A Gift from God: Being a Street Child
By Webster Nhlanhla Nxele
Johannesburg, South Africa

What is this gift doing on the street?
Where does this gift sleep?
He sleeps on the street or on the bed like you?
What does this child eat?

This child has a dream but because he is on the street,
He cannot make his dream come true.
He is now using drugs to forget who he is.
What is he doing with his life?
What future does his life on the street have for him?

When the nights come,
He has to see where he is going to sleep.
He must drug himself so that he can pretend
He is inside the house like you,
Going to sleep on his bed with his warm blankets.

That’s only imagination
In truth he is going to sleep on the street
And all that strong wind and rain will end up on him.

When he suffers from all these pains,
Who is looking after him?
Who is taking care of him or to the doctor?
He has to wait until he gets better on his own.

These children are people like us.
Let us help them.
They are a gift from God.
Put them first.

~from No Turning Back: a novel of South Africa by Beverly Naidoo