NPO empowers homeless people in Sunnyside
HUP helps the homeless people to be self-reliant.
Helping disadvantaged people to be self-reliant plays a pivotal role in reducing continuously increasing levels of homelessness and poverty in Tshwane.
This was the view of non-profit Homeless Upliftment Projects (HUP) founder and executive manager Buang Mfumane, when he spoke to dignitaries at the official opening of the Homeless Shelters Forum at Holiday Inn, Sunnyside on Thursday.
“HUP access the capabilities of our new beneficiaries and look for ways of facilitating them opportunities so they can end up being self-reliant,” Mfumane said at the event.
The event was also held to commemorate World Homeless Day.
He said that assisting disadvantaged people to be self-reliant has long-term benefits as opposed to feeding them daily which just satisfies their temporary needs.
“One of the proverbs suggests that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
He said this clearly demonstrates that focusing only on feeding the homeless does not solve the problem of homelessness but it only temporary relieves the pain of hunger.
“The possible sustainable solution to the problem of homelessness is to teach beneficiaries to ‘fish’ as that will allow them to have ability to help themselves.”
He said he was not discouraging feeding the disadvantaged as such practice has short-term benefits which are also important to the lives of the needy.
However, it is important to prioritise investing in activities consisting of long-term benefits as they may solve the actual problem of homelessness.
According to a social worker, Zanele Mngadi the situations that lead to homelessness are complex.
“Poverty, unemployment, breakdown of family units, addiction, mental illness and sexual assault, among others, may be the cause of homelessness,” she said.
In situations such as where poverty and unemployment are the cause, helping the homeless find employment or to use their skills to generate income changes their lives for the better.
“It actually depends on each case as some people, for example, who are in drugs may need to be taken to rehab for the programme to be successful.”
She agreed with Mfumane that helping the disadvantaged to be self-reliant removes them from the homeless category.
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