COMING to South Africa from Ireland 50 years ago, Sister Helena McKinney of the Dominican Order has dedicated her life to the welfare of street children, in particular, boys and young men.

For her selflessness, Sister Helena was recently awarded a Paul Harris Award by the Westville Rotary Club.

The Paul Harris Award is the highest honour Rotary can bestow on a person. It’s named after the founder of Rotary International.

Also read: Getting youth off the streets

Sister Helena works with more than 40 boys at the Old Mill in Mariannhill and other centres. She has, with the assistance of 26 staff members, physically and emotionally cared for many generations of boys, endeavouring to rescue them from the streets and re-integrate them with their families and society.

“Even through difficult financial times when staff were not paid to times when generous donations allowed Streetwise to prosper and grow, as an NPO, Streetwise needs the support of the public in order to survive as government funding is limited,” said Rotarian Sue Kilkie.

In response to the award, Sister Helena expressed her gratitude to everyone who has supported Streetwise and said they want children to be able to be children so that they can be better adults.

If anyone wishes to support Streetwise or is interested in Rotary, contact Graham on 082 875 8876.

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