'Those street kids'

Annette Cockburn

For many years Annette Cockburn has worked with street children in Cape Town, and has delighted us with her anecdotes ...

A donation of second hand toys was brought in, and the boys disappeared into the back yard delighted with the bats and balls, etc. Leaving the office, I noticed a group watching Xolani systematically dropping a huge concrete block onto a skateboard. I opened the window “That's it!" I shouted, “I'm taking back all the toys!" A dozen faces looked up anxiously. “No, No, Prinsipaal it's fine, he's fixing it. He's adjusting the wheel alignment!"

Recruiting child care workers for Street Children projects is not an easy task. A recent applicant considered himself an especially suitable candidate because he had a number of years experience in pest control! (One of my “largely undisclosed" employment criteria, is the ability to “run fast" – either towards, or away from!!)

Petrol stations in Cape Town have, on the whole, a good education programme for their workers. Potential solvent abusers who ask for “30c petrol to clean my school pants" are met with a firm “NO!" I wish hardware shops were as enlightened, and refused to sell glue and thinners to children.

We have informally linked up with a children's project in Langa and have been able to share some of our resources with them. Privilege is a relative concept. From Ulwazi, two very small boys called Siyabonga and Bongeni were referred to us . They could speak no English or Afrikaans. One afternoon I taught them some key words: “Pocket money", “meneer", “shoes", “slaan", etc. The next day Siyabonga stood at my desk and rattled off a stream of Xhosa, ending loudly and firmly with the word “shoes". I got the message!

While we try to get as many children as possible to 'real' school, our Learn to Live centre offers a hands-on vocational programme for those for whom school is not suitable. Niklaus was tired of school “"I don't want to go to proper school any more" he says. “I want to go back to 'Learn to Love' “

During this year, we have had to do extensive repairs at The Homestead, which included the laying of a new vinyl floor. The suppliers arrived with drums of glue and thinners. The Street Children sat wide-eyed on their bunks. Food, shelter and all this “delivered to the door! Truly, this is Nirvana! “Out!" we said, “All out! You're going to the Long Street Baths for the whole day!" Reluctantly they left with a picnic, for their second-favourite occupation – swimming.

For the first time ever, we asked our children to give to children even less fortunate than they: children in a local hospital had no toys and little stimulation. Their response was extremely moving. They brought their pictures, pocket money, sweets, sweaters, a card, a balloon, a jigsaw filched from the Patricks House supply. “For the hospital children," they said. Ismael brought a clay animal he'd made, somewhat battered – “would the hospital children like this?" “Yes, put it in the box."

Another child brought a pack of koki pens which he'd just been given for school: “I want to give these to the hospital children." “Sure," I said, overwhelmed by his generosity. (This particular little philanthropist was back in my office two days later: “I gave my koki pens to the hospital children – can I have some more?" I sigh, “Yes!"

Annie and Headman put all the curtains and duvets into the wash. They were reorganising the dormitories. The washing machine ran all day. “it's going to burn out" said Annie in passing. Quick as a flash Headman, our domestic worker, responded: “and so am I".

Terrence needed to go back to school. Not at all keen, he reported with great delight that while they were happy to have him in the class, they could not provide him with a desk, so as we could clearly see, school was out of the question! Having established that this unlikely story was in fact true, Annie picked up the phone. Two days later a sullen Terrence was carted off to school sitting in the back of the bakkie, in a worn but workable school desk.