A house of hope for Shaka’s Head youth

With little to no means, a mother desperate to save the Shaka’s Head youth from drugs has started a spiritual rehabilitation group.

Roslyn Govender has seen her son, Anthony (24) fight his battles with drugs over the past ten years and after many tears, she felt called to make a difference.

“Moms are crying because their kids are on drugs, stealing and selling whatever they can find to buy more drugs. I would love to see those moms smile again and get their children back from this evil,” said Govender, who runs a samoosa business from her home.

“The boys come to my fence and ask for food. I give them lunch and talk to them about faith. I also have two amazing pastors who help with counselling on Saturdays.

“I want to be the next Mother Theresa and I believe I have the faith, passion and perseverance to make Shaka’s Head a better place.”

Roslyn’s right-hand man in the counselling sessions is Pastor Kevin Pillay from Verulam’s Jump Youth Mission – an NGO that works with the American-based Teen Challenge substance abuse recovery program.

“This area is infected with every social illness – prostitution, gangs and crime which is all motivated by drugs. Most of these guys do what they do because of their situation, not because they want to. They usually come from broken families and are missing love, an identity and a role model so they look for it in the wrong places,” said Pastor Kevin, who was a drug dealer himself in his previous life.

Also read: Is Ballito’s Tayne de Villiers the Alpha male?

“Society does not want to deal with them and they have no one to turn to and no place to call home. They come to us as a last resort, break down and cry. We build them up through faith and show them God as a role model. Through spiritual work and counselling we have achieved a 70 percent success rate in our recovery programme.”

One of her success stories is 30-year-old Westley Dorasamy who has been clean for almost five months now after doing hardcore drugs for about 12 years.

“Roslyn has been taking me to her church, Ballito CRC and now I have good in my heart again. I feel amazing and have a new life thanks to prayer,” said Westley, who plays guitar in the CRC band.

Ballito CRC pastor Brennan Dauberman, who had a long history of drug abuse and has been sober for 14 years now, said Roslyn is an inspiration to her community.

“Roslyn and her boys have been coming to Ballito CRC for quite a few years now and she started a wonderful initiative in Shaka’s Head.

“Her rehabilitation group runs purely on good graces, so we are appealing to people to help in any way possible,” said Dauberman.

To get involved, contact Roslyn at 073 437 2879.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram