The children have come to the streets in search for a better life as many of them are victims of poverty, abuse, neglect, domestic violence and many other social problems in the home and the communities.

 On the streets the children are further traumatized by different sectors of society.

 Umthombo provides basic human needs and therapeutic intervention through an   array of programmes from their programme centre based on Gilligan Street, Durban. Other programs include outreach were our teams work with them on the streets trying to motivate them to leave the streets and return home. Once a child shows interest to go home the Aftercare team attends to return the child to home and community. Umthombo further provides support and care to these children by providing food parcels and school requirements to ensure that the child remains in the home.

Thanks to Happy Hippo Backpackers, one of our programs has been given a new incentive.

A few of the street children that participate in our programs are very talented in the art of gumboot dancing. Gumboot dancing is a traditional South African dance that comes from the mines.

The Umthombo gumboot dancers call themselves “Crazy boys” and they are performing at Happy Hippo whenever they get invited. Through this opportunity they get used to performing for a group, which will help them improve their self esteem. We are aiming to get them more performances soon.

Gumboot dancing is an incoming generating program for the dancers; the money that they generate with it, benefits the group directly. Part of the income is used to sustain the program (i.e. buying of gumboots, outfits etc), and a part goes to the dancers.

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday the dancers do their training. On those days they are training for their performance. During the weekend, younger kids with no gumboot dancing experience are being trained to become one of the dancers. This way, the Umthombo “Crazy boys” will keep improving and expanding their performances.