All good things...

Tuesday 23rd March

So yesterday afternoon and evening was all about saying goodbye and relaxing, the conference was over and we hit the beach. So that’s about 100 kids from all over the world and a huge number of volunteers, translators, press etc. We were a force to be reckoned witch. The sun went in (perhaps a little daunted) but that didn’t stop a lot of paddling and burying of people in the sand. As I watched the Ukranian team jumping about in the waves, I wished I’d been there on their first visit to the beach last week. It was the first time they had seen a beach ever and apparently their reaction was amazing. I guess it would have been the same for any Ukranian but even more so for children who don’t live on the streets but literally under the streets in the pipes where it is warm, wow all that open space and endless horizon must be a real sight. And so for the final party, complete with barbecue, DJ and various international hits and a lot of dancing., but not until each team had stood up and presented their Manifesto, saying what they wanted their local communities to do to help Street Children, what they expected of their families and the changes they would make. It was a powerful and moving time, some of those kids spoke so beautifully, whilst others stumbled but all were determined not only to demand change but to make it, promising to continue to fight addictions, telling us that education is the most powerful weapon, explaining how they would take what they had learnt this week and pass it on to their peers. The Ukranian kids even got to speak directly to their Ambassador and Mayor who had turned up to hear what they had to say, pretty amazing when prior to the Street Child World Cup, the Ukranian Government refused to admit they had any Street Children. All of these children want to see a change and they are willing for that change to start with them.

Our final morning sees us hanging out at Umthombo, watching the kids take photos of each other with my camera (and frankly they are much better at it than me). And then off for a surf. One of the kids warns Kieran that we are going to New Pier ‘these waves are for the pros like me’. How long have you been surfing I ask. 3weeks comes the proud reply, the confidence of the young….Actually as I watch the kids this time, I realise, they show little fear in the water laughing and splashing around despite the powerful waves. Maybe, these waves seem a lot safer than so much of what they know and have experienced.

And so we have said our goodbyes to team Nicaragua and everybody else. Kieran is devastated about leaving the Nicaraguans, now that he has realised that he will never see his new friends again. And this is it, all good things come to an end. But it’s not the end is it? What happens now? That’s what you all want to know isn’t it.? What happens to the kids? What happens to those children so full of potential, so desperate to change both themselves and their environments. Well, everyone’s story is different, all the kids are in different places and have come from such different things and return to such different scenarios. However, all are tied into the projects and programmes that brought them to South Africa. Many of the programmes are working where possible to help the children to return home, although this is not always the best option. It depends on the situation. However, some children have ben reunited with their families as a result of this process – as birth certificates have been found and identities discovered. Many of the kids from the Nicaraguan team and the South African team will be returning home in the coming days having worked closely with their families over the past few months to make this possible. And for some it will work out and for others maybe not (not this time anyway) but they will always be tied into Umthombo in South Africa, and Casa Alianza in Nicaragua, a second family who have got their backs and will be there every step of the way. It’s not a perfect happy ending but all of these kids now have an identity and are beginning to distance themselves from street life and all it’s negative effects, they are facing up to their situations and trying to make a change for themselves and others with a lot of help, love and support and not only that, they have just had the time of their lives and so have I...