A Haven of Peace

I am writing in my personal capacity as a member of the community of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

I have known the organization since 2018 during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “Thuma Mina” when I felt the call of God to assist the community of Mthatha to fight against the scourge of substance abuse, particularly among young people. Since then KSB has served to us as a haven of peace, a centre of hope as well as a safety net for all vulnerable people, particularly victims of abuse KSB visited our communities and astrong relationship was established. We also often paid visits to KSB where we enjoyed free accommodation and free meals and attended their daily church services. The humility, servanthood and moral force of character that is naturally exhibited by all who live and have been trained there is a further in the KSB cap. To see white people walking freely with their Zulu friends, even speaking Zulu so fluently is a wonder that speaks of much love among the people there. (Something that the country is struggling with)

It is in her love for youth development and her strong moral convictions that KSB exhibits particular flair, a function they discharge through their CYPSA wing. To this end, KSB runs two Youth Conferences per annum during school holidays. We were blessed to know that KSB would send us two busses, a 110 seater each, to  transport young people to the youth conference and back, all this is done free of charge.  Thus the parents got to know about this organization that was working wonders with their children, and started sending their children to KSB, even those that were displaying suicidal tendencies. Their 21 day programme to help those affected by substance abuse became the most popular in our region. Drug addicts were delivered from their addiction. The busses would always be full to capacity to an extent that many would be sadly left behind with parents begging for help. What we initially thought was for Mthatha Communities, soon stretched out to the entire Eastern Cape as the need demanded.

In the 2 years that I have known KSB, they have committed to visiting this community, at their own cost. During their 2 weeks visit they would visit schools, community halls and different churches, raising awareness on dangers of drug abuse and the way out of them. In 2019, for example, KSB visited more than 350 schools in Mthatha. In, and out-of-school youth have been referred to KSB, some applying for and securing work opportunities after completing their treatment. Many parents have benefitted from services rendered by KSB through its CYPSA programme. School principals are in awe of the character change that KSB can achieve within a short space of time, and had started referring learners to KSB through us. This has attracted attention of government departments who have the mandate of curbing social ills of which drugs are the main feature. The KSB programme helps in-school youth to develop character that will enable them to abstain from all risky behaviours in order to maximize learning and enhance academic performance.

Loyalty to the word of God, tenacity and unconditional love for humankind are the cornerstones of KSB’s approach to work and life. They are particularly adept about loving the unlovable as well as listening to their views in order to provide comprehensive counselling services, employing godly principles as prescribed in God’s word. KSB also provides training of communities in agricultural projects, baking. When the Lockdown began, we were putting together a programme for the training of the community. I myself received training on jam making. I made my first jam to feed more than 250 people at a conference free of charge, just as I had learnt from KSB.

Yours faithfully
X. P. Nodada