The Forgotten Generation

Recently we have launched a new program at Umthombo Street Children in Durban called Umthombo Mentoring. It is a program specifically designed to empower street youth who grew up as street children. These young people are yesterday’s street children. This is a forgotten generation and spending so much time with this group has really opened my eyes as to the realities that street youth face.

We have known for some time that this age group of street dwellers are neglected. There are a number of street children organisations but very few people work with children over the age of sixteen at street level and eighteen in residential care facilities. It is as if you cease to matter once you graduate from being a child to a young adult. The cynical will perhaps say that it is because government welfare support ceases at eighteen in residential care facilities so they no longer bring in money. Others might say that it is harder to raise money to support programs for street adults as they are not needy children anymore. The less cynical might simply say that they are adults now and as the number of children suffering is so great they must now fend for themselves.

However, it can be argued that the very fact that street children have grown up to become street youth points to a failure of past city-wide or the lack thereof. The last ten years in Durban are not years that we, as a city can be proud of in relation to street children. Despite a few hardworking organisations the issue has been clouded by politics, bad strategies and wasted money. It has resulted in a group of youth who have been failed by society. These are yesterday’s street children. They were the children of  “Thuthukani” (a disastrous and failed Durban street children program), they were the youth of “Tong Lok” (an informal squat taken over by the youth after the closure of Ththukani which was closed down a few years ago), they were the youth of Caltex (a derelict former garage in the Point area that they moved into in desperation and were forcefully removed from). They were the youth of Parkview (a park where, out of desperation, they lived after being removed from Tong Lok.)  They are young people, many of whom have been on the streets for more than ten years.  Their road to adulthood has been a minefield. They have suffered being “rounded-up” by police countless times, forced into makeshift street children programs and have been in and out of prison since childhood.

At such a young age, these youths are veterans of the streets.  They are survivors and battle-scarred but they are alive. Yesterday’s street children are adults now. The consequences of a childhood on the streets are painfully obvious to them now as they find it impossible to get work. They have no ID’s (a prerequisite for working legally in South Africa), no education, they are no longer cute, vulnerable children and so find not favour as beggars. Life is a constant struggle.

The system failed them as children and now disowns them as adults. Society rejects them as criminals as if this is a disease they brought upon themselves. They are demonised and detested. They try to escape the streets by banding together in derelict buildings in the Point area until police move in and arrest them. They are subject to random fingerprinting in the vain hope that something can be pinned on them to ensure their arrest and removal from the area. They are rounded up for being potential criminals. Some survive through odd jobs here and there like helping market-traders transport their goods or through car guarding but the lure of crime becomes overbearing. Many of them, especially the females, are forced to make a choice: crime or prostitution. In order to be able to cope with these survival methods they rely on the cheapest drugs available. For many of them “sugars”, a mixture of the leftovers of heroin, cocaine and rat poison is an escape. However, all of these things intensify the ever-decreasing circle of life pushing them towards the inevitable. On top of this, being in and out of jail forces upon them survival mechanisms such as joining gangs like the 26’s and the 28’s. These prison gangs are for life and the pressures related to them follow you long after you are released from prison.

Street youth only appear on societies radar when they are a threat. In other words, when street youth have descended to the depths of choosing crime to survive, they are suddenly recognised by society…as a threat.  They are seen as something to be “removed” or a  cancer. Little thought is given to how these young people ended up so desperate and so detached. No one seems to care about them until they become criminals. Yet, no one is   born a criminal. The young people of the streets face an almost impossible future with a lack of real choices. The ever decreasing circle leaves them in a punch-drunk state where they become resigned to the inevitable; a short life.

However, these young people are human beings. They long for stability, for relationships, for families and within the chaotic street environment they attempt to keep going. They find themselves becoming parents, being in love, having needs, all increasing the desperation to survive and provide. The men want to provide a life for their girlfriends and children. The women want their babies to have a life different to theirs. This scenario is a recipe for disaster. Where does a 23 year old father of two turn to when he is constantly denied employment, constantly harassed by the authorities, constantly denied access to housing, healthcare and other basic needs?  I have two children of my own, and although I abhor violence and crime, if it was a matter of their survival would I think twice about robbery? 

Obviously the number of street youth would be far higher if those positive groups working with street children had not empowered so many over the last ten years.  However, these pockets of good work that appeared during this time were not supported by informed government welfare policy so most NGO’s worked on their own with no real guidelines.  They were hugely under-funded and therefore unable to offer levels of service to their potential.  2007 saw a wind of change in Durban on the issue of street children. Key service providers including NGO’s, government, municipality and police drew closer together. Partnerships were formed and alliances strengthened. This bodes well for the future. It provides real hope for today’s street children. However, what we have, particularly in the Point area of Durban is a backlog.

Umthombo has taken thirty-four such young people and designed a program of empowerment with them that gives them access to new choices. It is a package of life skills, skills training, assistance in the process of obtaining ID’s, counselling, mentoring, accommodation and assisted job search. A process of  conscientization that enables them to re-envision themselves as full human beings is the centre point of the program. It is a huge challenge and will not be easy. It will take determination and commitment from both the young people and Umthombo. Yet, these youngsters are desperate to leave street-life and have seized the opportunity. It is hard to describe the feeling of seeing hope in their eyes for the first time. It is hard to imagine, at times, that these are the same people that had become so notorious in the area. Being around these young people make a future a reality in their lives is a beautiful experience. The forgotten generation not only have a chance to a better future but will be a crucial resource for decision makers in order to ensure that we do not allow today’s street children to live without hope for so long.  Bring on the change!

Tom Hewitt
11/02/08 
Maputo, Mozambique