THE country at the moment is celebrating Youth Month, but the sad reality is that almost half of the country’s youth is living on the streets.
There are many factors that drive South African children to the streets; the city of Durban has one of the highest number of street children in the country.
There are organisations that make great attempts to remove and rehabilitate street children, and Street-Wise is one organisation that offers shelters for such young people.
The Street-Wise Rehabilitation Shelter in Mariannhill houses up to 40 children at a time, offering programmes of counselling and life skills to prepare the children for life back with their families.
They also have an after-care system for children in the area, have outreach programs and provide school uniforms for the children.
The organisation faces many challenges, one being that once the children leave the shelter and pursue higher education, there are no funds available to further their studies.
“We bring them so far; its difficult to see them not going further in life and reaching their goals,” said shelter coordinator, Sister Helena.
Resources affect management – there are rooms that need renovation and the dusty road coming into the shelter is a challenge.
“Its cheaper to keep a child and rehabilitate them than to keep them in prison,” said Sister Helena.
The young people from the shelter have written letters about their experiences in the shelter, and here is what some of them wrote;
“Since I lived in Street-Wise from 2008 my life has changed, it gave me a second chance and an opportunity to improve my community.”
“When I first came to Street-Wise I had loving parents, but I didn’t have confidence in myself. I had an argument with my parents and was too scared to return home out of fear.”
In the midst of all the celebrations, society needs to remember that the future of our youth is important, and ensuring that organisations such as this one continue to operate is vital.
If you want to contact Street-Wise call Sister Helena on 079 395 2180.
