princess

On Saturday night, whilst walking, my eyes caught a middle aged lady, dressed weirdly, sitting on a bench. I walked over to her and introduced myself. These are some extracts from our completely surreal conversation. Me: Hi how are? My name is Michiel. Can come and sit down and chat a bit with you? Her: Yes, Please. My name is Annique. I saved...

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The police - Your friend

Until the age of 21, I lived in Belgium. A beautiful first world country. In Belgium, the police is seen as a friend. Not the kind of friend you would share a joke with, but the friend you can go to when you are in trouble. When I spend time on the streets of South Africa, I find safety and security seeing the police drive by. My homeless friends...

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