“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another” - Charles Dickens

I WAS sitting with a hundred or so young children from various care homes, watching the fabulous Young Performers Fairy Tale Christmas Carol at the Playhouse the other day, watching grumpy old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, learning valuable life lessons about the true meaning of Christmas from the three ghosts who visit him on Christmas Eve. Sitting among my enthralled young companions – many of whom were experiencing the joy of live theatre for the first time – the irony was not lost on me.

Society has not learned from the timeless Charles Dickens classic. We greet our city’s Tiny Tims and Bob Cratchits with a gruff “Bah Humbug” much like Scrooge does before his eureka moment; before he embraces the power of redemption showing it's never too late to change from selfishness to compassion, to care for the poor and hungry and welcome the Christmas spirit of kindness, love, and community.

It’s well worth tracking down a copy of the great novella, A Christmas Carol – or better still catch the musical version at the Playhouse this week, to be reminded of the importance of being kind to those less fortunate than us this season: the families who won’t be sitting down to a home cooked meal with loved ones; people who won’t be receiving gifts or treats; children who won't wake up with joy and excitement on Christmas morning.

In Durban, we are reminded daily of the hundreds of people we encounter for whom Christmas is not the season of joy and abundance. If anything, it is a time of desperate loneliness, anxiety about broken families and a suffocating undercurrent of busyness and distraction. Our sense is often that the scourge of poverty is just so overwhelming that we feel disempowered and incapable of doing anything to begin to fix it.

That’s not entirely true, I guess it’s much like eating an elephant. It is possible, one tiny bite at a time…

I run the Street Lit book project for the Denis Hurley Centre. A joyous life-affirming initiative which empowers 20 or so homeless and formerly homeless men and women to earn a modest income by selling donated books to the public in and around Durban. The vendors are bright well-read individuals. In fact, they made the unanimous decision never to discard a Dickens novel. Many of them have read – and can quote – Dickens and appreciate his social commentary.

When a new-to-us old wooden bookcase came into the project a few years ago, the team decided that it would become a “shrine” to Dickens. The bookcase houses all our Dickens novels, and even though some of them probably will never be sold, they remain safe and together in pride of place in our subterranean inner city, quite Dickensian Street Lit book shop.

The Street Lit vendors personify success stories of people who were trapped in the cycle of poverty, but through sheer will power and lots of support, have been able to turn their lives around. Our mantra is “books and care can change the world”.

This is more than a mere tag line; it represents the absolute truth to the vendors who have found a new life and purpose through reading and selling books. Living in a city beset by seemingly insurmountable problems, I take great pride in what our modest little project has achieved. I suppose the greatest attribute is the gift of hope; the belief that, much like Scrooge, another life is possible. The vendors are more than happy to share their stories about how the project has given them a sense of belonging. They will tell you that being part of a group of people with similar life experiences who hold each other accountable, without judgement, provides necessary support and impetus to continue their journey of recovery.

Now that they are book vendors, when chatting to customers they are no longer invisible. They can hold their own and once more be integrated into a society which all too quickly lookst he other way in the face of poverty and homelessness. Thank you too to all the marvellous venue hosts who allow our vendors to trade: your grace and hospitality is never taken for granted. You will find us: China Shabalala – City View; Comfort Ngubane - Glenwood Village Centre; Alvin Dube/ China Shabalala - La Lucia Mall; Qhawe Mbatha – Bridge City; Sbusiso Mnguni - Ballito Life and Style, by the gallery; Donel Tanbeni - KZNSA Gallery; David Sithole – outside municipal satellite container library alongside Workshop; Bulelo Sigabi – Davenport Square, Eric Badise – Durban Botanic Gardens Visitors Centre; Richard Nzima and Khanyisile Cele – Pick n Pay Hyper by the Sea; Vusi Meyiwa – Bluff Towers; Xolani Gamede – Umlazi Mega City.

We have some guys selling around town, in the taxi ranks and outside the Denis Hurley Centre. Look out for our bright lime green branding!

So, I encourage you, dear reader, to consider buying books at the Denis Hurley Street Lit tables around town this holiday. They make great gifts. We are continually striving to make the circle bigger and bring others onto our team. The ever-supportive Jocelyn Hatto from Windermere Centre have invited us to have tables at the centre until Christmas both to sell books and to wrap presents. Our team is selling books, and some young people have joined us from Artvision Academy, who train homeless and vulnerable men and women to earn a living through the arts in its broadest sense.

We have been practising our gift wrapping for weeks and look forward to what we hope will be a fruitful collaboration. So, as we count the sleeps until Christmas – let's be mindful of the lessons learned by Scrooge – quite simply, just be kind, embrace goodwill year-round; and make an effort to help those less fortunate around us. So often the greatest gifts are those we give others rather than receive ourselves. As the transformed Ebenezer Scrooge famously says at the end of the novel: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

Illa Thompson facilitates the Denis Hurley Centre Street Lit project, and runs an award-winning publicity company, Publicity Matters. She can be contacted at [email protected] for more information.

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