"The thing that I remembered the most was how full of life the people were even in their desperate surroundings."

I returned to Streetwise after three years along with my friend Julie who was there for the first time. The first time I went I was slightly carefree, not really knowing what to expect but this time around I was more nervous for some reason, maybe it was because I knew what it was going to be like. I arrived in Durban airport to find that my bags were still sitting in Johannesburg airport, great start I thought to myself. I was picked up by Sister Helena, who currently is the co-coordinator of Streetwise Durban branch. I was surprised that she still recognized me and even more surprised that she still had her red Opal Kadette car, which the last time I saw should have been sent to the scarp yard! But after all she was a very spirited and strong lady and I’m sure she would not have been any happier with a newer car.

Driving to Streetwise I saw that there was some change in the land that surrounded me. I could see the slums still in certain areas, but there seemed to be progress in others. Solid brick rooms replacing the mud, tin or cardboard homes that once stood there.

Streetwise itself looked pretty much the same too on the outside. Lot of improvements had taken place in the interior of the building, completed by a team of construction workers from Ireland and fellow OYS members. The shower area was looking a lot more user friendly and nicer. Familiar faces still worked in the kitchens and offices which made my return slightly more comfortable. All the children were new; I was surprised to see that they looked a lot older than the kids from my last trip.

My first time to the Streetwise project was spent painting and varnishing two buildings in a black populated township called Amaoti. This time around my time was spent at the main Streetwise house. I was involved in helping in the office and interacting with the kids. This mainly involved chatting to them, playing football or basketball, or trying to play their very complicated card game. Julie, who is a teacher by profession, helped out in the school and started an after-dinner reading project to assess the kids reading abilities. We also managed to organise a sports day to keep the kids busy on one of the days. There were fellow volunteers from Germany who helped out every day and managed to organise a talent contest that the kids really enjoyed.

Since my last visit there had been great change in the Streetwise project which I was so happy to see. The Amaoti prevention project had acquired an extra wooden cabin to function as a school and nursery. The whole project now dealt with nearly a hundred children with demand for more but no capacity at the moment. It was so fantastic to see what a difference the centre really makes to the local children. Education and safety from a young age, helping them not to go onto the streets.

There was a brand new project, an information centre for another small settlement. It provided the people there with help on things like what their medical entitlement was and how to obtain official documents for themselves. We were given the chance to walk around the settlement, which was amazing and eye opening. Walking around houses made from mud and tin, going in and seeing families and their children. The thing that I remembered the most was how full of life the people were even in their desperate surroundings. Some of them had small babies who looked full of health and very cared for.

Felix, one of the out reach workers, took Julie and myself out one night into Durban city centre – something you could never do as tourists! He let us watch him work. He knew a lot of the kids on the street and they were very respectful of him, giving him their attention. We walked along the sea front, again chatting to some of the street kids. It was great to see Felix work; he treated the kids with the respect that they deserved, telling them about what Streetwise could offer them. At the end of the night we took a kid, who Felix had been chatting to for a while, back to Streetwise. It was probably my best experience to date of what Streetwise was really about and what it meant to the kids on the street.