In a segment acknowledging Tuesday 10 October as World Homeless Day, Pat Eddy, the CCID’s Social Development manager, recently participated in an SABC3 Expresso broadcast highlighting the plight of Cape Town’s own street people. She was joined in studio by Danny Oosthuizen of the Cape Argus’s Dignity Project and Hassan Khan of The Haven Night Shelter.
With the CCID’s call to action being “show you care”, Pat explained that – in terms of the City’s total estimate of around 7 000 homeless people - there are currently around 700 people living in and around the Central City (or CBD) of Cape Town, and that the reasons people found themselves on the streets were many and varied.
Says Pat: “Show you care is the ethos by which we, as the CCID Social Development team, work each and every day. Although people living on the street live in the public eye, the depth of their trauma is often overlooked. The only way to understand and assist is to treat them as you would anyone else: with care and compassion.”
This sentiment was echoed on the morning by Afternoon Express presenter, Danilo Acquisto, who – together with his friends – spend Sunday afternoons trying to make a difference in the lives of a homeless community in their neighbourhood by providing a meal and some form of entertainment.
Says Danilo: “I find that people will remind you not to give money to people at the robot, especially if you’re not too certain of their circumstances or their backgrounds.”
This, realises Danilo, is because the assumption is that everyone on the streets is using the money they get from begging for drug or alcohol abuse. While it may often be the case, it is not always the case.
“People who live on the streets live some very difficult lives,” continues Danny. “They are not seen by society as regular human beings who can get work. The stigma, however, that it creates is that you then shouldn’t do anything at all.
“And my stance on that is if you’re not going to give the R5, I’m perfectly okay with that. But then, what are you doing?”
Strength in dealing with the challenges of homelessness, says Pat, lies in numbers in terms of public awareness, education and involvement: “I would also like to take the opportunity that World Homeless Day creates to reach out to the Central City community - the business people, residents, NGOs and City officials we work with - and say that I know we all have different viewpoints when it comes to street people. But it’s time that we come together and show we all care for our community as a whole.”
See the full World Homeless Day half-hour segment here.
For more about the CCID’s own “Show you care” campaign and to find out what you can do to assist, click here.
Picture by Ed Suter: CCID Fieldworker Mark Williams with a client