CC flickr Todd Huffman
Tshwane project helps homeless people living with heroin addiction practice safe drug use
By Naledi Shange
A former drug addict who lived on the streets has joined a mission to help homeless drug addicts in Tshwane by giving them something that could potentially save their lives. Food‚ shelter and a fresh change of clothes may be the kind of help that many think of offering. But former drug user Connie van Staden says syringes give them a chance of starting life afresh. "I do this [the needle exchange programme] because when they change their ways‚ they will have a life to live‚" said Van Staden‚ who is now a human rights and advocacy officer for the Harmless Project. This publication spoke to one of the project's beneficiaries‚ Duncan Tsegula. "I wish I had come across this project much earlier because some of my friends [who were homeless and using drugs] died from HIV‚" said Tsegula.