Mama Kasi at the heart of the Drift community

Everyone in the Drift knows about Mama Kasi and her big heart. Don’t mistake her caring and charitable demeanor for weakness.

Helga Tsoumbris is a tough and hard working woman with a soft spot for furry friends in need of rescue. Helga has made it her life’s mission to ensure the underprivileged and informal communities in our area know their pets have someone guarding their back in times of need.

Helga has been lovingly named ‘Mama Kasi’ by the communities who’ve put their trust in her. She explained the origin of the name as a form of endearment and shortening of the Afrikaans word ‘lokasie’ – which is widely used as a descriptive word for informal settlements.

Being a part of the rescue industry, according to Helga, is a daily challenge. “It really, truly is. As a result, it will never be perfect. Risk is exactly what it is. There is never a permanent solution.”

Unfortunately, the well of helpless animals never stops filling, and one of the main goals of anyone involved in animal rescue is to try to keep that well from overflowing.

Helga explained how she got into the rescue business, and how Mama Kasi came to be.

“As my health improved after my bypass surgery, and I felt better about myself, I wondered, ‘How can I give back now?’”

She decided that with her house, time, and talent, as well as her lifelong love of animals, she would assist animal rescues in squatter camps. “I wanted to help under-served communities and became involved in the sterilisation campaign in the squatter camps,” Helga added.

She went on to describe how emotional her first day was. One of the first animals sterilised was a cat which needed an abortion; the next patient was a dog suffering from a sexually transmitted disease (TVT).

“I just kept thinking how unfair it was,” Helga explained, “but I loved what they did there and thought this is what I want to do, so with every organisation I helped out, I learned more and more about what is needed and how to help these animals.”

Helga established the Mama Kasi Charity Shop as a means of self-sufficiency.

“I used to always ask for donations, and I used to get them, but I still had bills to pay. On a Saturday night, I’d become physically ill, convinced that there must be a better way to do this,” Helga elaborated, saying that another reason she jumped at the chance to open a charity shop was that she had always wanted to own one. “Well, let’s do it,” she decided. And it was there that Helga and her rescue projects became a little more self-sustaining.

“You give me what you don’t want, and I turn it into money.” Helga’s charity shop is well-organised, beautiful, and functional. “I have my health, my hands, my happiness, and I work – that’s all I do.”

Visitors to her charity shop can expect to meet at least one of her three fluffy companions. Pablo is a five-year-old Chihuahua who Helga rescued from a ‘free to any home’ ad on Facebook when he was about 10 months old. Bonnie, a two-year-old energetic and friendly one-eyed Greyhound mix, and Rocky, a 12-year-old mix breed – the old man of the yard. These three are proud mascots for Helga’s golden heart and love for the people in her community.