Martin Afrika

Martin's first home

This morning we went to MyLife to meet Martin Afrika.  There are still many complications concerning his legal identity, ID card and passport.   Without proof that he exists and is a South African citizen, he cannot get employment, purchase a car, purchase or rent his own home or travel.  The hospital he was born in shows that he was born on the same day on two different years and cannot verify his birth.  The school that he grew up in burnt down and lost all their records.  Many members of his family have passed away or are no longer in communication with him.  He has been in the Department of Home Affairs office every day for the last two and a half months trying to sort this situation out.

After venturing to the Department of Home Affairs with him, Martin took us to the MyLife house where he lives.  After visiting his current home, Martin took us to several of the places he lived for over 15 years on the streets.  He left his home to live on the streets when he was ten years old due to abuse in his home.  Over the last 20 years, he has also spent several in prison before trying to make positive changes to his life.

At the Quarry

The first place he took us was in the side of a mountain.  It’s known as the Quarry. He took us on a detailed tour of the area, where he slept, where he made fires to burn the rubber off of copper wires in order to sell the metal, and introduced us to several of the people he lived with and made money with.  There is no way Demetrius and I would’ve been able to be there, as Americans, with huge cameras on our own.  At one point, while Demetrius was closely filming Martin, I turned around and saw a young man looking at us and twirling a gun in his hand.

Afterwards, we went to an unfinished bridge that Martin used to sleep under.  Well, more like sleep inside. There were holes in the top of the bridge and twenty or so people could climb into these holes and sleep between the upper and lower levels of concrete on this bridge.  On one side, it is connected to the highway. On the other, it just ends and people apparently have fallen off or been thrown off of the end.  Because people can only enter from one side, Martin said it was safer than many places but it was dangerous because if anyone did come, there was no where to run to.

Martin on the bridge

The third place he took us was the first place he ever lived when he moved to the streets at age 10.  It was under a highway overpass and clearly people are still staying there.  He lived there for many years and told us the stories of transitioning from one side of the bridge to the other, why the first side was better and safer because it was harder to get to and it was close to a fence that opens to train tracks, which was a good place to jump and hide.  Behind the bridge was an area that he used to hang his clothes to dry and he would go to chill out when he was stressed, if he was having problems with his girlfriend, etc.

Finally, we took Martin back to his house, where he has lived for the last 2-3 months.  Once he joined the soccer league, he moved off the streets.  He believes soccer changed his life and the volunteers at MyLife claim they’ve never seen such a swift success story before.   Once he got onto the team, he stopped using drugs all together–after having used them since he was 13.  He captains a team of younger homeless guys, is in charge of maintaining the food in his house and is clearly a leader among his peers.  I can’t imagine what circumstances were like for him on the streets for so many years and from such a young age.  The community is now rallying around him, hoping these changes last in his life and that he is able to move forward in the positive ways he  hopes to.  Getting a proper ID and affirmation that he does exist, I think, will be a helpful step in that direction.

Martin's bedroom at MyLife