South Africa is a country going through immense change and whilst huge progress has been made over the last 10 years, there is still a long way to go. First of all Thank You. By visiting our website it means you are planning a trip to South Africa and there is nothing the people and the country need more than a continued growth in visitors. In addition there are other ways you can help the country more directly and at Fleewinter we have searched for some time for a programme we can encourage our clients to support. We think we have found it with the Street Kids Programme.

Umthombo – Help to get kids off the street

As any regular visitor will confirm, South Africa is a one of the most beautiful countries, but it is also a country with a turbulent history and a daunting set of social challenges. As a visitor, you are already helping to make a difference; tourism can work towards creating a brighter future for many of the people who need it most. However we also like to help directly, despite it sometimes being difficult to find an effective way of giving to where it is most needed. After considerable research we have decided to support Umthombo Street Children, which works alongside street kids across South Africa.

For many reasons, from domestic violence to simple poverty, thousands of youngsters in South Africa are forced from their homes and onto the streets. Living on the streets is bad enough; the cycle of crime and violence these children often find themselves thrown into as a result is even worse. Umthombo Street Children uses former street children as core staff. They form relationships of trust with the hundreds of kids living on the streets in Durban and East London, encouraging them into counselling, education, sports and creative arts therapy and more as a frontline force to break the cycle. Where possible, Umthombo helps reintegrate street kids into safe family settings. Often even the simplest of steps make a big difference - see Alison’s story below.

It is a truly inspirational project and we donate £10 for each South Africa booking to help fund Umthombo’s ongoing work. We also ask each of our clients to consider matching (or bettering!) this contribution so further supporting the project. The programme is monitored by the UK charity HOPEHIV and they guarantee that every pound donated goes direct to the project without any deductions for administration so your donation will have the maximum benefit.

December 2011 Update.....A big thank you to all of our Clients who have helped us support street children in South Africa. Together you and Fleewinter have raised £570 towards this project, which makes a big difference in the lives of many young people currently living on Durban's streets.

Over the last 6 months, a huge amount of progress has been made and lives changed as a result. Almost 70 children have been reunited with their families, and support work (counselling, conflict resolution, child support grants) has been undertaken to enable this reintegration and prevent the children running to the streets again. Many of these children have also been readmitted to school as part of Umthombo's 'back-to-school' programme.

Umthombo's drop-in centre has continued to provide a safe place for many street children to come to, where they can receive a nutritious lunch and partake in the group therapy sessions that are helping them deal with the trauma resulting from poverty, abuse, neglect and conflict. Many more of Umthombo's staff have been trained to run creative arts therapy, helping traumatised children open up and start to deal with their experiences through the mediums of play, art and drama.

A vegetable garden has also been developed in a sizeable corner of the street outside the drop-in centre, enabling street children to be trained in gardening skills, and helping to provide a daily lunch for the nearly 100 street children who come to the centre every day as part of their transition off the streets.

The aim for 2012 is to continue funding Umthombo to reintegrate more children sustainably into home settings, with a target of 150 children in the coming 6 months. This involves working more intensively with each child at the drop-in centre through their therapy programmes and the funding of experienced, social-work trained personnel - many with lived experience of the streets themselves - to be involved in this reintegration and aftercare focus. With your help and support, we can help make this aim a reality.

Alison's Story

Today is a good day. Alison, three, puts down her toy car and comes to meet Siyabonga and Nokhanyo. They have brought maize and beans, which Alison helps carry back up to the shack. Her mum is sick and lying on the bed that she shares with her five children. Last year, Alison’s sisters, aged ten and twelve, were found begging on the streets.

Siyabonga and Nokhanyo are from Umthombo in Durban. Umthombo works with street kids and helped Alison’s sisters come home. Crucially, the support didn’t stop there. Nokhanyo’s Aftercare Team talks to families like Alison’s to understand why the children ran away and to help improve circumstances so it doesn’t happen again.

Alison’s sisters were on the streets because they were hungry and there was no money for school. The Aftercare Team bought them uniforms and persuaded the principal to waive the school fees. Both girls are now doing well.

Umthombo is also providing food parcels while they help Alison’s mum put better measures in place for her family. Tomorrow, Nokhanyo will take Alison’s mum to Social Services for a citizenship interview, arranged by Umthombo, so she can get an ID book. She tried going to Social Services before, but like many illiterate people, was defeated by the complicated forms. An ID book is a passport to hospital treatment and childcare and sickness benefits. It is also the only way Alison and her sisters can get birth certificates.

Tomorrow Alison will officially exist. Her birth certificate will give her the right to basic government services throughout her life. As Nokhanyo and Siyabonga head back to the Umthombo office, Alison picks up her toy car and drives it off through the dust.

Story taken from INSIDE HOPE, Autumn 2009