20. The Bridge

In the beginning of 2001 I became extremely close with a group of boys that were staying under a bridge in downtown. The city eventually cleared out that area and built a Convention Center but some of my fondest memories in Cape Town took place with that group of kids under the bridge.
It was in that process of them being “cleared out” that I became close with the group. There was a group of about seven boys that were staying with a man and his girlfriend under the bridge. They lived in a shack that they had built, in a small community of several other street people that also had built shacks under the bridge. Most of the other people were drug dealers and prostitutes.
It was a rough little area. I met the boys at a nearby traffic light, where they washed car windows for money. They all had squeegees and bottles of soapy water. When a car pulled up, they would wash the window and then ask for money.
It was funny because I would always talk to them and I had built up a relationship with them and every time I pulled up to those traffic lights, they would ALL run to my car and begin washing. One would wash the windscreen, one would wash the back window while the others would do the side panels, side windows and even the hood of the car. I would pull away with a sparkling clean car.
One day they told me that there was a problem where they were staying and asked me to come and talk to Carl, the man they were staying with.
I went with them to speak with Carl and he explained to me that the police were threatening them, telling them that they had to move away. I gave Carl my number and told him to call me if he had any problems that I could help him out with.
Carl is a thirty year old gangster that has quite a reputation in Cape Town, which I didn’t know at that point. He told the boys, after I left that day, that he could tell I was scared of him. I wasn’t, and I didn’t know any reason I should be.
When the boys told me what he had said, I told them that I was not scared and that they could tell him that. A few days later I saw him and he just laughed because the message had reached him.
I didn’t know that I should have been scared of him and he was not used to people not being scared of him, so he found it funny. He respected the fact that I was not intimidated by him. From then on we had a close relationship.
Not too long after that, Carl called me because their shack had been trashed by the police. When I arrived on the scene their stuff was in ruins. Their stuff had been thrown everywhere, the shacks were totally torn down and the boys had been beaten by the cops.
I wrote up a report and took pictures and followed up the matter with the police. Some police officers came and apologized to them.
After that, I would stop by everyday on my way out of town just to hang out with them. Sometimes I would only stay for a few minutes. Other times I would stay late into the night.
One night when I was leaving, three police cars flew out of nowhere and blocked me in. They stopped and got out of the car with their guns drawn. One of the officers approached the car and asked to see my ID.
“What are you looking for under here boy?” He thought I was trying to buy drugs under the bridge. I explained to them that I worked with the street kids and was just hanging out with a group of kids that lived under the bridge.
They didn’t believe me and asked me more questions.
They asked me for identification from my organization and I didn’t have any on me but I quickly remembered that I had a business card from another organization that works with the kids so I showed it to them. They seemed satisfied enough and they eventually let me go. Carl and the boys found it extremely funny.
I would often take a soccer ball under the bridge and we would all play. Sometimes we would all load into my car and go to the beach. Carl and I would often go into the community that he is from and visit his grandmother and mother.
One day he got word that his brother had been stabbed and he wanted me to go with him to the hospital to visit him. Carl, his Uncle, Aunt, and I went to the hospital.
When we got there, they told us that he had just died and that his family needed to identify the body. Carl wanted me to come with him because I had met his brother before, and I think he just needed the support.
They took us to the body and we identified it as his brother. He had lost most of his color and he didn’t look very good. Carl’s aunt started crying really hard. I could tell that Carl was trying to hold back tears.
I felt a little awkward because I was not part of the family and I was not really sure what to do. I was glad that I could be there to support Carl though.
Later that day we ran around making funeral arrangements. I helped them raise money to cover the funeral. In the communities, because most of the time the people are not financially able to pay for funeral, funeral homes attach a form along with the general price information that has spaces for people to donate money and write their names.
The family only gets a few copies that have to be made official by the funeral director, because people try and illegally raise money with them.
The family gave me one and I carried it around with me everywhere I went for the next few days. I showed it to everyone I came into contact with and asked them for money. Carl was extremely appreciative of my support and help during that time and it made our relationship even stronger.
Not too long after that, trying to show his appreciation to me, he gave me a nice silver watch. I figured that it had been stolen and I normally don’t accept stolen gifts (though I have been offered all types of them from the kids) but I could not turn down his gesture of appreciation.
It wasn’t working when he gave it to me but Carl was sure that all it needed was a new battery. He took me immediately to a man at a little stand on the side of the road who fixes watches. He gave it to the man and told him to fix anything that needed to be fixed on it and the man told us to come pick it back up in an hour.
In the meantime, Carl bought us lunch and we sat and ate. After an hour we went back, and Carl paid the man and collected the watch. He then proudly put it on my arm for me. That watch really means a lot to me!
The group of boys that stayed with Carl was a fun and energetic group. They were always happy and full of smiles. We always had fun playing around and goofing off. I did however also experience some dramatic and traumatic times with those kids.
One day, Sipho, one of the boys, was arrested for something he hadn’t done. The police said that he had broken into a car, but it wasn’t true. Carl even knew the guy that had actually committed the crime. It was a big scene though: Sipho just happened to walk past a car that had been broken into and the police saw him and yelled at him.
He made the mistake of running away, even though he had done nothing wrong. The police chased him, tackled him and then hit him over the head with a walkie-talkie. He didn’t try to fight back and was extremely shocked by the whole experience. They then handcuffed him and took him in. It was really traumatic for the other boys.
I pulled up a few afternoons after that and saw Carl running down the street. I stopped and he told me he had just been chasing the guy that had actually broken into the car. He had also managed to inform two police officers sitting in a police car nearby and they began to chase the criminal.
While I was standing there talking to Carl the boys came up and not long after that a police car pulled up next to us. In the back of the car was the guy that had actually committed the crime that Sipho had been accused of.
Carl identified him and they took him away. Sipho was released later that day.
When all the excitement was over, I drove the boys to the traffic light and dropped them off and then drove back to talk to another street guy that I knew who had walked up during all the action.
The other guy and I stood there and talked for a while and then, as we were talking, I could see a crowd of street people gathering under the bridge. I didn’t know what was going on but the people seemed to be getting frantic.
Then I saw one of the kids that I had just dropped off at the traffic light and I wondered why he was back over there so quickly. I decided to go see what was going on.
As I got closer, the people started yelling, “RYAN!!! We didn’t know you were still here!! Come quickly!!!!!” When I got closer to the group of people I saw Dhumi, one of the younger boys, on the ground going into convulsions.
He had been standing at the traffic lights and started having a seizure and the other boys had carried him to the bridge. I quickly ran and jumped into my car and pulled up next to Dhumi.
We loaded him into the back seat with Carl and one of the other boys. I drove to the hospital as fast as I could.
As I was driving Dhumi went totally unconscious. I drove faster than I ever had before, and I drive pretty fast on a regular basis! I turned on my hazard lights and just held my hand on the horn as I drove. I got there in record time.
When we got to the hospital, I pulled right up to the emergency room doors and I jumped out and picked up Dhumi and ran into the hospital. Normally you have to sign in and wait for hours in the waiting room but I went right past the security guard and into the back, kicking open the doors to the emergency ward.
I put Dhumi down on a bed and I grabbed a nurse and pulled her over to him.
They began to try and stabilize him and immediately injected him with some medication. His seizure eventually stopped. After a while, he woke up out of his unconscious state and was confused. The doctors decided to keep him in the hospital so they could run further tests and treatments.
He was diagnosed as an epileptic. After about a week he was released and they prescribed medicine for him that he had to take every day. It was extremely difficult to get him to understand the dangers of continuing to live on the streets with his condition.
He was not interested in going home or getting off the streets, especially because he remembered nothing from the event except for waking up in the hospital. I tried to stress how important it was for him to take his medicine every day.
I told the boys how important it was for them to look after him when they were at the traffic lights. I kept imagining him standing at the traffic light and then having a seizure and falling under a moving car.
Carl and I tried to talk him into going home and he was very stubborn and was set on staying in Cape Town but eventually, he agreed to go home and he did. Since that time, he only comes into town every now and then but stays home for the most part.
Another memorable event that occurred under the bridge was when my mom came for a visit.
Carl and the boys were excited to meet my mom and Carl had told me that when she arrived he wanted to cook dinner for her one night. I had told my mom that in advance and so she brought along some shirts for all of the boys and Carl.
One night during her visit, we went under the bridge and Carl cooked potatoes, rice and chicken over the fire. We sat around the fire and ate, talked, and had a great time.
After we were finished eating, my mom gave them the shirts that she had brought. They were thrilled. It was then when I really realized that they had become like a family to me and it was so cool that my family from back home could meet and hang out with my family in Cape Town.
The City eventually cleared out that area completely and all the people had to move away. Carl and the boys all dispersed.
I still see them every now and then, but every time I pass the Convention Center, I think about the times that I spent under that bridge and I am so thankful for those memories.