A Message from Durban

Isaac Ansell Forsyth

When I was in South Africa, from January to July of this year, I tried to set up as many meetings as possible. I was also sure to put my email address and that of the Jabulani Project around as much as possible. This was for a couple of reasons.

The first being that there is no inappropriate time to plug the Project. The more we get known out there the better.

Also though I felt it important to provide information about the projects we work for and causes we fight for. This was especially the case for street children. The prevalence of street children is large in Durban but surprisingly little is known about the causes of homelessness or street life itself among the general public.

I managed to get my name out there a bit and received a few emails asking for information at the time. Last week, here in Scotland, I received this email:

"Dear Isaac,

"We have seen your name & that of Tom Hewitt [former Umthombo CEO] & Umthombo connected to street children & shelters for them  & wonder if you are all connected?

"We have a  donation which we would like to make to the street children of Durban & wonder how best to go about it?  Should we give it in R5 denominations to each of the next 70 children we pass at the robots or would it be better to hand it over to you to spend on their behalf?  If we bank  it locally, it will attract  deposit fees which could buy a couple of loaves of bread instead.

"We would be happy to hear from you so that this once off donation can be made.

"Yours sincerely..."

Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to make suggestions.

I replied to her explaining who we, Jabulani, are and suggested she give directly to a centre or shelter as it is better these individuals receive support in a safe environment rather than on the street. I also told her about the local organisations supporting street children.

The result was a donation to old friends SISCO, who are still working away. The donation itself will pay for their gas for a while and, perhaps more importantly, a new link has been founded.

Eight thousand miles between Scotland and South Africa? Try and stop us.