Street Action - Committed to street children through action and partnership

Grace Smith, a volunteer working with former street children at Umthombo Street Children, writes about her experiences at Umthombo’s Life Space programme and how young people are empowered to find a way out of street life. She also reflects on the the role of social workers and the challenge of reintegration.

For eighteen years Tom Hewitt has been an activist on behalf of street children in South Africa and beyond. Tom and his wife Bulelwa, are the founders of Umthombo Street Children. He was first exposed to the issue of street children in 1990 in Maputo, Mozambique during the civil war there. He started working with street children in South Africa in 1992, running shelters in the 1990s in the Eastern Cape at a time when street children were not even recognised as an issue.