Susan Connolly

So Sad to Leave.......

Sat, 31 May 08 00:10:28 +0200

I am writing this final update now that I am back home. I returned home almost a week ago and have had time to reflect on my experience - a process which I believe will last a lifetime.

I had been so busy preparing for my trip and my time in SA that I wasn't prepared for saying goodbye.....the hardest part. A month spent working at the project is just a drop in the ocean but it was more than enough time to grow attached to the wonderful children that I met and to appreciate the amazing work which is being carried out by the Umthombo Team.

I was fortunate enough to see a few children escape street life and secure a place of safety in a shelter so I have been able to return home knowing that some of the children I met are safe but it is impossible not to constantly wonder about the hundreds of other children and what will become of them.....cold and hungry, debilitated by glue, TB, HIV, raped, stabbed, knocked down, beaten by police, dehumanised by the public.....These are just some of the possibilities from what I witnessed and heard about whilst I was there.

If you are reading this and you want to do something to help - you can. Umthombo relies on donations to continue the work in supporting street children. Visit the Umthombo website (www.umthombo.org) and go to 'support us'. If you are reading this because you are considering volunteering, I would encourage you to take action and do it! You will have the experience of a lifetime and will learn more than you would ever believe possible from the children. It's hard to beat the feeling when one of the kids throws themselves at you and gives you a great big hug!

I would like to thank everyone at Umthombo for making my stay so memorable, everyone I know for your words of support and encouragement and a special thank you to people=positive (www.peoplepositive.com) for supporting this cause through sponsorship of my flight to SA.

The Girls

Mon, 26 May 08 19:11:50 +0200

It has taken much longer to get to know the girls well - you really have to earn their trust first - but when you do you quickly realise that behind the tough exteriors are sweet, vulnerable, loving girls in desperate need of love and support and someone to care about them.

It is impossible to imagine how traumatic it must be as a female to survive street life with all its dangers. Some of the girls I have met are permanently high on glue, almost detached from reality. This has obviously become their only way of surviving this horrendous existence.

The girls have led me by the hand round the streets of Durban showing me the places they go - places I would never dare go on my own yet who is going to worry if they will be safe? There are no parents wondering if they are alright.

Most of the girls take pride in their appearance and like to keep themselves looking nice to the point that you may not at first realise they are living on the street until you notice the bare feet or get close enough to smell the glue. Some of them are mothers and of course many of them are HIV positive.

Last week I was working with the team trying to support one girl towards getting treatment for HIV. This can be a long process and unfortunately this girl looks very sick. Her beaming smile and uncomplaining nature hide a very sad story. She gave birth to a baby girl a few years ago and managed to get accommodation in a shelter so that she could raise her daughter away from the streets. The couple who were running the shelter took the baby for themselves and pushed her out of the shelter telling her that she couldn't support the baby and chased her away any time she tried to visit her daughter.

Before this girl can get treatment she needs to get an official ID card (required by all SA citizens). When she eventually gets this she then needs to get her CD4 count checked and depending on the result may be eligible to commence ARV therapy ( not everyone who is HIV positive in SA will receive treatment). To begin treatment whilst living on the streets is almost impossible and she will therefore have to find a shelter to stay in. There are so many hurdles to cross before this poor girl can get the medical treatment she deserves not to mention the intense ongoing psychological support she needs as a result of the traumas she has endured.

This situation is just so heartbreaking and this girl is just one of many struggling to literally survive.

Hopes and Dreams

Tue, 13 May 08 20:41:09 +0200

So many of the children I have met are just such an inspiration. Despite the circumstances they find themselves in they are holding on to their hopes for a better future.

I am so delighted to hear them talk of their future careers with dreams of becoming doctors, dentists, pilots, teachers, social workers and journalists.

One 14 year old boy told me that he plans "to stay focused on his goals to make sure he achieves success".
It is just incredible to hear such positivity. I cannot imagine that I would ever have been able to make a statement like that at 14 years old!

Many of the kids I have met are incredibly intelligent and articulate and they all display such strength and resilience. I can only hope that they find a life away from the streets to pursue their dreams and do not succumb to the dangers of street life.

Townships

Tue, 13 May 08 20:30:27 +0200

I visited several Townships today to help deliver food parcels. I've seen the conditions many times on television from the comfort of my own home however to walk around them yourself and witness first hand the living conditions is a completely different story - so far removed from my own life which I can now only describe as complete and utter luxury.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of 'houses' crammed together and built from I suppose whatever material is available. People are walking with their buckets to get water from the outdoor water supply and of course not all 'houses' have electricity. It's hard to believe that only a few miles away in central Durban there are big shopping centres just like back home.

I am welcomed with open arms into all of the homes which we visit. Although my knowledge of Zulu extends to about a dozen words only, this does not stop me from understanding the friendly welcome I receive everywhere!

It is the poor living conditions and extreme poverty within the Townships which causes some of the children to leave their homes and run to the streets where they hope life will be better. Of course it doesn't take long for the dangers of street life to become a reality with many of the children eventually wanting to return home. This is not a straight forward process though and requires a lot of negotiation between Umthombo team members, social workers and the families who sometimes refuse to take the child back (yes - you read that right). Another option is for the child to go to a shelter which again takes time as I have found out this week. We have visited the social work department 3 times already to find a place of safety for a young boy who is desperate to escape street life however we are still no further forward in the process. This job requires a lot of patience and I have great admiration for all the team who dedicate themselves to this!

Where are all the kids?

Mon, 12 May 08 21:59:10 +0200

As we drove around in the ambulance today looking in all the usual places for the children, they were nowhere to be found.

The staff informed me that this is common when there is an event taking place in the city. In order to 'hide' the existence of street children, the police round them up, often using violence and drive them out of the city. The children are then dumped somewhere on their own often miles from anywhere. I cannot even begin to imagine how terrifying this must be for them.

As if their situation is not bad enough they are then subjected to this inhumane treatment. As I write this I don't think I have ever felt so angry........

Breaking Bread

Mon, 12 May 08 21:50:53 +0200

I arrived at The Drop In Centre today just as the kids were having dinner - a thick piece of bread and water.

The first thing one of the boys did before even taking a bite was to offer some of his bread to me. I do not know the last time this boy had a proper meal. Of course I declined telling him that he must keep it all for himself to which he replied that as we are friends he really wants to share with me....... how incrediby humbling!

This is just a typical example of the display of generosity from a lot of the children I have met here. They are often concerned for my safety....holding my hand to cross the road, telling me the places I must not go and always asking how I am. They will never know the impact they have had on me and how much I have learnt from them.

Out on the Streets

Mon, 12 May 08 21:42:31 +0200

My second week has been spent working on the ambulance/mobile health clinic. As well as having a paramedic there are also a couple of outreach workers on board. The team drive around the streets looking for children who need medical help, identifying children who are new on the streets, connecting with the children they already have a relationship with in order to try and get them off the streets and generally offering support and advice.

Nothing can really prepare you for your first trip out on to the streets and your first encounter with a group of children that you find. It is every bit as heartbreaking as you would expect it to be and so much worse.
Children as young as 10 years old, dressed in whatever clothes they can find, some sniffing glue to escape the reality of street life. They of course all greet you with a smile but the look in their eyes tells a different story. You could just weep for these kids. But what good would that do? All you can do is be with them, listen to them and show them you care.

Some of the kids try hard to keep themselves clean, showering wherever they can and using old brooms to brush their hair.

The stories the team tell me about what has led some of these kids to live on the street can only be described as horrific. These kids therefore arrive on the streets traumatised only to descend into further misery, subjected to things which no child should ever have to experience.
As you stand in front of them looking at their situation you just cannot believe that it is real and nor can you believe the number of people walking on past as if they don't exist.

'The world isn't bad because of evil
people but because of all the good
people doing nothing'

I have however seen a small number of people dropping off food bags as they pass and there are organisations in the city who donate food, clothes etc.

Some of the wounds and sores these children have are dreadful and yet they barley complain, attending the mobile clinic looking only for an elastoplast. The wound care which I am able to give them is not great however due to lack of resources. Many of the wounds which I am seeing need proper hospital treatment and antibiotics yet most of the kids just do not want to attend hospital.

I managed to persuade one young boy to attend the hospital with a horrendous burn to his leg. However within 5 minutes of arriving at the emergency department he was nowhere to be found. This may have been due to the complete lack of care and compassion which he received from the hopsital staff, which may also explain the reluctance of the other children to attend.

The Invisible Boy

Mon, 12 May 08 21:10:47 +0200

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.

First Week

Mon, 12 May 08 20:54:21 +0200

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.