AFRICAN EYE NEWS, Washington DC | Tuesday
A GROUP of reformed Soweto teenagers – described as former “tsotsis” – have undergone an extensive empowerment programme in street-smart New York to learn how to help their peers.
The 23 teens were trained by a New York helpline, Youthline, which uses teenagers to help youths caught up in drugs, sexual abuse, rape, unwanted pregnancies and general social disorder.
Most of the teenagers are former tsotsis, whose teachers referred to them as “deviant youths”. But the youths, aged between 15 and 20, have reformed and want to help their peers out of the shadows of the Rainbow Nation.
Many of the group have overcome a host of traumas, like the loss of their parents to political violence and the hardship of poverty and the ravages of crime.
Methodist Church Reverend Dr Matthew Adams, who honoured the children at a South African Youth Sunday Celebration in Manhattan, said the children impressed him with their “eclectic combination of youth, maturity and intelligence”.
“I’ve fallen in love with these children,” Adams said. “They are extremely intelligent, well-versed and articulate. They communicate and interact very well, despite the pain, poverty and crime which they have endured”
Adams will be visiting South Africa shortly to collaborate with and participate in further exchange programmes.
The South African government and non-profit Ithutheng Trust funded the visit, which was led by Ithutheng director, Jacky Maarohanye.
Ithutheng originally approached different schools in Soweto and asked to work with so-called deviant children. The project started last year, and already 2 500 youths have been enrolled in the programme, which has enabled 40 youths to get scholarships for their tertiary education from South African businesses.
Ithutheng is currently setting up a community centre in Soweto, which will open in September. The centre will be similar to those the children visited in New York, which provide services like foster care and care for people with Aids.
During their visit to New York, the teens got to speak to American First Lady, Hillary Clinton, SA deputy president Jacob Zuma’s wife, Kate, and SA’s consul general to New York, Thami Ngwevela. They were also treated to a concert by Miriam Makema in Central Park.