Street store

DIGNITY: Homeless people, orphans, drug addicts and poor mothers could not contain their excitement as they streamed the Street Store in Keetmanshoop last Saturday. The Street Store, a South African imitative aimed to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots, is the world's first rent-free, premises-free, free " pop-up clothing store for the homeless" , stocked by donations. Founded in 2014, this South African birthed initiative, now worldwide is aimed to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor making it easier to donate and more dignified to receive. The event was hosted and organised by five media students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in collaboration with the Keetmanshoop Municipality and Eminence Events. The students included, Reinhard Mahalie, Cecilia Xavier, Jeanette Beukes, Emaigne Ockhuizen and Virinao Muzuma. One of the beggars, 20-year-old Jose van Zyl, who has literally grown up on the streets explained that he is grateful to have found a food parcel in the shopping bag. He begs around the town from Mondays to Friday’s for food or money to buy something. “My grandmother, grandfather and mother are dead so no one is looking out for me,” he explained.
PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED