stanley's life story

Ten Thousand Homes founders first met Stanley when he was 19. The youngest of three brothers, Stanley is an orphan. Raised in a child headed household, I think you will find his story quite heartbreaking with a bright glimmer of HOPE.  In his own words...


"I lost my mother when I was 6 months old. I never knew her, but I wish I had. I was raised by my aunt in a village called Marite. I stayed with her for 5 years. My father would come and visit me there. I didn't even know that I had brothers.

 

Then, in 1990 I moved to another village called Masoyi where I met my brothers for the first time. We spoke different languages so that was difficult at first. My father took another wife but my stepmom did not like me. I was getting one meal a day. My father didn't support me, with clothes, food, school fees, etc. He didn't do anything for my brothers, but my grandmother was the mercy one who cared for us. She paid our school fees, and bought us food and clothes with the hope that my brothers and I would get a good education and have a good life.

My father would spend more than 3 months at a time in Johannesburg without coming home. He would send money, but we never saw the use of the money at home, because we weren't getting food. Our stepmom was buying food and hiding it in her bedroom. So when she wasn't around, we would go in and take the food and whatever we found useful. She would tell my father and he would beat us when he came home. We would sleep on the floor with one blanket. Life wasn't easy, but we got used to it and faced what we had.

In 2002, my father died and our stepmom ran away. We tried to call her, but she never answered her phone. We never saw her again. So we became a child headed household. Life became even harder. My grandmother could only support us R100 a month (equivalent of $10) to pay for food, clothes, and electricity."

 

I love that Stanley's story doesn't end there. His is a story that keeps growing with HOPE. Now 26 years old, Stanley is a Ten Thousand Homes staff member who pours his heart and energy into the kids who are now in the same situation he was when he was a kid. Anyone who comes to volunteer with Ten Thousand Homes would agree that Stanley's passion for the kids is a beautiful sight to behold. 

"I had a tough life growing up as a young boy with no one to care and to love me. I was looking for that as a kid. That keeps me alive now. When I am with the kids, I want to share what I now have, to fill in the holes that they have, to care and to love."

After Stanley's father passed away, he was told that he was nothing and that he wouldn't go far. Knowing that was a lie, he rose above it and wants all the kids to know the truth, that they are special and that God has a plan for their lives. Being an orphan himself, Stanley says it's still not that easy to connect with the kids, but that there's a deeper connection of pain and emotion. Knowing the story makes it easier to share life together. His goal is to always share his story with joy and HOPE.

There's a vicious cycle the runs its course in Africa, a cycle that involves trying to keep a fatherless generation from rising above their physical circumstances to pursue a path of HOPE. That's why guys like Stanley, those that have been in their shoes but who are living out the joy and HOPE that is there for them, are a powerful voice.

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." David Brinkley

How might you rise above today to bless others out of your own hurt, pain, or devastating circumstances?