He comes from a family of nine children – four girls and five boys – born in Limpopo, Venda. The children were brought up by a man with a heart of gold. His upbringing influenced his life and his life choices as he became a hardworking man with a good heart.
Peter Muleya woke up that morning feeling the cold in his bones. It was, to him, the coldest day of the week. He got out of bed to get ready for his casual job, made sure he dressed warmly, including two pairs of socks on each foot, gloves, jacket and a hat. Taking his normal route to work, Peter did not know what the day had in store. He got to work very early and waited for his colleague to open. This was just like any other day for him. As he waited for his colleague it felt like an eternity as he was freezing and shivering from the cold.
Not to have shoes in this weather was even harder than his obvious homelessness.
Looking up, it was a great shock for Peter to see a man walking past who was bleeding and in pain. The man looked like he was homeless, judging by his tattered clothes. As he walked past Peter, he could see he was bleeding from a wound he had on his head. The pain etched in this man’s face was made even worse by the fact that he didn’t have shoes on his feet, which broke Peter’s heart. This heartless winter morning was cruel for this man who was already down on his luck. Walking past Peter, he felt that for a man his age not to have shoes in this weather was even harder than his obvious homelessness.
It felt like he was whispering ‘thank you for giving me back my dignity’.
Peter looked at him and he didn’t think twice. He took off his own shoes and, wearing only his socks, he ran after this man and said “My brother you can have my shoes, it’s too cold for you to be barefooted out here”. For those few moments their eyes met. The man looked at him hesitantly as if to ask, ‘are you sure?’ The words didn’t come out of this man’s mouth, only a whisper of ‘thank you’ and he was overwhelmed by his emotion and gratitude. For Peter, the good samaritan, he felt so overwhelmed with emotions. This stranger’s gratitude had so many emotions behind it, even though it was a whisper. It felt like he was whispering ‘thank you for giving me back my dignity’.
They need someone to look past the tattered clothes and see a human being.
When a person is homeless, life is already not easy and the elements make these people’s situations even more unbearable in winter. A hot meal and a blanket become a luxury for the homeless community. It is reported that approximately 200 000 people are homeless in South Africa. Many are homeless due to social issues. Sometimes they need someone to look past the tattered clothes and see a human being who just needs a helping hand, no matter how small.
As Peter walked away from the man he describes the feeling of so much warmth in his heart that he forgot about the cold weather. The gratitude felt by the man was enough to warm his own heart.
We as human beings need to take care of each other.
Peter shared that he is from a family of givers and his own father was a great man with a good heart. “My father took in a lot of people in my community. I always thought I was from a huge family. I only discovered at a later stage that some of these Uncles, cousins and aunts were not blood relatives, most of them were people my father took in and was helping. Most of these people have their own families but realized that by my father believing in them, and assisting them, their lives were changed. I don’t believe I did anything extraordinary. We as human beings need to take care of each other. This world will never have suffering if we will be our brothers and sisters keepers.”
Who is Peter’s inspiration? “My father inspires me and also my favorite quote is “Being rich isn’t about money. Being rich is a state of mind” by Harvey Mackey. Doing what I did is more like my daily life because I easily get touched by someone in need, so I will definitely do it again.”
Thank You, Peter Muleya for your selfless example of compassion.
Update: One of our #ImStaying members brought this story to our attention and shared that a new pair of shoes were provided for Peter, thanks to another generous individual. Let this ripple effect of generosity inspire each one of us to be on the lookout for the opportunity to do GOOD DEEDS.
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