Look into the eyes of the poor

One in four children in South Africa today is facing life-threatening malnutrition. Not only are these children at risk of dying, malnutrition undermines their ability to learn and develop, leading to lifelong development challenges that perpetuate the cycle of poverty.

Children are not the only ones going hungry. Around 15 to 16 million people in South Africa have inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. Many parents sacrifice their own meal to ensure their children have something to eat.

Feeding the hungry is our number one priority. Volunteers from the St Vincent de Paul Society run soup kitchens on parish or school grounds. We also deliver food parcels to families and individuals in greatest need.

Contributions from people like you make this possible. Thank you for caring about your less fortunate neighbours.

Clothe the naked’ seems like a pretty straightforward instruction. We should give clothes to someone who doesn’t have any. Most of us are quite happy to clear out our cupboards and donate a pile of old and unwanted clothes and shoes to someone who needs them.

But God wants us to look into the eyes of the poor and recognise them as individual people. In order to make our gift more meaningful, we need to understand what it must be like to walk around dressed in rags. It’s not only about feeling cold and miserable in winter, it’s about feeling less of a person.

Even if we try not to, we do judge others by the way they look. Someone dressed in old, worn out or ill fitting clothes may find it more difficult to get a job, or be viewed with suspicion. Clothing the naked is not just about being practical. It’s about showing another human being respect, and allowing poor people a little dignity.

The SSVP runs clothing stores within the parish and at secure remote facilities for free issue directly to those in need. We also take suitable clothing for families and individuals during home visits.

You can help by donating good second hand or new clothing to your local St Vincent de Paul Society. Or you could say, “No” to a new item of clothing or pair of shoes that you don’t really need – and donate what you would have spent towards our efforts to clothe the poor.

Clothing the naked applies to tiny tots too! Baby nappies, blankets and babygrows are always needed by desperate new moms.

‘Harbouring the harbourless’, or sheltering the homeless, is a core focus area. It gives us the opportunity to work closely with the most disadvantaged people in our communities and make a real difference to their lives and their future.

Often homeless people are shunned or feared. We forget that, but for the grace of God, we could be the ones with no home to go to and nowhere to wash – clutching a small plastic bag containing everything we own in the world, and wondering where we can safely spend the night.

Because we’ve never experienced life on the streets for ourselves, we have little understanding of the struggles homeless people face. We assume that they are there by choice. And that if they wanted to improve their situation, they would clean up and find a job.

The fact is that homeless people often don’t know who to turn to for help. They are afraid and alone in a world that barely notices them.

People living on the streets are at risk of becoming victims of crime. They may turn to drugs or alcohol in order to block out their situation, or be forced into prostitution in order to survive.

In almost all cases, they need a lot of support to find suitable shelter, and be rehabilitated back into society. Our role as Christians is not to judge – but to provide the support they so desperately need.

You may not be able to visit the streets and bridges where the homeless live. But you can still reach out to them through SSVP, by making a contribution towards this aspect of our work. Your caring will help turn lives around.

Spending time with people, whether they are sick, lonely, afraid or in prison, is one of the most personal gifts you can give.

When we visit the sick we not only bring comfort, but access to proper medical attention. Sadly, millions of people in South Africa have no medical aid or access to private health care. They are forced to rely on state hospitals and clinics, whose services have deteriorated. It’s not unusual to find patients sleeping on mattresses on the hospital floor, or left to lie on soiled bedclothes.

We visit parishioners and known families at home or in hospitals to offer support, encouragement and practical help.

Others are “sick” – not from physical illness, but from social isolation. Elderly people, especially those who can no longer get out and about, are often lonely and feel that they have been forgotten by the rest of the world. We offer friendship and a listening ear, knowing that it really does make all the difference.

We also visit prisons in the belief that friendship and prayer have the power to reform and heal wrongdoers.

If you would like to get involved in bringing comfort and hope to the sick, please contact us.

Prison visits are undertaken by some SSVP conferences, in cooperation with prison authorities to ensure they are safe. The goal of this ministry is to bring comfort and hope, treating inmates with dignity and without judgment. We also offer prayer and spiritual counseling.

Beyond direct visits, SSVP conferences may offer support for inmates’ families and assist with needs after release from prison.

Without funeral cover, many South Africans who want to bid farewell to their loved ones in a respectful manner cannot afford to do so. Even a modest funeral is beyond their means – an it’s tragic to see families taking on debt to pay for a funeral, creating additional hardship and distress.

While SSVP is unable to provide funds to bereaved families in general, we may be able to help in part in the parishes in which we operate, for families who are known to the local Conferences. Any such help is subject to an assessment and evaluation of their needs and the means and limits of the local Conference.