We are excited about the outcomes our funding enables and achieves, bringing long-lasting social change in the lives of vulnerable children.

The Homestead received funding from StreetSmart Cape Town, towards a family reunification worker salary.

Denis stands out not only because of what he overcame, but also because of what he achieved.  After a traumatic and abusive childhood, Denis ended up as a small boy on the streets of Kenya, eventually making his way down through Africa to Cape Town where he was found on the street and admitted to the Homestead eight years ago.  Denis was a challenging child, with his aversion to going to school.  However, once he showed an interest in weightlifting and wanted the Homestead to pay for his gym, a deal was struck to pay for gym, if he attended school.  Denis did very well with his gym, winning several trophies for weight-lifting. However, at one stage he stopped going to school again, so the payment for his gym stopped.  This upset him tremendously, but after a bit of negotiation he returned to school and was eventually allowed to continue his weightlifting.  As the years passed Denis settled and got much better at going to school and ended up doing better than most, with a university pass Matric.

Family reunification for Denis was, however, always going to be very difficult because the Homestead had to track down his family in Kenya, make contact with them, drive Denis to Johannesburg to get all his papers in order, and at the beginning of the year, flew him home to his family in Kenya.  

Denis is now happily reunited with his Grandmother, has started teaching at the local school, and is set to start his university studies in Kenya next year!

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