On the last day of his trip to Cape Town, a South African expat who had ventured homeward met a homeless man. He decided to take him out for a meal and dubbed the experience the highlight of his trip.
Cape Town, South Africa (03 November 2023) — On the last day of Gareth Cohen’s trip to Cape Town, he encountered a homeless man and had an experience that would become the highlight of his trip.
Whilst shopping for his mother, Gareth, an expat originally from Johannesburg who hadn’t been home from Australia in years met ‘Patrick E’.
Patrick is part of the Secret Love Project which gives homeless and destitute people the opportunity to change their circumstances through selling heart stickers. As such, Patrick offered Gareth, a stranger then, a sticker of his choosing. However, both men experienced far more than a simple exchange.
Initially, Gareth was skeptical and worried that the homeless man would use any money given for drug use. But, after Patrick explained how the Secret Love Projects worked and said he would even settle for just a coffee instead of money, Gareth decided to do something truly special.
He decided to take Patrick for a two course meal at Spur where he would learn more about the old man and became inspired by his resilience. Later, he would go on to dub the meal not only something he was grateful to have experienced, but the highlight of his trip to South Africa.
Patrick got to have the first steak he’d enjoyed in years, a waffle and ice cream and of course, a coffee.
Retelling the story to his friends back in Australia, an emotional Gareth held back tears. It was an experience that made him face his own privilege and the struggles of others in his home country in the same breath, but one that also spurred an immense sense of gratitude in him.
Before eating, Gareth asked that the two say grace. “Not usual for me to say grace but I think it will be from now on,” Gareth wrote.
He learned of Patrick’s story, that this homeless man held degrees, had a career in the film industry and unfortunately hadn’t been able to find a job since returning to South Africa from overseas.
The interaction for Patrick went down as one he would tell others in similar dire circumstances who “keep him going”, as a moment of hope and recognition of the sort of kindness that is far from an everyday experience.
Gareth calls Patrick the real hero, and shared that his heart stickers would be up in his Aussie home, so that the experience always stays close as an important reminder.
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