Winter 2011amos news no.120www.amostrust.org

Made in PalestineStart a conversation

Amos Christmas resources

The grace of new beginnings

Home rebuildUpdate from Al Walajah

Lifespace Growing up with Umthombo

centre at Umthombo. Most of the surfing companies can’t be bothered with fixing surfboards so he has a niche market.

This isn’t a standard model of job creation – we are looking to find niche markets that street children can capitalise on.

We have been very successful in helping girls off the streets, so we have far fewer girls with a long term involvement in Umthombo, but for the girls in Lifespace, we’re trying to develop openings within hair salons as most are into hair braiding.

Umthombo is very popular in the city now, with two or three major media pieces a month. Our image is fantastic; we’ve changed society’s perception of street children. There’s been a revolution in how people perceive street children.

Gardening and growing

We were in conflict with the Municipality on round-ups for years. [The police would violently round up street children to clear the streets.] Now it is important to find a new way forward and to partner with them and this is what we have done with the vegetable garden. They have provided land, skills and training, so now Umthombo has its own vegetable garden, the first one downtown, run by former street children. Now together we can create something beautiful in the midst of urban chaos which provides nutrition for Umthombo, and it is also beautiful, a very, very peaceful place.

Bhoyi Bhoyi was on the streets in downtown Durban for many years. On one occasion I found him hit over the head with a bottle that had almost scalped him – we took him to hospital. He has now been trained in gardening by the Ethekwini

Opposite and leftUmthombo Surf School© Umthombo© Wilf Whitty

umthombo update

During his visit to Durban in July, Amos Director Garth Hewitt interviewed CEO of Umthombo Street Children Tom Hewitt MBE about Umthombo’s new initiative to help former street children across the city make the transition to adulthood and find work. Here is a transcript of what Tom had to say:

Garth HewittAmos TrustDirector

Tom HewittUmthombo CEO

Lifespace

We’re running a new project called Lifespace for twelve over-sixteens helping them in the transition from child to adult. It is a halfway step to independent living.

The young people have to apply for the programme and once accepted each individual draws up a life plan with a member of the Umthombo staff.

Umthombo’s programmes are designed to reintegrate street children into homes, but there are some who have nowhere to go and they cannot adjust to an institution – they simply can’t and won’t do it.

Some have missed years of school and can’t return. Even if they could, they would be at the bottom of what is a very bad education system. So we are looking to support these children developing basic literacy, numeracy, key life skills, and hopefully getting an internship. We are asking people within the city to take a gamble on children who we are saying are hard-working, honest, have manners, and are ready to work.

Surfers: not street children

Several in the group have not been to school for 10 years, but we are helping them capitalise on what they are good at – surfing. They know the ocean and if we can assist them in their basic literacy, they can take their lifeguarding test and become lifeguards. It’s a good career – you start on £500 a month which is a great salary here and it’s a municipal salary, so it comes with civil service benefits.

Others are training as diving instructors, working at surf board companies and in local beachfront restaurants. One eighteen year old has set up a surfboard repair

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(Durban) council and he absolutely loves the work he is doing. He has a little flat, he receives a small salary and he handles his own bank account. This is the way forward for a street kid.

Food for thought

Another fantastic development is Food for Thought. Launched in July and headed up by successful businessman Jess Watts, who is a self-declared ‘foodie’. The scheme works with over twenty top end restaurants, who have committed to put 1% on every bill for Umthombo. Customers can strike this off, but in a similar scheme run in Cape Town only one in three hundred refused to pay. So if a meal costs £50, then 50p goes to Umthombo, if there 400 meals in a week, that’s £200. That’s 52 weeks a year from 20 restaurants!

This will make a huge difference to us, helping us address the real financial gap we have had since the end of the FIFA World Cup. It is great to start getting local support within South Africa, but it will be a long time before we can depend on this income. We remain grateful for the on-going support of Amos supporters and friends, these gifts are so desperately needed if we are to transform the lives of these children.

grace of new beginnings

wednesday 7th december7.00pmall hallows on the wall

a special service for amos supporterscontact info@amostrust.org to book a place83 london wall, london ec2m 5nd

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without reconciliation there is no justice

While I was in Durban in October visiting Umthombo Street Children, I met with Mpendulo Nyembe the new chair of Umthombo, who works for the Institute for Healing of Memories. This organisation looks at the need for communities’ stories to be heard as part of the process of healing and moving forward.

Mpendulo took me to hear Jonathan Jansen speak. Jansen is the Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State. His main area of writing is on how to build the new South Africa. In his talk he highlighted the failings of political leadership and education and the need to address the legacy of apartheid in South Africa. He repeatedly came back to his central theme – “Reconciliation is the essential step toward justice without which we will be governed by fear of ‘the other’.”

As he spoke I thought of all the times reconciliation has been misused in Palestine and Israel, how it has become synonymous with a peace process that doesn’t even warrant that title. Yet so many of the stories which most inspire me are of those who have become reconciled to their past, in such a way that it allows them to plot a new

non-violent way forward, which recognises the fears and needs of both Palestinian and Jewish communities.

Reconciliation is a desperately costly endeavour. The Christmas story is of a God who so believes in reconciliation that there was no shame in becoming one of us, being born as a child in order to affirm the absolute value of humanity.

Umthombo longs for the children it works with to be healed enough so that they can be children once more, be reconciled to their past trauma and find a new way forward. The Christmas message of reconciliation is for everyone, especially children such as these. This Christmas we are asking our supporters to help Umthombo’s vital work and make the hope of reconciliation visible for these children.

Details of our Christmas appeal for Umthombo can be found on page 12.

Update: The Umthombo Young Stars Football team will be coming to the UK in April 2012 to launch the 2014 Rio de Janeiro Street Child World Cup. More news on www.streetchildworldcup.org

Chris RoseAssociate Director

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Details of how you can support our Christmas appeal for Umthombo are on page 12

On his return to the UK, Garth reflected upon his time spent with Tom at Umthombo:

We were at Umthombo when Princess Anne visited. Her reaction to Umthombo was superb; she was so interested and impressed. She took her time talking with Tom and Mandi, the children, staff and volunteers, and looking around, ending her tour with a visit to Bhoyi Bhoyi’s garden. The next day she presented Tom with his MBE at a ceremony in Durban where Gary Benham from the British High Commission read a moving endorsement of Tom and Mandi and the work of Umthombo,

Being open 24 hours a day stretches the Umthombo team and they need to increase resources to sustain their programmes. However Durban is looking different because of their impact. Lifespace is a great

project and I am pleased that job creation is coming to the forefront for the older ones. I’m glad Food for Thought is starting to raise local money as I think this is a key aspect of the way forward, but Umthombo really do need our support if they are going to complete the transformative work in which they have come so far.

Stop press!

We are delighted to confirm that co-founder of Umthombo, Bulelwa ‘Mandi’ Ngantweni-Hewitt has been called to the UN by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to be on a panel of street child experts shaping a global report on best practice for working with children on the streets. The panel will meet on November 1–2 in Geneva. Visit www.amostrust.org/news for more details.

BelowPrincess Anne and Tom visit Bhoyi Bhoyi in the Umthombo gardenRightPrincess Anne presents Tom with his MBE© Umthombo

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amos christmas resources

amos news winter 2011amos news winter 2011

made in palestine t-shirt

T-shirts with Wilf Whitty’s Made in Palestine design are now available from www.amostrust.org/shop

The t-shirts are made and printed in Beit Jala, a village just outside Bethlehem in the West Bank. As Palestine isn’t a recognised state, Made in Palestine can’t be printed on the shirt label, even though they really are made in Palestine.

Why not buy one of these fun shirts as a Christmas present for someone as a great conversation starter about Palestine, and when you do get talking you can send people to the special website www.madeinpalestine.co.uk which explains the reality behind the slogan.

Shirts are available in red and olive green, sizes S – XXL.

the bethlehem pack 2011

The Bethlehem Pack, our annual resource pack for Christmas has been updated with new reflections, prayers and facts about life in ‘the little town’ as well as links to video clips and music, all to get churches talking about the current situation in Bethlehem.

By reading out a reflection written by Palestinian Christians living in Bethlehem or showing a video clip of images of modern Bethlehem in a Christmas services or carol concert, we are responding to the request of Palestinian Christians living under Israeli occupation not to be forgotten by us this Christmas.

Let’s make their stories the focus this year: download the pack from our website – www.amostrust.org/downloads and use it in a church service this Christmas.

christmas cards

3 designs of Christmas cards are on sale now from www.amostrust.org/shop including Seeing Shepherds featuring a painting by artist Daniel Bonnell. A long term friend of Amos, Daniel worked with Garth to create The Road Home, a book and CD, featuring Daniel’s paintings alongside Garth’s songs. Also available Nicaraguan Nativity scene and the Made in Palestine designs as featured on the cover. £5 for 10 cards and envelopes.

walled nativities

Olive wood walled nativities, both large and small are on sale now from www.amostrust.org/shop

The large nativity is a great resource to use in a church service in the lead up to Christmas, and you can find a special meditation in The Bethlehem Pack using it to illustrate the effect of the separation wall on the lives of those living in Bethlehem today.

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home rebuild – al walajah update

Since our last newsletter a lot has happened to the home Amos supporters helped to rebuild last April in the village of Al Walajah, just outside Bethlehem. With the building all finished, the family moved in at the end of July bringing an end to the seven years they had endured in Bethlehem’s largest refugee camp after their previous home had been demolished.

You can see a short film of the handover ceremony made with our partner for the project, Holy Land Trust on the news section of our website www.amostrust.org/news

However, despite the family owning the land for generations, a permit to build is impossible to obtain from the Israeli authorities, especially in an area like Al Walajah so close to the planned route of the separation wall. A new demolition order was therefore placed on the rebuilt home shortly after the Amos volunteer team left.

Our local partners Holy Land Trust managed to appoint a lawyer in Israel who obtained an initial postponement of the order. Since then two court hearings have been postponed, a new court date to decide whether the demolition will proceed is now set for Thursday 12 January 2012.

We have been overwhelmed by the response of so many of you to our requests to raise the issue with your MP’s and MEP’s and we have made good progress with our advocacy to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Consulate in Jerusalem.

However, this issue is still vital and encapsulates many of the injustices that make life so difficult for Palestinians and a Just Peace seem so distant.

Construction of the separation wall is continuing with many trees being uprooted. One of our friends in the village, Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh, told the heart-breaking story of meeting a village farmer whose trees had just been uprooted.

“Our hearts broke when we arrived to find that much of the Israeli uprooting of Palestinian olive trees was already done in Al Walajah today. The old farmer Mohammed Al-Atrash was standing there in shock, speechless, wondering where humanity is on this black day…. Dozens of olive, almond, za’rur, and pine trees were destroyed”

Trees are at the heart of Palestinian cultural, emotional and spiritual life and we join with our friends and partners in mourning their death and praying for the day when we can sit in their shade with no fear and in true peace.

Please keep up the pressure to stop this home from being demolished again. Visit www.amostrust.org/news for updates and advice of who to contact and what to say.

Nive HallOperations Manager

wi’am christmas smile appeal

Our partner from Bethlehem, Wi’am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Centre, is running its annual Christmas Smile project again this year. The project is an important part of Wi’am’s work helping local families to cope with the stress and trauma resulting from living under Israeli occupation.

Zoughbi Zoughbi, Director of Wi’am says:

“The Christmas Smile project is all about getting the Bethlehem community together at Christmas. The project hopes to enrich the lives of children and parents in Bethlehem by providing community Christmas celebrations.

“Older people are important sources of shared history and wisdom about Palestinian culture and so the Christmas Smile project takes children to visit the elderly. The children bring spontaneous energy back into their lives and also gain an appreciation of the older generation.”

It costs £10 for each child or elderly person to be included in the project and, if you would like to support this important work, you will find a space on the appeal form at the end of this newsletter to do so.

visit palestine with amos trust

We still have places available to join our annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which runs from Monday 14 to Wednesday 23 May 2012.

The trip offers the chance to:

– Meet Christian, Muslim and Jewish peace activists

– Visit the holy sites

– Spend time with the local Christian community

– Experience Palestinian hospitality

– Stop and think on the shores of Galilee and in the Judean desert

– Gain an understanding of what life is like in the Holy Land today

– See the ‘facts on the ground’ for yourself

Find out more at www.amostrust.org/travel or contact Sarah in the Amos office.

BelowThe separation wall will eventually encircle Al Walajah completely© Nive Hall

LeftFather Christmas visits Palestinian children in the shadow of the wall© AFP photo/Musa Al-Shaer

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christmas appeal 2011: a way back home

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Amos Trust 83 London WallLondon EC2M 5ND

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TrusteesBeki BatesonPeter BoneKatie HagleyAngie LastRamani LeathardMairi NeevesSimon PlaterJulia RuxtonLucy WinkettMartin Wroe

PatronSimon MayoDirectorGarth HewittAssociate DirectorChris RoseOffice ManagerSarah Dean

PA to Garth HewittIsobel WebsterOperations ManagerNive HallAll Hallows Manager / Admin AssistantGeorge Middleton

11christmas appeal 2011

garth’s back catalogue online now

We are delighted to announce that Garth Hewitt’s music back catalogue is being made available online via iTunes and Amazon. The classic albums Scars, Lonesome Troubadour and Walk the Talk are available now, with Stronger than the Storm and The Road Home online by Easter 2012, and the four Journeys albums to follow in September. Garth’s music is being released online by Garden House Music.

Garth says, “I’m delighted that Garden House Music is rereleasing Lonesome Troubadour, Scars and Walk the Talk. I have been sorry these have not been available for some time as they reflect an important period of songwriting for me and also some interesting recording moments. Scars was recorded in Nashville, Lonesome Troubadour in LA with the remarkable musician and producer Mark Heard, and Walk the Talk in Kings Heath, Birmingham.”

Just search for Garth Hewitt on iTunes and Amazon to purchase these albums as downloads.

the grace of new beginnings

As Chris Rose becomes the Director of Amos Trust and Garth Hewitt moves to his new role as Founder, supporters are invited to a special service, The Grace of New Beginnings on Wednesday 7 December at 7pm at All Hallows on the Wall, 83 London Wall, London EC2M 5ND.

This hour-long service is a time of thanksgiving for the past work of Amos Trust and to acknowledge with joy where Amos is today. We will also ask a blessing on our continuing work, our partners around the world, and on Chris and Garth as we all experience the excitement of a time of new beginnings.

We hope as many Amos supporters as possible are able to come and join trustees Canon Lucy Winkett (our new chair) and Martin Wroe as they lead a simple service of liturgy, followed by refreshments.

Please contact info@amostrust.org or call 0207 588 2638 to reserve a place.

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‘When I catch a wave it feels like I’m flying, I’m way up above the streets, the glue and all things I want to get away from.’ — Sfiso, 15

Amos Trust’s 2011 Christmas appeal is for Umthombo Street Children’s pioneering work in Durban, South Africa.

Umthombo’s surf programme is the first surf school exclusively for street children and one of the first for black children in South Africa. The children involved in the programme talk of how it has allowed them to develop their fitness and motivation, to believe in themselves and know they can achieve. Through it the children learn discipline, respect for others and find they no longer need to be dependent on sniffing glue to get through the day.

Umthombo’s social work team helps the children to deal with the extreme trauma they have experienced on the streets and works to try and reintegrate them back home or in residential care.

Amos Trust 83 London WallLondon EC2M 5ND

Phone 020 7588 2638Fax 020 7588 2663Email info@amostrust.orgWebsite amostrust.org

Reg. Charity no 292592

Above Umthombo Surf School© Wilf Whitty / Amos TrustCover Made in Palestine© Wilf Whitty

Last year through the surf programme and others like it, Umthombo enabled 120 children to leave the streets, providing the aftercare support for them and their families, so the families could access grants and benefits and these children could return to school.

£10 pays for a school uniform, which children must have to return to school

£25 will pay for a home visit – a vital step in supporting a child to leave the streets

£60 will pay for a day of the surf programme for 60 children.

£250 will pay for Umthombo’s annual Christmas beach party for 120 children.

This Christmas join Umthombo in giving Durban’s street children a way back home.

christmas appeal 2011a way back home