Natasha’s Story

The power of independence thanks to Business Empowerment

Natasha* is the elder sister to George, one of the street connected young people that S.A.L.V.E. works with.

Natasha and George’s mother sadly passed away whilst giving birth to George. As Natasha was much older than George, she already had her own baby and was married, Natasha and her husband moved into her mother’s home and she began raising George as her own.

However, the responsibilities quickly became too much for Natasha’s husband and he soon abandoned them. As George grew older, there was no money for school fees and feeling bored and frustrated, George ran away from home in search of a better life on the streets. Unfortunately, once on the streets, he quickly became addicted to drugs, hoping they would help him forget his problems.

One day, George was met by the S.A.L.V.E. Street Outreach team and after getting to know him, he was referred to our Drug Rehab Centre for rehabilitation.

After successfully completing his rehabilitation, he was resettled home with his sister and she was helped to start a business so that she could take care of his basic needs at home.

Natasha was determined to turn her life around to ensure that she could support herself and her family. She decided to start selling clothes as she had a good understanding of the latest fashions. Two years later, her business is thriving and she has even been able to invest her profits into building some rooms on the land they live on to rent out. This is now helping her generate extra income that she uses to pay school fees for George and her own children.