Even though Cape Town is considered one of the most beautiful cities in South Africa it is fraught with poverty! Hundreds if not thousands of homeless people live and sleep on the streets of the city everyday! Tourists spend their days seeing the sights enjoying the beaches, the mountain and the overall beauty of the city! Sadly the flipside is that there is a whole world hidden from their view, people battling daily to survive! These street people will often beg and ask for money or food which at the end of the day does not serve to help them get off the streets. Its the give a man a fish and feed him for a day, yet teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime, situation! I have given money before but you can never tell where that money will go, or if it will even end up going to drugs!
Responsible Giving
There is hope however, U-turn an initiative working together to uplift street people is trying to change all of this via their new Street People Voucher Initiative. Next time you feel the need to give cash to a street person, rather make sure that you have a U-turn voucher booklet with you. A booklet contains 5 voucher and only costs R20 and can be found at:
- Westerford KwikSpar
- Claremont Main Road Engen
- Rosmead Ave SuperSpar
- Wynberg Engen (Chelsea Village)
- St James Church
- U-turn office at St Stephens church
- Wynberg and Claremont Havens
Its not a great life out on the streets, an industrious beggar can earn over R400 per week (Average approx. R250 p wk) and, more than 70% of people who’s been on the streets longer than 6 months suffer from drug or alcohol addiction!
So why not buy a U-turn Voucher Booklet because:
- It will lead street people to specialist rehab centres
- Street people can exchange it for Food or Clothing
- Runs 5 days a week in both Claremont and Wynberg
So go ahead and be part of this initiative! Tourism improves some parts of Cape Town, but the flipside is that money hardly ever gets to the streets!
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