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BRIEF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW OF THEOSIS ORGANISATIONFounder MembersJean an Adele du Plessis founded Theosis Organisation in 1990. During the years they inspired and trained hundreds of volunteers, effected many changes in South African legislation and laws, started and set-up more than 13 different projects and programmes to help girl children on the street in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Presently (Nov 2001) Adele and Jean du Plessis continue to serve the cause from Canada and the USA.
Services rendered to Girl-Children and Young Women on the Street
PHILOSOPHYServing in Humility, Simplicity and Compassion Core IdeologyCore Values
Core PurposeHelping people experience the joy of giving and of receiving compassion and care. Ideological StatementTheosis improves the quality of life of all people in society by being a beacon of hope, care innovation, and seeking out and providing help to neglected areas of human need. Theosis will continue to serve humanity by imparting the spiritual, healing and social joys connected both to the giving and the receiving of charitable compassionate care. Governed by the three principles of Humility, Simplicity and Compassion, Theosis will continually strive to innovate new, improved, and more radical ways of providing culturally sensitive compassionate care to those who otherwise would be without the essential luxury of hope.
Present Challenges:Providing children with alternatives corresponding to the norms of the society in which they are most likely to reintegrate with. This involves sensitivity to measuring the type of accommodation, diet, clothing and expectancies against the targeted sector of society where we aim our reintegration efforts. It is sad, but true, to see that many operators in this field, including Department Welfare, provide children in institutions with first world levels of care which they will never be able to duplicate either in their mothers' homes or when they start working one day. We understand this to constitute a crime against that child - a crime that will one day render him/her an angry, dissatisfied and frustrated young person. It is harder to teach children to cook, clean after themselves, and look after their things, work for pocket money, and budget to buy underwear and toiletries, than to employ people to do it all for them. It is harder to help children get to know the joys of nature, of affiliation and familial bonds, than to ply them with material goods that satisfy their needs of feeling wanted and appreciated. We undertake not to hurt children by falling into this common 'easy-way-out' trap. 'With a little bit of help, and with the blessing of your patience and guidance, I will soon learn to delve deep into myself to discover and realize the full potential which God ordained for me. As these develop, and I learn to apply myself, I will be able to take my rightful place in society and live a full and exciting life. As I continue my life after this phase, I will endeavour never to forget that others, like myself, may sometime need a bit of help and a load of patience, to also discover the hidden and most beautiful gift they could ever receive - their full potential as human beings.'
BACKGROUND HISTORY1990.Jean and Adele du Plessis stumbled on the fact that teenage prostitution is a reality in South African and is particularly concentrated in Hillbrow. They were called to a vocation to do something positive about the fact, and decided to dedicate one year of their lives to Hillbrow. 1991.January, they started working full-time amongst the girls involved in the world of prostitution and drugs, and discovered that the social welfare systems and law enforcement systems chose to ignore the plight of these children. What was supposed to be a temporary project became a full time quest and The House was started despite the reluctance of the authorities at the time. May 1991.The House Drop-in Centre started out as a 'drop-in' for young women on the streets of Hillbrow. It took the larger part of 18 months, working at grassroots level, to gain the respect and recognition of the streets necessary to work between drug dealers and mafia-style sex trade operators. The House found its task to be that of being a catch-net for those children who fall through the holes in the systems. 1992.Applying for a fund-raising number, the authorities accused The House of trying to steal the public's money: At that time, according to them, prostitution 'was illegal' and there were no children involved in prostitution and no problem with intravenous drug addiction. Carte Blanche. The first of three Carte Blanche programs on The House flights nationally. Subsequently, the House has taken the unenviable position of 'most publicized community organization in the country' with more than 90 national and international television exposures. Ostracized by Churches. Many churches, especially the Charismatic churches, brand the House as undesirable because we provide clean needles and condoms to prostitutes. The argument against us is that we 'encourage' drug use and prostitution. Funding from these sources dried up. 1993.CCB. CCB operators in Hillbrow ban us from the brothels they run. Children we work with that they have a hold on disappear. Street Children Conference, two very important issues were addressed by The House:
LIFE SKILLS CENTRE We tried for 18 months to run a residential life skills centre on a smallholding in Johannesburg but were infected with Hepatitis A and had to close down all operations. The centre never opened again. SANAB South Africa's notorious narcotics police unit warn The House to expect vengeful retaliation if we should ever again expose of their crooked policemen. 1994.Mary Magdalene Church Due to the many funerals we had to perform, and the growing spiritual needs of the street prostitutes, the all prostitute congregation starts in Hillbrow. PhD. The House assists in, and is credited for, helping to facilitate two PhD theses on child prostitution in South Africa. SHELTER We tried for eight months to run a shelter with 10 girls in Maryvale Johannesburg, but failed due to staff burn-out. Drop-In Centre buys its own premises located at 60 Olivia rd, Berea with an R 100 000 bond from ABSA Bank. Pretoria. The House assists NGO in Pretoria to research and set up project for girl child on the street 1995.Difficulties experienced in facilitating reintegration and therapeutic change for the young girls from The House Drop-in Centre, led to the founding of a second phase, Intombi Shelter - a temporary home providing safety and care, where girls under 19 live for a few days to a few months, enabling us to prepare them for reintegration. The idea of the Kulula Project, a third phase is born and investigated. Minister of Welfare, Mackenzie invites us to submit a proposal for Kulula as a pilot project. The proposal reaches his office on the day Minister Fraser-Moleketi takes over from him and she acknowledges receipt and expresses interest to visit the projects, which, to date, she never did. Street Children Conference, again, a repeat of the 1993 scenario two very important issues were addressed by The House:
Durban. The House assists NGO to research and set up project for girl child on the street MA The House assists 2 MA Psych dissertations. Min. Sakkie Blanche promises to assist The House with project funding, and he delivers. BBC. The first BBC programme on The House flighted internationally. International research, The House participates in an international research effort about post traumatic stress disorder in prostitutes. The results are astounding, showing that prostitutes in 5 different countries are more traumatized than Gulf War and Vietnam War veterans receiving treatment. ETHEMBENI. We assist Salvation Army in startup and programme planning for HIV+ baby shelter and rehabilitation center for mature prostitutes. Children in Prostitution Conference. The House guest speaks at conference hosted by HSRC and Dept. Welfare INTOMBI SHELTER We buy the premises next to Drop-in Centre, 62 Olivia Road, and successfully launch the first all girls shelter in Gauteng, registered as a children's home. 1996.Royal Netherlands Embassy visits Hillbrow projects July. August 1996. The House was one of the seven case studies presented at the World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. When approaching UNICEF (co-sponsor and organizer of the Conference) for sponsorship to attend the conference, we were informed that no funding is available and we must approach government. Government could not assist, as they were already sending 22 delegates to Stockholm. The Netherlands Embassy, when they heard of the situation two weeks before the conference, being aware of the urgent need for recognition of the girl-child-in prostitution and the fact that The House delivered a 40 page commissioned paper for the Conference, notified us that they will sponsor The House to attend the conference...we will remain forever grateful. In Stockholm the South African delegation prepared to present their Country Position Paper, a paper that denied the existence of children in prostitution in South Africa-and this in the face of the fact that The House was one of five international case studies presented to the Conference. We informed government (the 22 delegates) that we will internationally expose their 'cover-up' and denial of a very real problem. The following day, instead of the Position Paper, our Minister of Welfare, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, read a most inspiring speech, by President Mandela. South Africa's speech was the only speech that received a standing ovation and we quote the compassion: 'The time has come for children to be seen, and to be very clearly heard. The cries of our abused and exploited children must no longer fall on deaf ears or closed minds.' These compassionate words sadly did fall on deaf ears and closed minds because for many years after 1996 the South African Government still did nothing to alleviate the plight of the girl child on the street. Amsterdam, London, Brussels. The House, sponsored by the Royal Dutch Embassy attended a study tour of the red light districts of these cities and studied the possible therapeutic solutions to prostitution. The House delivered a 120-page manual to various institutions on this issue, making suggestions, proposing alternatives and searching for solutions to our local issues. Politics. The House, being in the care industry, and totally innocent of the aims and games of the political industry, believed and trusted Government to be committed to the plight of the child in prostitution. An eye-opener, about so-called 'transparency' came after the congress in Stockholm: Government had a predetermined agenda and The House was used as 'window-dressing' at meetings to supposedly decide the way forward for our sexually exploited children. Regardless of The House and other representatives' objections and opposition, a Sex Offenders Register was put in place as the Minister's pilot project in response to the 7 days spent listening to the quest of the Stockholm Conference - a project totally irrelevant to children in prostitution, and will be of no use or benefit ever, for our children in prostitution. Early in 1997 we realized that there is a vast difference between political discussions on issues and actual caring and intervening in issues, and we withdrew from all forums of the political kind to concentrate our efforts on helping abused children cope without proper resources. With the start of the financial year, Gauteng Provincial Government - Department Welfare, granted some financing for shelters for homeless persons, and The House drop-in and overnight facility qualified for funding for the first time since its inception. This was a major breakthrough; finally there was some recognition and acknowledgement of the existence of our girl-children and young women in need. September 1996. The Law Commission takes heed in consultation and formulates what would become Section 50A of the Child Care Act, prohibiting commercial sexual exploitation of people under 18 years. The amended Child Care Act came into effect in 1999. Consul General of the United States. Mr. Greg Engle, visits the Hillbrow projects and financially assists to set-up Intombi Shelter's infrastructure. October 1996. Gauteng Conference on Decriminalization of Prostitution led by the ill-willed Department of Safety and Security proposed to scrap the laws prohibiting prostitution-thus decriminalizing prostitution. The House objects to decriminalization on humanitarian grounds, and understand decriminalization as merely another way of saying 'I wash my hands in innocence'. We believe that the 'rental of genitals' should be conducted in the most humane manner possible. The House called for either criminalization or legalization - challenging government to accept full responsibility for the plight of our children and women. We buried more than 300 girls in the six years to 1996 and we wanted Government to take cognizance of the plight of the women and children in the industry. It was most unpleasant and it became personal. We were the only people opposing Ms. Duarte and her Department's regression and we suffered threats, personal attacks and alienation. The issue was dropped in the end-proving that the Department never intended to protect the women and children, the victims, but only wanted to act to enrich the fat cat brothel owners. Since that date all policing of brothels ended and our attempts to have child-harbouring brothels busted fell on deaf ears. The chief of Child Protection Unit publicly states that she will not act on information about child prostitution and will not expend police man-hours on such a 'victimless crime'. Geert Groote School in Amsterdam holds it first annual street festival to raise money for the children of The House and helps with electricity and water on the farm where Kulula is piloted. 1997.Funding dry up. New Government initiatives channel corporate and international funding through trusts and associations of their making. The money does not come out again and is distributed disproportionably. NGOs start closing at an alarming rate. The House scales down it activities to survive and everyone takes a pay cut, the top salary (for the Director) being R 3 000 per month. Various Government officials are accused of swindling money and many fly-by-night NGOs receive massive grants and vanish overnight. A new struggle is born. Tanzania. The House assists a Dar es Salaam Salvation Army project working with child prostitutes. Kulula. Realizing that government is not ready to acknowledge the crucial needs of our children in prostitution, and still facing the difficulty that some children just cannot be reintegrated or placed with institutions, thus remaining in need of alternative care until they are prepared to face life as a responsible adult, a third phase in the fourfold process of Prevention, Early Intervention-Retrieval, Therapy-Care and Developmental Services and Reintegration was urgently needed. Therefore, in reaction to the 1996 Stockholm Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, the KULULA SKILLS CENTRE project was established as a pilot project to address the need for alternative skills training for one of the groups of so-called 'difficult to place' children - the teenager burdened with any combination of childhood sexual abuse, drug addiction, prostitution, HIV and having suffered homelessness and life on the street. The project was so named after the Zulu word khulula, denoting Emancipation from whatever shackles that may hold these children in disadvantage Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States of America meets with representatives of The House on her visit to South Africa in March. 1998.International Volunteers start working with The House since its web sites became very popular. We rely heavily on the work performed by these volunteers from all over the world including countries such as, Japan, USA, Canada, UK, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain. Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport visits the Hillbrow projects and assist with funding for the Kulula project. 1999.USA Ambassador Joseph meets with representatives of The House. India. Representatives of The House visit child prostitution areas and rehabilitation programmes in Bombay, to learn and share.
2000.HIV/ AIDS research venture in conjunction with Durban University is underway. USA study tour. A representative of The House is sponsored by the USA Government to visit various US cities and projects, in July, where solutions are in progress to help the crack addicted young person to heal. By having exposed the exploitation and abuse of our girl children and women, The House created awareness about their world-within-our-world. We hope to empower local society, which sadly continues to perpetuate the abuse against our children, to also find compassion in their hearts for our children -- the result of our society. Sometimes, we forget about the good times and our victories, maybe because human misery daily stares us in the face. Then the unexpected happens! Some of the girls, who once was so close to death on the streets, come to visit us, introducing their new husbands and bragging about their 'normal' lives, showing off their babies, baptizing their babies in Mary Magdalene Church. Other girls, who came through our doors over the past 10 years, are now again coming through our doors...this time to offer their help, to volunteer at the various projects, to give back what they received so many years ago...love and unconditional positive regard. Theosis has been for the past 10 years, and will for the years to come, be committed to the plight of the girl-child in distress. Theosis will
The House Drop-in Centre - Retrieval, phase one Lobbying, Academic, Volunteer, Shareholder and Research programmes
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