What should have been a year of celebrating StreetSmart’s 15^th anniversary of making a difference, turned into a year of relentless challenges brought about by COVID-19’s devastating impact on StreetSmart’s major source of fundraising. Despite the various phases of lockdown affecting the hospitality industry, StreetSmart managed to raise a total of R615 000 to support 35 organisations working with the country’s most vulnerable children for 2021.

In the Cape Winelands, StreetSmart is operational in Franschhoek, Helderberg, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington. Collectively StreetSmart fundraising partners and their patrons raised R150 000 for their respective Winelands beneficiaries, The Kusasa Project, Home from Home Winelands, Pebbles Project, Stellumthombo and NorSA. The funds raised help these local organisations towards retaining educational support teachers as well as social and auxiliary social workers working with vulnerable children.

Read more: 2020 Disbursements: StreetSmart Winelands

Since inception in 2005, StreetSmart SA has had two aims: to raise funds for street children programmes and to encourage the public to give responsibly.

Giving responsibly is to NOT donate to a begging child on the street. It is to make your gifting count by donating to reputable organisations and initiatives that addresses the challenges faced by street children and support vulnerable children in a real way. It is to equip each child to live a viable life in his or her community.

StreetSmart's goal is to be part of the process of social normalisation and to encourage the public not to give money into the hands of a child as this keeps them on the streets. In essence, donating to StreetSmart where you eat, drink, sleep and play, is the responsible way to help a street child. We appeal to you to give responsibly and with purpose. Click HERE to see the ways in which you can donate.

Read more: Give Responsibly

Aristotle said: Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.  At The Kusasa Project they do both, with funding received from StreetSmart Franschhoek, towards a social worker salary.

Through the approach of focusing on the entire family system, as opposed to only on the individual children, we have seen a marked improvement in the lives of families. Despite being a good student, Mary-Anne was born into a family with a history of alcohol and drug abuse. Her mother was exposed to physical and emotional abuse herself and had a very disruptive and dysfunctional childhood. Through the platform of our parent workshops, her mother was able to come to terms with some of the challenges of her own upbringing. She has been able to release the anger that she has felt and focused on her role as a mother. She has been able to learn new skills for parenting Mary-Anne and in turn break the cycle of dominating and abusive parenting styles. I quote her: “A broken mother will raise broken children. I want to be a fixed mother who raises fixed children!"

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What should have been a year of celebrating StreetSmart’s 15^th anniversary of making a difference, turned into a year of relentless challenges brought about by COVID-19’s devastating impact on StreetSmart’s major source of fundraising. Despite the 5-month lockdown of the hospitality industry, StreetSmart managed to raise a total R615 000 to support 35 organisations working with the country’s most vulnerable children for 2021.

Read more: 2020 Disbursements: StreetSmart Johannesburg

Home from Home PLETT Projects in collaboration with Bitou Family Care received funding from StreetSmart Plettenberg Bay, towards social worker supervision.

In one of the Bitou Family Care cluster foster care homes in PLETT, lived a boy, who through hard work and determination did his Matric last year. He has had his share of problems in his short life and got involved with the wrong friends. However, through his faith, a very powerful understanding of what‘s right and wrong, and his strong sense of justice, he pulled through this difficult time in his life.

He has a very supportive house mother and she assisted and motivated him wherever she can. After finishing his final exams in November, he moved to Cape Town to start his internship at a big church, as his wish is to become a pastor.

Read more: You helped plant the seed

How wonderful and heart-warming to take a moment to focus on the impact of and reason behind all our StreetSmart fundraising efforts.

Though he is four years old, Mike is the size of a two-and-a-half-year-old, as his growth was stunted due to malnutrition. He is HIV+ and his health had been compromised as he hadn’t been consistently kept on anti-retroviral medication and taken to the clinic for check-ups. Mike’s mother had no interest in him and hadn’t visited him regularly over the years.

When she did eventually visit the sanctuary he’d been moved to, it was clear that she was only there to see if there was a handout. She had no real interest in him. More concerning was the change in Mike, who had opened up and became engaging, lively and chatty. Once he saw his mom, Mike became very anxious and withdrawn.

Read more: Mike successfully placed