Street Lit vendors have the best winter reads
The initiative of The Dennis Hurley Centre helps people earn an income from selling good-quality second-hand, donated books.
STREET Lit vendor Mxolisi Mavimbela says that he is here today only due to the books he sells.
“I’m proud of who I’ve become, and it’s because of these books,” he says.
Street Lit is a project of the Dennis Hurley Centre, which is an NGO caring for the city’s poor and marginalised. The goal of Street Lit is to enable homeless and formerly homeless individuals to earn a living selling good second-hand, donated books at various locations.
Mavimbela usually sells his stock of second-hand books from the Dennis Hurley Centre or at different venues around the Durban city centre. However, the vendor laid out his books on the lime-green tablecloth at St Agnes Church in Kloof this past weekend.
Mavimbela says that he lived on the streets for ‘quite some time’ after travelling to Durban to seek employment.
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“My friend introduced me to the centre, and I started with selling newspapers first, then I got into books. That is when I changed my life, and I started to sell at different places. I wanted a second chance when I started in 2019. I earn a living with these books. I sell inside the Dennis Hurley Centre or I go to different places; I just put my books outside, and people come and buy,” says Mavimbela.
“I can’t recover those lost years, so I had to move on. I lost hope living on the streets. The books are heavy, and transport is hard, but I love my books,” he says.
Members of the public can support this initiative through donating good-quality second-hand books or by buying books from Street Lit vendors. Look out for the bright green tables of the Street Lit vendors at different venues around the city.
