Street Lit book vendors: ‘Find your fighting spirit’

The Street Lit programme, which started three years ago at the Denis Hurley Centre, is now an award-winning entrepreneurship project. Street Lit was the KZN finalist in the SAB Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards 2019. Through the project, a team of trained, rehabilitated homeless and formerly homeless people earn a modest income from selling donated books.  

GLENWOOD resident, Richard Nzima’s life has turned around since he started selling books in 2018.

“I was living on the street for three-and-a-half months before I started selling books. I am from Mpumalanga and came to Durban for a job opportunity. When I arrived, I found out it was a scam. I didn’t have any money – I had nothing. I had to fight to get back on my feet,” he said.

That’s when he went to the Denis Hurley Centre, where he was given a box of books to sell.

“That day I managed to sell R450 worth of books – I was so grateful. From that day, I saw an opportunity to venture out in business. I started focusing on sourcing good-quality books and looking for venues to sell my books,” he said.

While Nzima holds a diploma in sales and marketing, he was unemployed for several years before he moved to Durban. As a book vendor, Nzima has worked at several venues. “This is my career now, I am comfortable selling books,” he said.

Currently, his well-stocked book stand is set up at Pick ‘n Pay Hyper by the Sea, where Nzima can be found on weekends, working alongside his partner, Khanyisile Cele.

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“When Kanyisile first started, I used to pay her salary. Then I realised she is also growing and needs to start making money for herself. I decided to give her one table. Whatever is on that table is hers. She keeps her own profits,” he said.

He said at one point, he had three people working for him but, due to Covid-19, business came to a standstill.

“I am hoping to start again next year,” he said.

Other challenges Nzima faces include transport costs and finding venues to sell his books.

“I am looking for other venues, especially shopping malls,” said Nzima.

“I spend about R1 800 per month just on transport, because we have to carry the books up and down. It really is a challenge,” he said.

Finding hope

Looking back, Nzima said his drive to succeed is what took him from homeless to Street Lit.

“The one thing that happens when you are on the street is that you lose your dignity. You lose your self-esteem, to the point that you look at yourself and think, ‘I am nothing. No one is going to help me’. You have to rise above that. On the street there are forces that can hold you down when you want to get out. I was shocked to learn that some people have been on the street for more than 10 years. I didn’t want to be there for even one more day. I was pushing to get out of that situation,” he said.

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While Nzima has turned his life around, for many, the biggest challenge is to find the will to try.

“Some have lost their fighting spirit and given up. They were hoping to get off the street but are still there. Some come from broken families – they feel they are on their own. I wish there could be a chance for people to redeem themselves, because this is a borrowed life. It’s not what God designed for them, to live the way they are living now. It’s a matter of information – people need to be given information on how to get off the streets,” he said.

“Whatever life throws at you, you must not give up, you must find a way to survive. I remember when I had nothing. Somebody told me about the Denis Hurley Centre. When I went there, what caught my eye was the information on the posters on the walls,” he concluded.

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