Walking with the homeless

by Colleen Lewis

Working with street people has great difficulties. They are mostly observed through working with them for a number of years. This is a sad tale that shows some of the frustrations while trying to assist street people. Below are some salient highlights of our interaction with one particular woman.

Sally* was a young pretty girl when I first met her in Cape Town in 2000. She left her two children in the Karoo in the Eastern Cape for the purpose of finding work, but it did not turn out as she planned. I was informed by people currently living on the street that a young and beautiful girl had started living with them.

She was soon to discover that living on the street was going to be dangerous. Sally first got involved with a man named Jerry*. He contracted a terminal disease and passed away. Sally then found herself with a man named Harry*. During this time Sally fell pregnant and give birth to a child. Sadly poor living conditions meant that the baby was not looked after and soon it died.

When Sally fell pregnant on the street for the second time she was offered a place in a home for moms and babies. Sally returned to the home drunk on a number of occasions. Eventually she left on her own accord. Being unable to provide adequate living conditions, the decision was taken by social services to remove her child. After some time Sally fell pregnant again. The baby was born on the streets. The U-turn staff was phoned to take Sally and her baby (still attached to the placenta) to hospital. This time social services intervened even before she left the hospital and the baby was again placed in a care home.

Part of the problem that Sally faced was that in order to cope on the streets she turned to drinking. Over time Sally developed a very strong alcohol addiction. In order to try and help, I invited Sally to live with me for a trial period. Sadly this did not work as she returned home drunk on a number of occasions and sometimes did not return home at all. Eventually the accommodation option was stopped and Sally returned to the parks in our area.

The U-turn staff has come up with a number of suggestions to help Sally move from her current influences. She was offered a work placement scheme complete with a rehabilitation scheme. Although rehabilitation was accepted no change has been seen. The money she earned has been shamelessly used to further a destructive lifestyle and so the opportunity will soon pass to someone else.

Looking at Sally now, scarred through years on the streets it's hard to believe that she was once the young pretty girl who had just appeared in Cape Town. Sadly the 8 years that I've known her has scarred her in more than physical ways.

Reflecting on all of this I have learnt a number of things that are worth mentioning:

• Contrary to popular perceptions, most women are driven to the street due to home circumstances and not directly because of drugs or alcohol. Drugs and alcohol only become a problem when they remain on the street. Another observation is that it is common for a woman to attach themselves to a guy for protection. These relationships may tend to become abusive but with little or no support networks available to ladies on the street it's often a matter of choosing the ‘lesser' of two evils.
• The people on the street are not aware of the danger of HIV and Aids and so they need to be taught and educated about this. The homeless people lead a very communal lifestyle which brings conflict when attempts are made to rehabilitate individuals. Most importantly, the only thing that will change Sally is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Due to unemployment in rural areas people come to bigger cities and end up living on the street. They become vulnerable and may be taken in by people whose only goal is to use them for illegal financial gain.
• Homeless women often fall pregnant, but are unable to look after their children by themselves. There is a need to have social workers get involved. In most cases the best option is to take the child away from the parent on the street so that they might avoid living the same lifestyle as their parents.
• Working with homeless women is very hard and we pray that by God's grace we would learn how to best to change their circumstances so that they may be afforded the dignity that comes with being a person created in the image of God. My prayer is that Sally will truly accept Jesus as her Lord and savior so that she can look forward to an eternity in heaven. The good news is that Jesus promises her that she'll have her own room in heaven. (John 14:1-4) Please pray with us that she might accept this invitation.

*names have been changed to protect identities

Working with a homeless man

by Alun Burt

Our contact with Tom* has had its ups and downs. He is however a great example of someone who has passed through all our phases of rehabilitation as I will describe.

We first had contact with Tom while he was living on street. He started attending our soup kitchens on a regular basis and we were able to build a relationship with him. When he was offered the opportunity to move into the shelter he took it. Derek Joseph was the only U-turn staff member living in the shelter at the time and so he had the most contact with Tom. Derek was often frustrated with Tom as the drugs that he took caused him to lack any purpose or direction with his life.

When I joined the U-turn staff in February 2006 I learnt about the contact we had with Tom. I stayed in the shelter and so I started learning about Tom's life up until that point. It was quite a surprise to discover that Tom was prisoner on Robin Island around the time that Nelson Mandela was there.

It was difficult to determine exactly what was keeping Tom out of work and away from his family. In prison Tom developed a passion for carpentry and when an opportunity arose in our carpentry workshop to learn modern manufacturing techniques Tom gladly accepted. While he was working there, one of our business supporters were visiting and they spotted his talent. A few months later when they had a vacancy it was offered to Tom. Tom continued living at U-turn until his probation period was completed and was made a permanent employee. He then moved into affordable accommodation near to his work place.

I was soon to discover that even though Tom had a job this was not enough. We assumed that he would spend the money that he earned wisely. It was a disappointment to find out that he was funding his girlfriend's drug habit.

Mitrekraft where Tom worked was also very gracious as they would have to make allowance for him on occasions where he would not come to work. They understood Tom's background and so were patient with him. If we did not have a relationship with Mitrekraft it is unlikely that they would have retained his employment. Their patience has been rewarded as Tom is still employed by Mitrekraft after 14 months.

We have realised that it is not enough to only help provide employment for residents in our shelter. Our investigation in people's drug use has to be a lot more thorough. Drug use drastically affects how responsible people are with their work. That being said, it does not mean that people with drug addictions are not able to learn new skills and turn their lives around. The money management course we taught at the shelter can also be improved by focussing it more specifically on street people's spending habits. It is so crucial that residents respond to God's grace through the gospel so that their lives are turned back to God.

We'll be the first to acknowledge that our rehabilitation endeavours can be improved even further but by God's grace we are grateful that we had the opportunity to draw alongside Tom. Even though there were serious challenges that faced Tom he was still able to benefit from the program and combining opportunity with his carpentry passion proved a good match. We still meet up with him whenever we visit Mitrekraft and our prayer is that we might continue to find him there for years to come.

*names have been changed to protect identities