Amos Trust’s Karin Joseph, on her last visit to Umthombo in 2019
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Doing Hope in South Africa
Space to Breathe 

Words: Karin Joseph — Head of International Programmes at Amos Trust
Photography: Alison Sloane, Simphiwe Mdunge & Jules Abensour
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Umthombo, Amos Trust’s partner in South Africa, has worked with children and young people living on Durban’s streets for 20 years. Against all odds, their team is transforming lives. 

In the last 12 months, Umthombo worked intensively with over 100 young people on the streets and regularly interacted with many more. Thirty-nine of these young people successfully moved away from the streets.

Sleeping on the street

Complexity of street life: Young people now sleep in so many different settings on Durban’s streets
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When I first visited Umthombo in 2012, children and young people were either sleeping on the streets, in the parks or in abandoned buildings. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government established ‘temporary’ single-sex tented communities for the homeless. Five years later, they remain as squalid, overcrowded sleeping places.

There has also been the creation of ‘low-cost shelters’ — abandoned buildings which have been taken over by illegal landlords and so-called ‘non-commissioned informal settlements’ — rapidly built shacks and dwellings which spring up in a matter of days or weeks in small slivers of unclaimed land around the city. 

These last two settings constitute more of a ‘home’ than the streets, parks or the Covid tents. Some young women can get into a more normal routine, even sending their children to creche or school. However, they still live in highly challenging conditions and are often exposed to extreme violence. 

Sexual Violence

Universal experience: Young women living in low-cost private shelters are at risk of violence
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I met a young woman living in one of these low cost private shelters. Her 6-year-old daughter had been raped four days earlier and she was going through the unimaginable process of responding to this. She had already taken her daughter to hospital and spoken to the police and to the government social workers.

Lindo, Umthombo’s lead social worker, said that, sadly, all the young women they work with know exactly what to do after a rape since most will have experienced this themselves. 

South Africa has some of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world, with a rape reported every 12 minutes. This violence is a near-universal experience for the young women Umthombo work with on Durban’s streets. 

“Life on the street is a burning hell. I am always waiting for my husband to come back. I am an object. I don’t go anywhere — I just sit and wait for him. You’ll always find me here on this corner.” Young woman in Durban

Drugs 

Support through detox: For those who want it, Umthombo and its partner organisations offer medical detox from substances
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For many of the young people Umthombo meets, a life away from the streets feels far out of reach. They have been on the streets for years and are hooked on cheap highly addictive substances. The intensity of drug use on the streets of Durban often means Umthombo’s journey with a young person is full of false starts, as it is so hard for them to break free.

Mpendulo Nyembe, Umthombo’s director, told me that in the past year, 11 of the young people they knew on the streets have died. Whilst the team is no stranger to the streets claiming young people’s lives, this figure was particularly high and seemed to be caused by new dangerous concoctions of street drugs. These include heroin and crystal meth, cut together with ARVs (HIV medication), rat poison or wire wool. 

This makes Umthombo’s outreach work far harder and means that the team needs to get out on the streets early in the mornings before young people get high. 

Outreach 

Building Trust: Umthombo’s outreach team visit the streets three times a week to meet with young people
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The variety of places where street-connected people live in Durban has increased the complexity of Umthombo’s outreach work. The team visits each location three days every week to connect with young people and build relationships with them. 

The team seeks to build trust, share meals, offer support and begin talking about their situations. They find out about their lives, the situations they are living in with their children, their priorities and the options available to those who are looking for a way out of street life.

Amos partners with Umthombo on their work with young women, who often take longer to build this trust, given how many people hurt or let them down. Trust is built piece by piece, and as young women engage more with Umthombo’s team, they may become ready to engage in the next step of their process, which is group work. 

“These young women have been through a lot of traumatic experiences. So many organisations have failed them. I’ve learnt that their patience is minimal — so I myself must be patient.” Mbali, Umthombo, junior social worker

In their work with young men on the street, they talk about violence, positive masculinity and what it means (or doesn’t mean) to be a real man. They are committed to not only tackling gender-based violence by supporting women but also by doing this essential work to involve young men.

Group work

Collective support: Umthombo’s staff team run group sessions where young women can start to share their hopes
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While I was there, Umthombo held a group work session for young women who said they wanted to move into their own independent space or back home with their families. The session was on a city’s university campus in leafy surroundings. Umthombo believes it is essential to take young people out of their daily situations and to a different environment where they can see life from a fresh perspective.   

Ten young women attended, with their babies and children. Many more girls we met on outreach the day before had promised they’d come but in reality, all the girls who came were those living in abandoned buildings, shelters or informal settlements, rather than directly on the streets. Umthombo’s team sees a stark difference in the willingness to engage between those sleeping on the street and those in more sheltered locations. 

Several had attended similar sessions previously but weren’t ready to take the next step. They are always welcomed back by Umthombo, who see attendance at one of the sessions as a vital first step for these young women and a mark of success in itself. 

The young women and their kids were offered breakfast before Umthombo staff members took the children outside to play, giving their mothers some precious time to themselves. During the group session, the young women shared their hopes of moving away from the squalor and danger they were currently living in. Many needed support getting IDs, accessing social grants for their children, or finding employment or training. 

“After this session with Umthombo — I feel relieved today. It has been a breath of fresh air to get out of that horrible place. I enjoyed each and every moment here.” 

Camps 

Supporting Young People: Mpendulo Nyembe, Director of Umthombo in Durban, South Africa
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The next step for a young person with Umthombo is to take part in a series of three residential camps: 

Camp 1: Detox

For those who need it and who are willing, Umthombo supports young people to go through a medical detox. They work in partnership with local organisations who are experts in substance misuse to help those who want to break free of these substances, but it is a long journey and a difficult detox which is often too much to bear.

Many young people talk of how Umthombo has sat with them as they have gone through cold turkey, that team members have stayed up all night with them, cleaning up their sick, calming them and encouraging them.

Camp 2: Counselling and healing

The second camp provides young people with space to process their trauma and begin the journey of healing. Umthombo’s camps are held in beautiful countryside locations outside of Durban. They provide a much needed break from the relentless grind of life on the streets. Umthombo’s team runs one to one and group therapeutic sessions during these camps, providing release and a listening ear. 

Camp 3: Independent living

The third camp is focused on looking ahead and towards independent living. Umthombo’s team delivers sessions on life skills, employability and preparing to move either home to their families or into independent living spaces. 

Once this camp is finished, the team supports them in making this transition and continues to offer support once they have made that move. They may move into their own home, with the support of Umthombo or move home with their family. They may find more independence while still in their current living situation: for example, by securing their own employment, leaving abusive partners and finding a safe relative for their children to stay with whilst they find their feet. 

Many young people may not yet be ready to leave the street. It can take years. But Umthombo will be there if and when they want to try again. They offer young people trapped in the brutal grip of street life a chance to get their heads above water, to take a breath, to look around and to see what the future could hold and what they are capable of. For 39 young people to have taken that step this past year feels magnificent.

Please click here to support Umthombo’s work in South Africa

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