Playing in the courtyard

RELATED LINKS: Giving hope to Hillbrow's children of the streets Think about children and Hillbrow and what comes to mind? Street children, glue-sniffing, begging. Perhaps hundreds, even thousands of them. No school. No future. No hope. Read more Wanted: A child-friendly city Like most of Johannesburg's street kids, 12-year-old Bongani Buthi dreams of a snug bed to sleep in and a good meal to fill his tummy at night. But for this forgotten child of the city, life on its cold and hard concrete streets almost always guarantees nightmares. Read more Bringing warmth to Twilight Children Johannesburg's street children who find sanctuary at the Twilight Children's shelter will not be cold this winter: Operation Snowball has donated 200 blankets to the shelter. Read more Region 8 The Johannesburg Central Region, also known as the Inner City, is where the original mining camps of the City of Gold were established towards the end of the 19th century. Over time, the city spread out; its central business district became dense with high-rise office and residential buildings. Suburbs grew to the north and south; the central areas - Hillbrow, Yoeville and Berea in particular - became home to many who live on the fringes of society. Read more

Bedroom of some of the Grade 11s

Pottery on display

In the library

The kitchen

A happy day for Twilight children THE Twilight Children's shelter held an open day to show volunteers and donors how far it has come. Several of the shelter's staff were themselves street kids who were rescued and now help others. March 7, 2005 By Anish Abraham THERE was an air of festivity at the Twilight Children's shelter in Hillbrow on Saturday, 5 March 2005. Twilight Children, the non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting inner city street kids, held an open day to promote awareness about the work it does, and to enable sponsors to interact with the children at the shelter. Alan Stewart, the vice-chairman of the Twilight Children board of trustees, said the organisation housed about 70 boys between the ages of eight and 18 and fed a further 150 to 200 street children daily. Visitors were given a guided tour of the premises by some of the Grade 11s who live at the shelter, one of whom was Dumisani Mlotshwa, a Grade 11 pupil at Greenside High School. He said he was living on the street when he was rescued and taken to the shelter about five years ago. Twilight Children originally only worked with boys, but it recently started a programme for girls who living on the street; they are taught to make beadwork items and traditional dolls. Jane Prichard dances with some of the Grade 11 boys Jane Prichard, the executive director, has been with the organisation for the past 19 years and is optimistic about progress at the shelter. "We spend a lot of effort trying to reunite the boys with their families," she said, adding that "sometimes they run away from home for minor reasons and we find we can talk to them and get them to return home". If the parents did not accept the children, the organisation took them in and gave them shelter, food and education. "An after care programme ensures that children who are no longer in the shelter remain off the streets and have food and clothing," Prichard added. One of the ways the organisation works to keep children off the street is by getting them involved in arts and crafts, like pottery and printing. They are taught to make high-quality pottery items, and the senior potter - himself rescued off the streets by the shelter - has been to Japan to train. The shelter's receptionist, bookkeeper and football coach also arrived at the shelter as street children and grew up there. Funds are raised through the sale of these arts and crafts at flea markets, bazaars and corporate events. The organisation has secured sponsors to build an information technology centre, where the children will be taught basic computer literacy. Some technical courses, such as A+ and N+, are also in the pipeline, to give the kids better life opportunities. A new skills training centre was planned for the derelict building on the site, formerly the 702 Crisis Centre, which was to be demolished. However, it was built in the early 1900s and is a heritage building. Heritage buildings cannot be demolished or have major alterations done, as they have to be restored - at great cost - to resemble as much as possible their original state. Members of the public who are interested in helping to restore this building are urged to contact the organisation. Mergan Moodley, the chairman of the Twilight Children board of trustees, said, "We want to train these individuals - develop their talent, harness it and put it out there." A popular figure is Judy Westwater, who raises awareness and funds for organisations that support street children in South Africa, Mexico and Ecuador. Westwater is no stranger to life on the street; she was one of Hillbrow's first street kids in the late 1950s. "I made a pledge - here, in the streets of Hillbrow - that one day I would help children who found themselves in the same situation as I did," said Westwater, who is working on a book about her life. Being stereotyped by the public was one of the main problems facing these children, said Moodley. "We have to change people's attitudes toward these children. They are not vermin - they are part of our society and they also have ambitions." The shelter holds about two or three open days a year, to bring together the staff, donors, volunteers and kids, giving them a chance to interact with each other. The day is also used to showcase and sell some of the arts and crafts made by the children. For more information to become a sponsor or to volunteer your services, contact Twilight Children on 011 484 1590 / 1591. 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