Angels In Exile Durban South Africa Ariel Ariel’s Father Ariel’s Uncle Zuleika Mandi Sosha Tom Hewitt Zakes Mawillis Simphiwe Tennyson J.T. Eugene BR(OS) CT Delani BR(OS): (00:30) No kid should be on the street. Ariel: (00:31) Why? How come no kids should be in the street? If your parents don’t care for you what you going to do? BR(OS): (00:36) No No No, but that’s what I’m saying. That’s not right. You don’t have a choice. none of you guys deserve, none of you guys - Ariel: (00:41) If your parents don’t give you what you want then what are you going to do? Because on the streets its like I’m getting everything on the streets because people give me money, they give me clothes, they give me everything. I don’t wory about my family, which is true. I don’t worry about my family. CT: (02:11) This is Durban’s point road district. Home to hundreds of homeless kids. And considered the city’s most dangerous neighborhood. By two thousand and three, children were arriving to the streets in droves. Around the same time, an American named Billy traveled to Durban to surf. On his way to the water he couldn’t help but notice the countless homeless kids on Durban’s beachfront. He started documenting the kids and their life on the streets. Zuleika: (2:44) Look what they drinking Billy, look. These are also my friends. I’m closing my eyes to this. I was drinking here, just one sip. No, I’m not drunk. I’m not. I just took a little bit. (03:11) I think I came here in the year 2000. I visit home sometimes but I always come back to the streets. My friends and I have too much fun together. When we wake up, we hide our blankets and clothes, then we bathe in the ocean at the beach. My nail polish remover … my pads… toothbrush and toothpaste. Then later at our place, we might lay out a blanket and sit on the lawn. And sometimes eat food. (03:53) Where is the drink? Zuleika’s friend:(s?) (03:55) I told you, there are rats here. They even ate my chips. Zuleika: (04:01) I’m the one that ate them yesterday. Zuleika’s friend:(s?) (04:03) All of them? Zuleika: (04:05) Yes. (04:08) Zakes, he is my boyfriend, and we’ve been together for a long time. He was dating Mbali. Now he’s with me. Zakes: (04:22) She loves me too much. That’s why she’s not living at home. BR(OS): (04:32) You’re the reason why she keeps coming back? OS Interviewer: (04:38) What does she tell you about why she left home? Zakes: (04:44) Many things. OS Interviewer: (04:46) Can you tell me about it? Zakes (04:50) I can’t right now. OS Interviewer: (04:52) – Do you want to talk in private? Zakes: (04:53) – Yeah, we’ll talk about it later. CT: (04:57) Zakes never did tell how Zuleika got to the streets. But there was a woman that all the street kids did open up to. Mandi Hewitt: (05:04) Show us one of your talents then. Zuleika: (05:08) My talent – My talent is to go back to school. Mandi Hewitt: (05:12) No that’s a goal, that’s not a talent. A talent is something that you are good at doing. Zuleika: (05:18) I’m good at singing. Mandi Hewitt: (05:20) Sing. Zuleika: (05:23) I don’t think I got that very much voice, but I do got a bit. Mandi Hewitt: (05:27) Show us then. Zuleika: (05:29) Because even if I’m singing someone can hear me. Mandi Hewitt: (05:32) Ok, let’s hear you sing girl. Zuleika : (05:35) (Sings) Mandi Hewitt: (05:56) Tell me in your life, what are your goals? Zuleika: (06:01) My goal is to go back home, go back to school, stay with my sister… work things out with my mother and with all my family, stay nice. Mandi Hewitt: (06:16) When are you planning this, you say you’re trying to sort out your life. How? Zuleika: (06:21) I used to go to the shelters, the homes, places of safety… stay. Go back to my mother’s to ask if I can go back to school. She told me she can’t put me back in school because I am nothing to her. Mandi Hewitt: (06:38) And how did that make you feel? Zuleika: (06:40) It made me feel bad and I decided to go away from home. Mandi Hewitt: (06:45) Let me tell you what happened to me. Why I went to the street was because of my stepfather, the way he was abusive. You see, he was a drunk. He used to hit us, and one time, he hit my sister. So he hit my mother and he hit all of us. So I took my brother and my sister, they were seven or eight, I took them to the street. We slept on the corner until one of the older boys got us off the streets because we were too young. We went to a shelter for the next five years and when I got out I started doing the job I have now. I’m doing this job because I know all about abuse on the streets. CT: (07:37) Mandi and her husband Tom founded a non-profit organization called Unthombo Street Child Action, and had been working with the kids for years. Tom Hewitt: (07:46) We started off as a small group of concerned individuals in some what maverick sense(?). Just running around in one vehicle. You know, befriending getting to know kids, standing in solidarity with them. You know, fighting on behalf of them, and try to get them off the streets. Fifteen of the thirty star(?) former street children such as Mandi, they’re all trained as child and youth care workers. You know, they’ve experienced the things that the kids have experienced. Mandi Hewitt: (08:11) Because of me being there, I am the voice for those kids. And I am the hope for them as well. Tom Hewitt: (08:18) What makes Umthombo unique is not the fact that it’s a(?) all former street children doing this. It’s a fusion of this huge team of former street children with senior social workers and other professionals and that’s what makes it really exciting. Ariel: (08:45) I think it’s better, these… these boys who I’m staying with than my family. We all look after each other. If we all got money like 5 Rand, we all put money together we buy food. Even if its not your [nationality], but we’ve all got the same blood, as we say. You see we all stay together. We ask tourists for money. Some of them give us ten rand. They give us five rands, one rands, two rands. The blankets we’ve got, we share blankets. We are like a family. Sosha Thuthukhani: (09:32) Ariel, you know man, I’ve been on the streets with you man. Remember our place, down by the chemist? Remember that day when I left the street? Ariel: (09:42) It was the day when you broke the window. Sosha Thuthukhani: (09:47) Ariel and I grew up on the streets together. We lived in shelters, different shelters, and then so it came to a point that I had to leave the street. Like I had an opportunity you know to start a new life as well. And then I came back to the street as an Umthombo worker. The reason why I was on the street, I grew up in a family that was unable to take care of my needs both physically and emotionally. At about an age of 10, I made a decision running away from home to nowhere. I started realizing that, oh man, it’s so hard being on the streets. But I took it as a minor thing, because glue was there. I sniffed glue and forget about worries. CT: (10:33) Durban’s street children have easy access to glue that’s sold by local vendors or other street children. When the kids over abuse the drug, it causes severe pain in the joints, and walking becomes difficult. The street kids call this, “Dobella.”(?) BR(OS): (11:08) Why do you like glue so much? Ariel: (11:09) It makes you feel warm when you’re in the streets, keeps you company, makes you forget about your parents, your family, your brothers, your sisters, your house. Unnamed Kid: (11:22) I sniff glue because I saw my friend sniffing glue. They said, “Ok, try this.” I tried it. So it felt good. So I said, “Let me carry on doing this.” You don’t even feel that you are hungry. Except that if you don’t have glue, you can feel that you are hungry. Because now you see, you can’t survive without it here. Delani: (11:47) Money and stealing, I have wasted, if I wasn’t sniffing glue. I could have bought sneakers, so I can be noticed and look nice. Also, when you have used it for too long, you cry. Ariel: (12:09) Don’t like! Don’t lie! Because if I didn’t say anything you were not going to give it to me. You thief. You! You will see my boy. You’ll see. Ariel’s Friend or Acquaintance: (12:19) We’re both thieves then! Ariel: (12:25) You’ll see, my boy. I keep telling you. Be careful. I’ll take your money, you pussy. I’ll take your money. Sosha Thuthukhani: (12:46) The hardest part of getting off the street is when you are drug addict. Even though there is something attractive back home or wherever you are going, you will still continue coming back to the street because of being drug addict. One of the days I went back home, at my mother’s house. My sister, she was going to get married soon. And I was so addicted to glue. In a way though, I couldn’t stay without any pocket money and I had no money at that time. I broke into my granny’s bedroom and I broke the wardrobe key. I was so stupid. I didn’t know it was a marriage ring. I took the ring and sold it for 50 Rand. And I felt so bad, because it’s something that I did. Even today, I’m still thinking of that and I don’t like it at all. BR(OS): (13:38) When you took this money, what did you go do with it? Sosha Thuthukhani: (13:42) Man, I can’t really talk right now because what happened is so bad. CT: (13:50) Sosha’s brother was arrested for stealing the ring, and spent some time in jail. A few years later, he passed away from HIV. Sosha was still an addict living on the streets and never got the chance to confess to his family. (14:21) Umthombo’s work includes vising the kids’ former homes and talking to their families. Ariel agreed to take Sosha to his house where his father, grandmother, step grandfather, and brothers all lived together. Ariel: (14:37) This is my father right here. He had a stroke on my birthday when I was 6- years old. BR(OS): (14:43) – Ariel, who’s the little guy? Ariel: (14:45) – This is my baby brother. BR(OS) (14:46) You guys look a lot a like. Ariel: (14:47) The other one who looks just like me has gone to school. This is our dining room. There is my other brother. He looks same like me. That’s when I was a small baby. This is me when I was going to school. This is the bathroom where we have a bath. I sleep with my mother, my father, my brothers. That’s my God pictures. Those are my lotions. BR(OS) (15:22) Do you miss it here? Ariel: (15:25) The reason why I left home is because of my grandfather. He sent me for cigarettes in the night. I didn’t want to go for cigarettes. So what he did, he hit me on my face. He still carried on hitting me. When I came out there was full blood on my face. Naido: (15:43) He had a mark on his face. He showed me. BR(OS): (15:45)How Big? Naido: (15:46) Big mark he had. Ariel; (15:48) After that, my granny hit me with the shoes. So I pushed my granny once and she fell on the floor, and she hurt her arm. My grandfather was standing by the gate. I hit him with the iron in his hand, and I punched him and then I ran away. Ariel’s Father: (16:03) - He wasn’t his grandfather. BR(OS): (16:04) – He wasn’t his real grandfather? Ariel’s Father: (16:09) He never worried about the children that are mine. Because these kids are not his children. It’s hard for me to say it, but [Ariel] is waiting until he is gone. CT: (16:29) After Ariel’s father’s stroke, he was physically unable to protect Ariel from his step grandfather’s abuse. Because of their financial situation, they were all stuck in the same house. Sosha Thuthukhani: (16:43) What I found very similar between Ariel’s story and my story is my step-dad had to resent me for not being his biological son. and then he chased me out of the house. And then it’s the same thing that happened to Ariel. Ariel, his grandfather resents him for not being his biological grandson. He was chased out of the house as well and then gone to the streets. And that’s the only option he had. Sosha Thuthukhani:(?) (17:11) We’ll talk in Zulu so he can’t hear. Do you love your father? Ariel: (17:14) I love him. Sosha Thuthukhani (?) (17:16) How much? Ariel: (17:17) So much. Ariel’s Friend or Translator:(?) (17:18) Serious? You love him that much? Ariel: (17:23) I love him so much but the problem is glue. If I can get someone to make me stop glue, I can try again to stay at home. Sosha Thuthukhani (17:41) I’ve been to a rehab center twice times. And ya, it helped me so much. Which I think it could be helpful for him. If we can give an opportunity for Ariel to go to a rehab center. Ariel: (17:54) Go to the rehab, stay about four months, three months in the rehab. and then see how it be and then I come back. Ariel’s Father: (18:06) For me, one year. Three months is too little. Ariel: (18:11) I don’t know how many months. It might be five, six months or it must be seven months. CT: (18:22) Next, Sosha wanted to see Ariel’s grandparents. Ariel agreed to take him. So long as he could stay in the car. Ariel: (18:31) It’s gonna come just now BR(OS): (18:32) This corner here?) Ariel: (18:35) But I’m going to stay in the car, you must jump off and ask them first. BR(OS): (18:38) Right. Ariel: (18:40) There’s my granny, there’s my grandfather over there. BR(OS): (18:42) Who? Them right there? Ariel: (18:44) My grandfather is the one with the glasses. Ariel’s Grandmother: (18:46) What happened? Why are you filming the boy? Who signed the paper, Ariel? Ariel: (18:50) Daddy. Ariel’s Grandmother: (18:51) Huh? BR(OS): (18:51) His father. Ariel: (18:52) Daddy. Ariels’s Grandmother: (18:53) Your father signed the paper for them to come and take photographs and all? Who signed the paper to take photographs and all? Huh? Ariel: (19:01) Daddy. Ariel’s Grandmother: (19:01) And who else? Ariel: (19:02) Ariel’s Grandmother: (19:03) Only your father? Who is the Naido? Ok. Ariel: (19:13) You saw what happened now? When she came, how [mean] she was? She don’t like me. Delani:(?) (19:21) Don’t cry Ariel. Please. Don’t cry. JT: (20:04) I’m the oldest. We have a middle brother and Zuleika is the youngest. Mandi Hewitt: (20:09) Same mother and father? JT: (20:11) No, different fathers but one mother. Mandi Hewitt: (20:16) Where do you work? JT: (20:18) At KFC, as a cashier. Mandi Hewitt: (20:23) Tell me about the first time Zuleika ran away from home. JT: ( 20:28) I was bathing Zuleika in the morning before school. I saw a mark on her back. I said, “Zuleika, what’s the matter?” She said she was beaten by our stepfather, you see? He is very abusive. Mandi Hewitt: (20:46) In what ways, sister? Sexually, physically, mentally or verbally? JT: (20:51) To me, physically. But to Zuleika, sexually and physically. Because he had raped her. Zuleika: (21:10) I was still a child. I was 9-years old. He grabbed me. I don’t know if he had spoken to my Mom, but when she left and was going to the shop he grabbed me and locked the door, and then threw the key out of the window. He tied my hands and mouth with cloth, tore off my clothes and climbed on top of me. Mandi Hewitt: (12:34) If she is to remain on the streets, aren’t you scared maybe something bad might happen to her? JT: (21:39) I’m not capable of supporting Zuleika. I want a shelter where she can go to school until she is old enough to know what she wants Mandi Hewitt: (21:54) Zuleika’s sister from the bottom of her heart, loves Zuleika so much and her sister can’t afford Zuleika to stay with her because she only gets about eight hundred a month. So until Zuleika’s sister can afford Zuleika, the street is the only option she has. She doesn’t know that Zuleika, she’s positive. It’s confidential. I couldn’t me, tell Zuleika’s sister that Zuleika is H.I.V. positive. CT: (22:21) At age 11, Zuleika tested positive for H.I.V. Zuleika: (22:26) First time when I heard, I couldn’t believe it. I went again for the second one. Then I believed. Even if I’m sick, even if I cough, I know I have to rush to hospital so it won’t get into me. When it get’s into me, I will get weak and weaker and weaker, and I’ll lie down, get thinner and thinner. Then I won’t be able to walk, won’t be able to go to the toilet, won’t be able to feed myself, won’t be able to bathe myself. Then after that, my whole life will be messed up and I will die. Won’t survive. Mandi Hewitt: (23:03) Zuleika asked for help to tell her sister that she’s positive, and she things she got positive from the guy who raped her. and Zuleika’s sister knows that she was raped by this guy, by the step-father. So I ask her what happens if we found out that Zuleika was raped on the streets and became positive? And she said that she would blame Zuleika because it’s Zuleika’s fault for going on the street. Mandi Hewitt’s Work Associate: (23:27) It’s not Zuleika’s fault that she was raped. Even if she was raped on the streets, not at home, it’s not her fault that she is H.I.V. positive. It’s our fault as well, because we have to teach them how life is on the streets, how it is bad for children, things like that. CT: (23:45) Life on the street is violent and unpredictable. There are always fights over food, money, or glue. It’s hard to find a kid without a scar from a knife fight. Street Kid:(?) (24:04) He stabbed a street kid, this motherfucker. Get him! Mawillis: (24:38) Yes, I’m a crook. Yes. They charged me for robbery. Me. Yeah, robbery. Yes. Me, I was doing the robbery. They catch me and I was carrying the knife. I never stabbed nobody, but they say you’re not allowed to carry the knife and rob some people. They took me to Westville Prison. I stay six months, I come back here. Drunk Street Kid: (25:01) Mawillis! Mawillis! Zakes: (25:04) This boy is… This boy – Mawillis: (25:07) He is drunk, this one. Zakes: (25:08) He starting with Mawillis! Mawillis: (25:09) He starts with me. Zakes: (25:10) Someone stole this boy’s glue. He thinks it’s Mawillis! Stay out of Mawillis’ way! Leave Zuleika! You told me not to instigate with people, right? Well I stopped. Zuleika: (26:08 ) You know how much I love my step-Sister. I would have stayed behind. I came back for you. Sosha Thuthukhani: (26:25) What are you thinking about? Ariel: (26:27) A boy called Muzi. Sosha Thuthukhani: (26:29) What did he do? Ariel: (26:31) He said I stole his jewelry. He drew out a knife last night when I was going that way, he wanted to stab me. Now, I’m just thinking that he should have stabbed me because I didn’t take his things. It is not the first time I’d be stabbed in Durban. He should just stab me and kill me. (27:12) This place here, I don’t like this place. This place is stupid. I thought you were taking me to a good place. This is too close to Durban. It won’t work. No, there must be a place where you can’t go out, you see. You know, there’s no friends near you. Now when I think of friends if I’m in a meeting now you’re gonna just walk out, jump the fence, then you’re going to just go walk onto the freeway and then you’re in Durban. Then you’re in the beach front. Then you’re there by your friends. Sosha Thuthukhani: (27:53) Well Ariel, I can’t force you. You need to do what your heart tells you to do. (28:02) If you work with a child from the street, and tend to find that the child is not doing what you expected to turn into a better life, to have a future, a better future, things like that. And then you tend to find that the child is still on the same level. He’s not going anywhere. But you’re busy, ya know, giving that energy. It drains you. Mawillis or street kid: (not sure?) (28:37) You are telling lies and not the truth to my friend Billy! You are selling your pussy. No, I’m not jealous! You’re selling your pussy! You’re wearing the hat those Nigerian johns gave you. You’re wearing a Nigerian cap, you. You’re a bitch, you selling your pussy, you. Zuleika: (28:57) He always say that to Nonhlahla too. Zakes and later Mawillis(?) too: (28:59) She left me on the blanket sleeping. It was around one o’clock. But by the time she got back it was three o’clock. She left at one and came back at three. She came back and slept with me. Then in the morning, she showed me money. She woke me up with a cold drink. I asked, where did you get the money? Then this brother tells me there was an old man who came here with a big stomach. He was driving a truck. He went with Zuleika. It was around one o’clock. I was still sleeping. I saw nothing. But Mawillis saw her leave with a john. Even the Bible says, forgive those who sin because they know not what they do. You must forgive them, you must forgive them. Because they don’t know what they doing. (Mawillis) Wrong. (Zakes) Me I forgive Zuleika. – (Mawillis) He loves Zuleika. – (Zakes) If she wants to love me again – She can love me again. – (Zakes) She gonna come back again. – (Zakes) Me, I got no problem with that. – (Mawillis) No problem Zakes. BR(OS) or another interviewer:(?) (30:14) Are you guys still together? Zakes: (30:17) Yeah. Zuleika: (30:19) - But we had broke up. Zakes: (30:20) – Yeah, we broke up before. BR(OS) or another interviewer:(?) (30:23) – why? Zakes: (30:24) – We weren’t listening to each other. BR(OS) or another interviewer:(?) (30:25) – What was the problem? Zakes: (30:28) She was the problem, what she was doing. But today, we found our love again. Today. BR(OS) or another interviewer:(?) (30:38) You love her?) Zakes: (30:40) Yeah. BR(OS) or another interviewer:(?) (30:41) You’re in love with her? Zakes: (30:42) Yeah. Mandi Hewitt: (31:17) Ok, this is my home. And where we are now we are at the rubbish dumps in Eastern Cape, in South Africa. And this is my brother’s house. And that’s my stepfather’s house. And here, it’s my Mom’s house. This is where I grew up. I moved here when I was about 10. I used to come with my Mom. She used to come here all the time but she started to spend most of her weekends here. So that’s when I started moving here with her. And food wise, there’s a rubbish dump just about 200 meters behind me. And that’s where we used to get the food. If you notice, the people are digging into the plastic bags. And this is how they survive. They pick out plastic bags. If you have a family who is out here you take a plastic bag, you throw it to that person to help you out, where you rip the plastic bag, to check what’s inside there. If there’s something inside there, you put that aside. And you have to be careful of your plastic bags because you find out that some other people next to you, they steal them. Up there, that’s where we used to wait for the truck to bring all the rejects from different factories. Like if there’s a Wilson truck that’s the truck that brings all the reject sweets from Wilson. You hear people shouting, “Wilson, Wilson, Wilson!” Then you see people running like ants out to chase the truck. Oh, this brings memories. Well for me to be honest, I went to the street because of my Mom being an alcoholic and some physical abuse that was happening at home. CT: (33:26) Mandi’s stepfather sat next to her clueless that she was talking about how he abused and raped her as a child. Mandi Hewitt: (33:34) And sometimes we went to the street just to escape the violence that was happening in the dumps. We just wanted freedom of going to the street where no one would tell us what to do. Even though here, no one was telling us what to do. We had to do whatever we did. We drank, we smoked weed, we smoked glue. No one would care, so… Tom Hewitt: (34:01) Who’s Mr. Strong? Tom Hewitt’s son:(?) (34:03) Me! Tom Hewitt: (34:04) Go on show me. Tom Hewitt’s son:(?) (34:06) Mr. Strong. Zuleika: (34:31) Leave me alone! Get away! Get away! Go! Zakes(?) (34:37) What’s up? (34:40) She told me yesterday her stomach was paining. She said we must go to the hospital. So we went to the hospital and joined the line there. After that, she’s saying she’s alright now, we must come back. I do not like her to live in the streets. CT: (35:07) Mandi had a new plan to get Zuleika off the street. Umthombo would help J.T. with monthly food parcels in exchange for housing Zuleika. Zuleika would go home, but never stayed more than a few days before going back to the streets. Zakes: (35:25) You must ask her if she wants to go home now or this afternoon. BR(OS): (35:30) You want her to go home? Zakes: (35:31) Me? No, I can’t go home. BR(OS): (35:35) Do you want Zuleika to go home? Zakes: (35:37) Yeah. Mandi Hewitt: (35:41) Oh god, I’m sick and tired of this. Zuleika, you won’t talk to us til ten? Okay, she won’t talk to us til ten o’clock. Ok, there’s an agreement that she made with Zakes, that she wants to relax her hair first before she can go home. So she is going to do her hair, and then she will meet us at two o’clock and we’ll take her home. Zakes: (36:34) Her hair looks good. She looks great. Mandi Hewitt: (36:45) Ok, we’re running out of time. Kiss kiss. Yes, husband and wife. Now let’s get ready to go. Zakes: (36:55) Why are you going to go? Zuleika: (36:57) Because… Mandi Hewitt: (37:01) You are starting to piss me off. Zakes is telling you not to go home. Does he give you anything, like, support emotionally? You are not suppose to be smoking. You are not suppose to be drinking. Your immune system is going to get weak. The more you drink, the more your blood cell count will decrease. I’m not going to decide for you. That’s something I’m not going to do. It’s Zuleika who needs to be the one who makes a decision for herself. At the end of the day, I was forced to go home. Zuleika: (37:31) I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here. Mandi Hewitt: (37:51) I was just thinking we should just talk about Zuleika a bit. Some of you know Zuleika is back at home or supposed to be back at home. At the moment, Zuleika wants us to rent her a shack with Zakes. And she’s… Mandi Hewitt’s Work Associate Eugene(?): (38:04) then who’s going to pay for that? Sosha Thuthukhani: (38:08) She can not stay home without Zakes because she’s in love with Zakes. So what JT suggested, what she doesn’t mind is Zakes, he can come over on weekends. But Zuleika didn’t agree on that. Eugene Ngidi (38:22) You’re too lenient to these kids. You’re too lenient, you’re too soft, you’re too nice. You see guys, I can’t understand Zuleika. She can’t say that to me. She can say that if I can go home I can bring my boyfriend to stay with me. Mandi Hewitt: (38:41) I can not force a child to go home. It seems that you forget that here we listen to each other as well. We don’t just say let’s go home. We need to hear the other side, the opinion of the child, what she says. Eugene Ngidi: (38:54) We are the role models to them. We need to show them the reality of the world. The reality of how you communicate with an adult. Mandi Hewitt: (39:06) You guys talk to Zuleika the way you talk to her. I will talk to Zuleika as soft as I can. And then it’s up to her. It’s how Zuleika reacts to me. Mandi Hewitt’s Work Associate: (39:15) We have to encourage her to get back to her family, especially if she is sick like that, if she has all those diseases. We have to get her back home, and we have to get her treatment like now. Sosha Thuthukhani: (39:31) At some point you guys need to put something together for your future, see? When you guys get together on the streets, things are grand. Right? So things are grand and Zuleika might say, “Zakes, I don’t want to go home.” The first thing you must say to her is hey you are sick Zuleika. Listen man, that’s one of the first things. Ok? Second thing is that you have to tell her you won’t be able to take her to the doctor every moment, because you can’t. Zakes: (39:58) She doesn’t listen to me anyway. Sosha Thuthukhani: (40:01) Don’t say you look after her just by taking her to the salon because you want to have sex after. No, I’m serious. Look after her and take care of her in every way. Worker: (40:20) Today, we are doing an operation. The conditions are this: We go to the streets, we grab the children. If they run away, you chase them. If they don’t want to go, we grab them, we drag them inside the van. CT: (40:49) During major holidays and conferences, the Durban Municipality plans round ups of the street children to hide them from visiting tourists. The kids are driven 50 miles away and dropped in the country side or(?) they are detained at City One shelters. Mawillis: (41:12) If you try to run, you just run fast, they just…they killing you see. Tom Hewitt: (41:17) Durban has a problem with these street children. So the city develops strategies that clean up the streets and then for the city, that’s job well done. But, the problem with saying that “you have street kids you need to shelter(s?) ,” means that the shelter(s?) gonna be the be all end all of the strategies for working with street kids. That’s a real problem because the only way of working with these children is to look at their array(?) of reasons that forces kids to come to the streets in the first place. CT: (41:43) In the winter of two thousand and six, Zuleika decided she wanted to go and live with her step sister, J.T. Mandi Hewitt: (41:50) What do you think as you’re going home? Zuleika: (41:54) I am happy. Mandi Hewitt: (41:55) It makes me happy to see you excited. Zuleika: (42:00) I am happy because it’s nice to be going home. And I will stay nicely with the kids at home. Schooling… Mandi Hewitt: (42:11) Looking around at everyone. We’re excited. Whe wants to get out of the car now. I think we should do that. (42:22) Once you find a school for Zuleika, you’re going to phone me, and then we’re going to register Zuleika to that school. We’ll get Zuleika a uniform. Which it has to be done on before January 3rd.. We open the offices on the third of January. So the next time I see you guys it will be January 4th. (42:41) When are you thinking of telling JT? Zuleika: (42:49) Anytime Mandi Hewitt: (42:52) I know from my sister, it must be hard to tell JT. It took me a few days, to accept that my younger sister could be positive. You think maybe she’s not going to love you? Please tell me, what are you afraid of from your sister? Zuleika: (43:14) I don’t want her to know because it’s the same. Mandi Hewitt: (43:19) How? Zuleika: (43:20) I don’t want her to know. Mandi Hewitt: (43:22) You don’t want her to know? But don’t you think she will support you? Or you don’t need the support? You’d rather want to fight this on your own? Zuleika: (43:31) I prefer to fight on my own. CT: (44:11) Back in Durban, Ariel had become a runner for local drug dealers. Sosha Thuthukhani: (44:16) Most of the days when we see you, we find you inside the shop. It seems like they like you is how I see it. But I don’t know what is happening inside the shop. Ariel: (44:31) They are selling drugs. Sosha Thuthukhani: (44:34) They are selling drugs? Ariel: (44:35) They are gangsters. Sosha Thuthukhani: (44:36) They are gangsters? If they give you the opportunity to become like them, to become a dealer, would you do it? Ariel: (44:47) I will never sell it, but I can’t talk about what I do because you will get me in trouble. Sosha Thuthukhani: (44:54) Get you in trouble how? Get you in trouble how? JT’s House: (45:09) Mandi Hewitt: (45:16) What happened Zuleika? Zuleika: (45:18) I don’t want to stay here! Mandi Hewitt: (45:23) Zuleika! JT: (45:26) It seems that I am the one who annoys Zuleika by telling her to come back home. Can’t you guys see that you are annoying her by removing her from where she wants to be? Even if right now, now, now, this very moment, if she picks up her bags and leaves, I will never look for her. I promise you. Never. I will never get myself involved in this again. It is my last time. Zuleika: (45:55) My sister didn’t know about [the HIV] but now she knows. She figured it out when I came back from the hospital. She saw my medical card. JT: (46:07) I’m not going to help someone who’s not willing to help themself. Mandi Hewitt: (46:12) Listen JT. JT, she is in pain. She has no people who care. Her own mother doesn’t give a shit about her. And now Zuleika’s sister does not give a shit about Zuleika. She’s alone. What if she commits suicide? For what? JT, just listen to Zuleika. I don’t say listen to everything she says. JT: (46:33) If that is going to eas her pain Mandi, fine. Let her go commit suicide. Mandi Hewitt: (46:39) But that’s not a smart thing to be saying about someone, to tell them to commit suicide. JT: (46:45) She’s always got an excuse, there is always a reason for her to blame her problems on. Mandi Hewitt: (46:52) I didn’t say you must feel bad. All I’m saying is – JT: (46:55) She feels she is grown enough as it is to go back to the streets and commit suicide. Go then and kill yourself. I am tired of Zuleika. I have enough stress as it is. I’m finished with it. If she wants to go, then fuck off and go. Zuleika: (47:25) Me and JT always fight, but we don’t fight like we did the other day. We always argue with each other, but we always be closer to each other. Since when I moved into Mayville, everything changed. BR(OS): (47:39) Changed how? Zuleika: (47:40) It’s changed. It wasn’t like before. BR(OS): (47:42) What if you could stay there and all of us can help you? Zuleika: (47:47) I don’t want them to help me. CT: (47:54) Around this time, Billy had to go back to the U.S. It would be eight months before he saw Zuleika and Ariel again. When he came back, Zuleika was five months pregnant and still living on Port(?) Road. She did not know or at least would not tell us who the father was. Simphiwe: (48:24) I am worried about the baby. And her too. BR(OS): (48:31) Do you boys tell her to go home? Simphiwe: (48:33) Sorry? BR(OS:) (48:34) Do you tell her to go home and stay with her sister? Simphiwe: (48:37) Every time I’m telling her. She doesn’t listen to me. She can’t stay without me. You understand? I must stay with her to get her home. BR(OS): (48:50) And you want to help raise the baby? Simphiwe: (48:52) Sorry? BR(OS): (48:53) You’re her new boyfriend and you want to help raise the baby? Simphiwe: (48:56) Yes. BR(OS): (48:58) So where are you going to keep this baby? On the streets? Zuleika: (49:02) No. BR(OS): (49:03) Where? Zuleika: (49:04) At home. BR(OS): (49:06) How come you’re here then? Zuleika: (49:07) No, it’s just that I came to see Simphiwe and when I went back he started crying. So I feel ashamed, I can’t leave him just like that crying. BR(OS): (49:19) Does he know your HIV status? Zuleika: (49:22) No, he doesn’t know. BR(OS): (49:25) Why haven’t you told him? Zuleika: (49:28) I’m frightened to tell him. If I tell him he will be angry at me and we will break up. And we no more gonna be friends. BR(OS):(?) (49:41) What do you think about Zuleika now? Zakes: (49:43) I wouldn’t know because she came here today and didn’t say hi. I tried to say hi but she ignored me and left. She came with two girls and greeted the others and Mawillis. but not me. ST. AUGUSTINE’S HOSPITAL: (50:11) Mandi Hewitt: (50:16) Do you want to do all these tests here? What we are trying to do is to make sure the baby is healthy, because you might find out that you can’t give a normal birth. Also, because of your condition you can’t breast feed your baby. He could get your disease. You’ll have surgery for the same reason. They’ll open your stomach to avoid the baby from getting infected. Does this make you scared? Zuleika: (50:38) Yes. Mandi Hewitt: (50:39) I was operated on twice, love. An operation is better than giving birth yourself. Can we go home and tell JT? Zuleika: (50:47) I don’t want to go home. Mandi Hewitt:: (50:49) Why don’t you want to go home, Zuleika? Did you hear what the doctor said? Zuleika: (50:58) Yes. Mandi Hewitt: (50:59) So, why don’t you want to go home? Zuleika: (51:04) I don’t have friends back home and people like to talk behind my back. Mandi Hewitt: (51:11) What do they say about you? Zuleika: (51:13) They talk about my sickness. Mandi Hewitt: (51:16) Zuleika, are you the only person who is HIV positive in South Africa? Zuleika: (51:19) No. Mandi Hewitt: (51:20) So? Then why do you give a shit about people knowing you’re HIV positive? Zuleika: (51:26) I’m not going home. Mandi Hewitt: (51:28) Where are you going to stay? Zuleika: (51:30) I’m going to stay with Simphiwe. CT: (51:42) When Zuleika was seven months pregnant, she started selling glue for a local drug dealer. When she came up short with his money, he stabbed and raped her. Luckily(,?) a cop car passed by and he was arrested. But his associates threatened to kill Zuleika and Simphiwe if they ever press charges. Zuleika: (52:09) I have pain in my hands. You used to tell me that I mustn’t come back to the streets because I might get hurt or something bad could happen to me. Now I can see that you was right. If I carry on staying here, I will give birth in the streets. Maybe my baby will come out crippled, maybe it will come out dead. Maybe it will come out crippled and do the same thing like me. I don’t want that. I want my baby to be something. Maybe something good, better than me. Get an education. Go to school and Finish school. Get his own job. Not just like me. Staying here on the street… Staying here in the street, not going to school. Doing all those bad things. I just want him to be something. Maybe one day, it can grow up and be a nurse… be a teacher… and maybe one day, it can help me. CT: (53:55) The next day, Zuleika and Simphiwe moved outside of the Point Road Police Station to lessen the chance of a second attack. Zuleika: (54:09) They say that we only got one night and day to be here in town. If they find us, if they see me again, they are going to do something to me. But the problem is that they are also looking for Simphiwe. Now, Simphiwe is frightened now to just walk. Simphiwe: (54:28) If they saw me over here they’re going to try to kill me. Zuleika: (53:34) Maybe you can find a shelter for just for today until we find a room to stay. BR(OS): (54:39) Zuleika the only place I can take you is to J.T.’s. Why don’t you get in touch with J.T.? Go to J.T.’s house? Zuleika: (54:47) Me and Simphiwe? BR(OS): (54:49) No, you. Simphiwe: (54:53) I’m asking her why she doesn’t go home today. She’s telling me because there is a problem. I’m asking her, “What is the problem?” She can’t tell me. I’m telling her, if you can’t tell me your problem – no problem you’ve got. You must go home. She said no. Zuleika: (55:14) I will not go home even if they send me home. I will run back to Simphiwe. I love him. (55:31) (Zuleika speaking and then Simphiwe not sure of order?) - Give me the 10 Rand. -Give it. Give it. – You’re not going to take my 10 Rand. – Give it, give it. – You are not going to take my 10 Rand. Zuleika or Simphiwe(?): (55:38?) – You are drunk. Zuleika: (55:42) They said I must buy food. Simphiwe: (54:44) Look, she wants to take the whole 10 Rand and leave me with nothing. Don’t we have to take 5 Rand each? Zuleika: (55:50) I’m leaving, I’m going home now! You’ll see, you mother’s ass. Leave for good! Leave for good you asshole! Sosha Thuthukhani: (56:11) Yes bro, Simphiwe wants us to take him home now. Should we stay here and wait for you? We will bring him to Safe Space now. CT: (56:30) Sosha took Simphiwe back to his grandmother’s house outside of Durban leaving Zuleika by herself. Zuleiak: (56:38) The reason why I was here was because of Zakes and Simphiwe. Now they’re gone. And I’m in trouble. Left alone in trouble. Ariel’s Friend: (56:57) Hey! Hey Ariel! CT: (57:01) Back on Point Road, Ariel had moved from drug runner to drug dealer. Sosha Thuthukhani(?): (57:10) So what happened? Ariel: (57:11) A neighbor came to me this morning when I was sleeping upstairs at my aunt’s house. So I just woke up, washed my face and then I smoked some weed. Before I left, I took my phone but when I wanted to play music, it turns out that all my music was gone. I was left with one song and my card was missing. Then I asked my neighbor where is my memory card? I went to one side of the room, I closed the door and then asked again. Sosha Thuthukhani: (57:47) You asked about the memory card? Ariel: (57:49) Yes. I asked him again nicely but he refused. So I took the knife and I stabbed him. Sosha Thuthukhani: (57:56) Ariel, you stabbed him without knowing for sure if he took it? Ariel: (58:01) It was him! He took it! Sosha Thuthukhani: (58:03) So then you ran away? Ariel: (58:05) What did you want me to do? Wait around to get arrested? (58:09) First of all, I don’t like someone stealing from me. Ariel’s Friend: (58:12) Tell him! Tell him, Ariel! Ariel: (58:16) Me, sometimes, I’m not right in my head. One time I even poked my grandfather too long, long, long, when he hit me here with the [whip]. I was coming right, but now there’s people that are interfering with me. CT: (58:57) On May 12, two thousand and seven, Zuleika went into labor. Mandi Hewitt: (59:07) I think she’s been coughing a lot. So they are going to want to have the baby soon. BR(OS): (59:12) How do you feel? Is your coughing bothering you? Zuleika: (59:18) No,not – not like yesterday. Now it’s a bit better. But when I’m coughing, my chest is, my chest gets sore. Mandi Hewitt: (59:45) The doctor said she will have a Cessarian(Cesarean). Because of her being positive and all her stuff. And her giving birth by Cessarian(Cesarean), it reduces the chances of infection. Is that how you say the HIV transmission to the baby? BR(OS): (1:00:01) Exactly. Mandi Hewitt: (1:00:02) Yeah, so that’s why she will have a Cessarian(Cesarean). CT: (1:00:06) Zuleika struggled with her weak health during her Cesarean. But at 10:48 P.M., she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Zuleika: (1:00:25) Her name is Mbalenhle. Her other name is Angel. Mbali means a beautiful flower. (1:00:46) They say that she has no sickness. She is still fine. BR(OS): (1:00:51) How about the HIV? Zuleika: (1:00:53) Negative. They keep on telling me that she’s going to come out like an alien. Going to come out paralyzed. Because of all that stuff that I was smoking. But as long as she takes care of herself, and listens to what her mother say(says?), she can be fine. Mandi Hewitt: (1:01:16) Zuleika, you’re out of hospital. There’s no nurse to help you. There’s no… God knows who. It’s going to be Zuleika with this baby, day and night. What did the doctor decide on the baby? Is she bottle feeding(bottle-feeding) or breast feeding? Zuleika: (1:01:29) Bottle feeding. I have to put cold water then put all the bottles inside. Then close it for- maybe for an hour. Then after that I have to put three spoons and in the bottle the water must be warm. Mandi Hewitt: (1:01:48) She knows what she has to do. Welcome to being a mother. Welcome to the mother world. ZULEIKA’S 16TH BIRTHDAY: (1:02:03) BR(OS): (1:02:22) How long you been back at home now? Zuleika: (1:02:24) Three months. Now I’m more comfortable at home with Mbali.(?) CT: (1:02:30) Zuleika and baby(Baby) Angel lived with JT for five months. The pressures of motherhood and family,(?) eventually lead Zuleika back to the streets leaving baby(Baby) Angel behind. At nine months, baby(Baby) Angel passed away of unknown causes. (1:03:48) Simphiwe had been living with his grandmother but when he heard about Baby(baby) Angel he came back to the streets to take care of Zuleika. Zuleika: (1:04:01) I haven’t spoke to JT. I only know that only the baby passed away. That’s all. Because no one knows at home how the baby passed away. And they don’t want to tell me how the baby passed away. I still apologize for what I was doing for all those years. Speaking lies to you and I know soon as now if you’d find us a place to stay I will promise you that I will stay. Mandi Hewitt: (1:04:36) I think after she lost her baby, I think she’s been through lots of depression. Even though she doesn’t show it. But we can tell, she’s hiding lots of pain inside her. CT: (1:05:00) Now that Zuleika was eighteen, Umthombo could rent an apartment for her and Simphiwe through their adult services program. The program would cover their living expenses as they got used to life off the streets. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:05:15) We’ve placed them back into a community. They have a bed to sleep. They have tables, stoves. We bought food for them. This is all going to cover for the month. Mandi Hewitt: (1:05:24) The idea is for Umthombo to go and visit her every month with our adult program that we have for the 18’s and above to go see how she is doing. And whether she is fitting in with the community and whether the community knows about her status. And if they do, is she being respected with everyone looking down at her for being a street child and for being HIV positive. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:05:49) It’s going to be hard for them. It’s not an easy thing you know, moving out from the streets and then just going into a community. It’s a kind of life that she never lived before. It’s not easy. And especially Zuleika, she’s HIV positive and she’s still young and she’s living with a teenager still, Simphiwe. It’s not going to be easy for them. It’s going to take them a lot of time. CT: (1:06:17) Back in Phoenix, Ariel had come home to live with his family again. Ariel’s Father (1:06:23) He’s with me. Everywhere. Everywhere. I’m too happy about it. Ariel: (1:06:30) My grandfather was living over here and I was still going, coming, going, coming. But then after he died, I came and I stayed. How my whole head changed for me to stop running away I don’t know. I wasn’t waiting for it to happen. I wasn’t waiting for it to just come. But it happened and it came on its own. BR(OS): (1:06:52) What’s up with Ariel back at home? Daisy: (1:06:55) Back at home? BR(OS): (1:06:56) Yeah, you liking it? Daisy: (1:06:57) He’s ok. He’s got a girlfriend too, now. BR(OS): (1:07:00) Is that right? Daisy: (1:07:01) Yeah! Not one, too many. Ariel: (1:07:06) Only one. Only one. I don’t live near her. I live far. BR(OS): (1:07:11) How come your holding out on me man? You didn’t tell me you had a lady. Ariel: (1:07:18) She stays in South Gate. You know South Gate? BR(OS): (1:07:20) South Gate? Ariel: (1:07:22) Yeah. Her name is Colleen. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:07:26) I’ve seen it for me, and now it’s confirming what I’ve seen. If you work with a person, give them more time. There will come a time where the person is able to adapt to the life that he should be living. Ariel’s Father (1:07:43) He is going to be more like you. More like you. BR(OS): (1:07:48) So you happy about your brother being home? Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:07:54) How do you feel about being home for such a long time? Ariel: (1:07:58) It’s been alright ya. Maybe for 3 months now, I never go to town. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:08:04) Do you miss the street? Ariel: (1:08:07) I miss the street but I can’t do anything. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:08:10) Why? Ariel: (1:08:12) I’m out of that life. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:08:14) Your(You’re) out of it. Zuleika: (1:08:34) I’m feeling like a new person in a new world. I think because I moved into this house, also my life will change. CT: (1:08:48) After a few months off the streets, Simphiwe found a job washing cars and Zuleika was preparing to go to school. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:09:05) So, Simphiwe and Zuleika, tell me something. You guys have moved into a new house ya? So what do you feel? Zuleika: (1:09:12) Even if I got my own house, that doesn’t mean I can have my own ways. No, it doesn’t work like that. This is not the streets. I mustn’t treat a home like a street. My first plan is to go back to school, as I said. So I can go back to school, finish my education, get my [diploma]. After that, then I can be able to find a job, but without no school, you got no education. There is no job you can find, that the job can pay you money that you can afford to take care of yourself. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:09:53) But then Zuleika, how do we prove that? Because you didn’t make it the other times. So now how can you make it? How can you prove that your(you’re) going to make it? Zuleika: (1:10:04) Because now I can see that if you keep on playing games, it doesn’t get you nowhere. I have to finish the thing. If I say a thing, I have to face it. And I have to make sure that whatever I say has to happen. Because I’m not doing it for anyone. I’m doing it for my sake. (1:10:25) I see myself like a better person now. As the person that I was in the past few nine years. I came to a new home. I stayed. Now we’re going to live a better life. Forget about the past. But the only thing is… we never forget it’s about our children. Sosha Thuthukhani: (1:10:58) What can I say? I love her so much. The first time I saw her I didn’t even have to say anything. I just knew she was a person I could spend my life with. I still loved her even when I found out that she was already pregnant. Every time she visited me I would see her and just fall in love all over again. Even if it wasn’t my baby, I didn’t care. I loved her anyway. (1:11:43) You guys are the ones who took us off the streets, who helped us find a home. Even if it’s a rented house, it is a real home and not the streets. You changed our lives back to normal. Closing Subtitles: (1:12:20) Zuleika and Ariel have remained off the streets…