At the corner of Pickering street in Durban, stands Life Place. Our little center was opened as a “coffee shop”- where a rejected population could come to lay their burdens down, receive counseling, and be treated with dignity for perhaps the first time in their life. The community has come to know Life Place as a safe haven and a proverbial hiding place for many street children who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. Those who are laying on the edge of hope, the physically, mentally, and spiritually disabled are also welcomed with arms of love. They receive - free of charge - not only food for their physical being, but more importantly bread for their soul.
Through Life Place, many lives in this community have been radically changed. There are countless stories of women who have come to the coffee shop looking for a cup of coffee and by the completion of the cup, have made a decision to leave prostitution and drug abuse behind. Many of the street children, whose main diet consisted of glue inhalants, have exchanged it for school books and uniforms. Pimps have given up their businesses and have asked for forgiveness from those they have oppressed and maltreated. People who have sold their souls to drugs have escaped the downward spiral of addiction in order to make their lives count in the eyes of those who told them they would never amount to anything. Marriages have been restored and the broken pieces of destroyed families have been bonded together. Things we could never have even thought of or imagined have occurred, and we thank God for all the victories.
Ex-Prostitutes Talks About There Life On The Streets:
October 4, 2006
I encountered many young women with traumatic backgrounds During my time in Durban, I have encountered many young women with traumatic backgrounds which have impacted their lives in unspeakable ways. Some horrible cases include those of human trafficking whereby young girls are deceived by men who promise a better way of life but in actuality bring them to Durban to sell their bodies with no escape. ...[more]
June 27, 2006 Leaving ‘The Business’ Brenda, a Unisa student, battled to get a part-time job to support her baby boy and was baffled how her friends has everything a woman could want.“They had money, cell phones and expensive clothes: all the things a girl likes,” she recalled...[more]
June 12, 2006 Nothing God Can't Fix I changed my life. I am no longer a prostitute and I am living a holy life ... [more]
March 3, 2006 '10-Year-Olds are Selling Their Bodies'
The following is a news article written by Barbara Cole, in the Daily News, referring to DFL's work in helping prostitutes in Durban: "..Boys as well as girls are selling their bodies, according to Albu van Eeden ...[more]
February, 2006 From Tears To Joy
To those who have a choice in life are very fortunate. Those who have no choices could have many pitfalls. Caroline who through circumstances was the less fortunate....[more]
June 4, 2005 Some LifePlace Testimonies These are the words of one of the girls who have left the ‘sex business’ : “I will never go back to that evil life!” (For confidentiality purposes, I will address this person as.....[more]
