First Week

Unfortunately I have only been able to work for 2 days on my first week due to public holiday days here in Durban. During this time however many things have happened which have had such an impact on me that even if I were to return home now (which I won't be!!)life can never quite be the same again.

I have been working out of the Drop In Centre run by Umthombo. This is a place of safety for children living on the streets where they can come to get fed, showered, clothed and chat to staff. It is of course quite shocking to see the centre for the first time. There are a number of kids sleeping on the grass from the night before, still wrapped in their dirty blankets. I watched as others folded up their blankets for the next night and stored them in a wheelie bin. Other kids are working hard sweeping the ground clean, cleaning out the toilets and emptying the bins.
What is even more shocking is the thought of the other kids that have not spent the night here but out on the streets subjected to devastating consequences which I can only imagine.

All of the children at the centre have a huge smile and a friendly handshake for me on my arrival. None of them complain or ask me for anything rather they want to know about where I've come from!

On my first morning I spotted a young boy playing on his own. When I go to chat to him he tells me that he is 8 years old. So young and here he is fending for himself on the streets. He tells me that 'mummy got sick with that thing (presumably AIDS) and daddy got shot and died". I just feel so helpless looking at his little face. When he spots my camera he wants to play, taking pictures of me and getting me to take pictures of him posing, just like any other little boy his age. But of course he is not like the little boys that I know back home and I can't even begin to imagine what he has gone through both before and since arriving on the streets.

Later on the same day I met another young boy who is the most intelligent and articulate 13 year old I have ever met. He tells me he is so lonely on the streets as he does not sniff glue like a lot of the other kids do to numb their pain so he can't hang around with them. He goes to sleep alone on the street at night and prays that he will wake up safe the next morning. He tells me that he will now pray for my safety whilst I am here in Durban. How incredibly humbling.......this child who has nothing is concerned for me. I really feel I can teach this clever boy very little but he has unknowingly taught me a lot.

I'm not sure that I'll feel like I've done anything to make a difference in the short month that I am here however already the people that I have met will never know the difference they have made to me.

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