His name is Maqobo and hers is Siphesihle. We found them all by themselves on the streets of the city.

His name is Maqobo, meaning “Conqueror.�

She is Siphesihle and her name means “Beautiful Gift.�

Their mother is a prostitute and she abandoned them. They say they are not sure who their father is.

They stay with an elderly grandmother who now works 12 hours a day to pay for a place for them to stay. This leaves both children to fend for themselves all of the time.

Maqobo says that he feels so alone and scared sometimes about who will help him and his little sister. Already at five, he is more of a man than a lot of men. He has to look after his sister, and try to keep things neat at the place they are staying.

Most of his time is consumed with trying to survive but he does have a little free time to play soccer with the boys but you can tell he always has some of his attention on his little sister to make sure she’s okay.

Siphesihle loves to play with sticks pretending they are baby dolls. She pretends to be a mommy to them even though the idea is painful to her because she doesn’t have a mommy.

We were able recently to bring them to our CarePoint in Ka Khoza. Now they are both attending school and Maqobo is doing very well and enjoys the time with the other children very much.