Hers is the warm embrace that welcomes those homeless or displaced to Tshepo Community Development Initiative, when it seems to them that all hope is lost and forgotten.
Theki Phukuntsi has been a social worker there for about five years now. Her desire to be part of this organisation was based on her need to work with, and help make changes in people’s lives. “I had always worked in the corporate environment, working in the banking sector, and found myself working with really wealthy people. But I wanted to work with those less fortunate so I could help them to move up in the world, and be able to transact like others in banks.” Her aim has always been to help others in any way she could so they could get out of poverty.
A day at the office for Phukuntsi is to a experience something different everyday. Each day she listens to the hardline stories of those that come to her for aid, making sure to also really hone in on all the things they may not be sharing with her too. “All of this so that there be a sense of addressing the exact problem. The organisation is very interested in working on the underlying issues that put a person where they are.”
She assesses what their problems are and follows this up with regard to the individual.
Some of the experiences shared to her by those who confide in her speaks to the research they have found that homelessness is either linked to unemployment, mental health issues, breakdown in families or, in some cases, others are from prison and struggle to get back in society. “On a personal basis, this is really touching. You tend to think of your own brothers, cousins or the teenagers you raise. My work here teaches me to prevent others from finding themselves in similar situations.”
In her opinion, poverty is not always clearly apparent, as a lot of the people the centre assists are also those that have been referred to them by churches. “There can be a congregant struggling, due to various circumstances, retrenchment and the likes.”
Phukuntsi said just because you see streets lined with beautiful homes does not mean the people within them are without struggle.
With that being said, however, in situations where poverty is quite apparent, she urges community members not to paint all those homeless/displaced with the same brush – assuming they are drug addicts, users or criminals. “Not all of them are like this but, even if this be case, nobody should be thrown out. Give people a chance, listen to them, see what you can do and if you cannot assist them, refer them to places like this organisation.”
Phukuntsi also implored the community to not give money to the homeless but rather give it to organisations like the development centre that can be of better assistance to those in need.
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