The Invisible Boy

I accompanied some of the Umthombo team members on a trip to deliver food parcels today. As we stopped for a while in Downtown Durban whilst one of the team attended a quick meeting I watched the activities in the street from the safety of the car.
I spotted a young street boy on the other side of the road. He was walking barefoot and sniffing glue from a carton. Nobody seemed to notice him and people just brushed past him as if he was invisible. I watched him smile at people and try and talk to them but it was as if he did not exist. This was heartbreaking to watch. This young boy has no doubt ended up living on the streets through no fault of his own and is now being ignored by parts of society.

My anger at this situation was increased further following a conversation with a local lady when she asked me what brought me to Durban. When I explained to her that I was working for Umthombo she remarked "is that the kids that sniff glue". This just summed up the way that street children are often perceived - people seeing the end result without considering the factors which have caused the child to turn to glue sniffing to numb their pain - loss of parents, abuse, poverty, hunger, violence......I could go on.

Thank goodness that Umthombo is working towards changing the way that society percieves street children.

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