Melonie Gobel, an ordinary woman making extraordinary change

Sixteen and a half years ago, an elderly lady spoke seven words to Melonie Gobel … seven words that changed the course of her life: “I’m hungry and I heard you care.”

Melonie has since touched thousands of lives through her registered non-profit organisation, Living Waters, an organisation that began with a single pot of soup and one which has developed into a multi-faceted service provider, empowering many vulnerable members of impoverished communities.

On that day back in 1998, Melonie considered herself to be an ordinary young woman, a “farm girl from East London”, and she still believes that’s what she is today.  On the day that her journey began, she had to ask herself if she really did care.  It’s always easy to act like you care, to sound like you care, but when you find yourself in a moment as she did with the elderly lady, did she really care?  Yes, she really did.  That lady was somebody’s mother, somebody’s grandmother  – and Melonie imagined that it was her own grandmother standing in front of her.  She had a choice to make at that moment and the decision she made set her on a path in her life that she could never have imagined possible.

On that particular day, Melonie bought a food parcel for the old lady but, instead of feeling good about her gesture and carrying on with her day, it left her with the distinct impression that for each person she helped, there were a thousand more going hungry.  Finding herself moved, Melonie asked herself what could she do to help – she didn’t have the money to feed all those going hungry, but what she did have was a voice.

Involved in community radio at the time, Melonie realised that she could reach out to people across the airwaves, which she duly did – sharing her moving story with her audience. She invited her listeners to go on a journey with her, a journey that began with soup …

It transpired that that there were plenty of other people who wanted to help too … listeners dropped off food for Melonie allowing her to make huge pots of soup from home and serve it, along with buttered bread, to dozens of hungry people.

Firm in her belief that when blessing anybody, always give the best, Melonie continued making the soup and after a while, took to the streets with her team, feeding anybody and everyone who needed it.  So great was the need that word of what she was doing spread and after a while the Hotel Osner came on board and began making the soup, enabling Melonie’s team to reach out and help an even larger community of people.

One Saturday night, Melonie received a phone call from a young woman she’d been working with.  The young woman told Melonie that she had a house Melonie could use to further her work.   Initially unsure of what to do with the house, she sensed and soon realised that she was being led to look after abused women and children – shortly afterwards, the first Living Waters safe house opened its doors.

A temporary safe, secure shelter for female survivors (and their children) of various forms of abuse and gender based violence, the Living Waters ‘safe house’ has also grown into ‘secondary stage housing’, giving the residents time for healing as well as assisting in the growth and development of their lives.  It allows survivors to stay for longer periods of time, providing the stability needed to grow and change lives.

Today, the safe house is just one of the core projects run by Living Waters.  Other projects include:

• Integrated Skills Development Programs whereby vulnerable community members are empowered with practical, theoretical and life skills.
• One Stop Victim Empowerment Centre, a service supplying the Westbank area of the city – a collaborative project between Living Waters, the ELIDZ (who sponsored the Centre) and the SAPS.  This crime reporting centre supplies easily accessible services to those at extreme risk within a ‘hotspot’ area of the city, as identified by the SAPS.
• Psychosocial Support whereby regular counselling and therapy is offered to all survivors of abuse who come through the doors of Living Waters.
• Preventative Campaigns, working with children and youth-at-risk, supplying them with various types of assistance, from educational bursaries for learners to life skills programs. 

The last project is something that Melonie places much emphasis on. Through integrated life skills programmes, it is possible to change the way that people begin to make decisions in life and enable them to look at personal choices and behaviour.

Living Waters now helps 15,000 people a year and those who are involved in the organisation are people who believe in the vision and the dream;  people who give their time and abilities … ordinary people, like you and like me.

Melonie has been and still is overwhelmed by the generosity and goodness of people and what she has accomplished with them.  Like Melonie, the people that give and do what they can believe that by touching one person, you can change their world. That ordinary people can bring about extraordinary change.

In life, at one time or another, we have all been in need of a helping hand and, whether or not we are aware of it, we all have something to offer to somebody else in need.  On the day that Melonie met that hungry elderly lady, sixteen and a half years ago, she became completely aware of what she had to offer, and she decided to go on a journey, putting her heart and soul into it.

So, did Melonie really care, back then? Yes, she did.  And she cares just as much sixteen years later.  As a wife and mother, Melonie says that she has only come so far and been so successful in serving the community because of the amazing support she has had, and continues to receive, from her family.  Indeed, her family serve the community alongside her and this is the only life her children have ever known.

A remarkable young woman who is carrying out incredible work in East London, striving to create a community where each person can live in a safe and protected environment, where they know their worth and know that they are a valuable contributor to society.

If you feel that you have something to offer Living Waters, be it your time, tools, money or knowledge, you can contact the organisation by visiting their website or calling them on 043 721 2915.

“Not one of us can face life on our own, but together we can fulfill the dream of making life better for us all.”