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Khanyisile Motsa - Youth Movers Winner
Ms Khanyisisle Motsa founded the Berea-Hillbrow Home of Hope ten years ago and has since touched the lives of more than 8 000 street children by providing them with the opportunity to get their childhood back and have the prospect of becoming responsible citizens that can contribute to shaping the future of South Africa.
She has used her local knowledge with great success to get the project off the ground and then applied a strategy of firstly identifying the street children - mostly girls who have been exploited on the streets of Hillbrow, Berea and the Inner City of Johannesburg.
The first challenge has always been to win their confidence to be able to withdraw them from the streets. Then to offer them a safe environment in which the healing process can start. After a period of nurturing and rehabilitation they are given the opportunity to go to formal and informal education which is the foundation of a successful adulthood. Employment opportunities are explored and they also have the opportunity to re-unite with their families.
Ms Motsa has also importantly formed support and peer groups to monitor and support the street girls who in many instances were forced into prostitution on the streets by drug lords and pimps or have been victims of child labour and trafficking.
Thousands of these street girls have had their dignity restored in the Berea-Hillbrow Home of Hope. They have truly been given a second chance in life. In some cases it took a long time to rehabilitate them but with the commitment of Ms Motsa and her team many have been put successfully through education and skills programmes .
Imparting valuable information about HIV / AIDS has been an important part of the education process and where the disease was considered a death sentence a few years ago amongst these street girls, the education has impacted positively on their lives.
All these interventions have helped these street girls gain confidence and feel good about themselves which have encouraged them to look forward with a dream of a better life.
News
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