Napier Centre for Healing: A Place of Mercy

About 50km outside Durban, a Catholic-run rehabilitation centre for drug addicts is offering the outcasts of society a new chance at life. Dawn Haynes tells the story of the Napier Centre for Healing.

The outcasts of society surely must be those who are shunned even by others on the margins of society. In Durban, these are abusers of the drug whoonga. But a rehabilitation centre 50km outside the city is offering these people a second chance.

The Napier Centre for Healing (NC4H) is a residential care centre situated in Ekukhanyeni, near Verulam. It was started by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier with Dr Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, and Fr Stephen Tully, who serves the centre as its chairman and spiritual advisor.

Its story goes back to early 2015, when Cardinal Napier, then archbishop of Durban, visited the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC). He became aware of a number of young people outside the clinic who were being avoided by the other street dwellers. He was told that these were whoonga addicts and because they never washed, they smelt really bad. Why didn’t they wash?

Whoonga is a highly addictive heroin-based drug mixed with various other substances, including rat poison, and it is easily available in Durban. The drug causes the skin to become extremely sensitive, especially to water, so addicts don’t wash and hence develop a strong, unpleasant body odour. The other street dwellers will not allow them to approach.

Cardinal Napier arranged with the DHC’s nursing sister to visit the satellite clinic in Sydney Road, where most of these addicts had built street shacks in a filthy area. The serious skin infections which the addicts develop are treated in this small clinic. There are more than 2000 whoonga addicts in Durban.

After speaking to a few of the young addicts, Cardinal Napier returned to the Hurley Centre and set up a meeting with Dr Perrier and Fr Tully. “We have got to do something for these addicts,” he told them.

Birth of a centre

Suitably experienced people were approached to form board of trustees, all of them offering their services pro bono. They also became actively involved in fundraising for the centre, a non-profit organisation which depends on donations in order to function.

With guidance from Dr Perrier, the new organisation was modelled on the DHC. It is registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO), which entitles donors to apply for tax benefits. This assures donors that all legal aspects of a charitable trust fund are legitimate, and they may be confident that their funding is used well.

The first step was to procure the land and buildings. An abandoned school building near Verulam, which belonged to the Durban archdiocese, was identified, and trustee Murray Leyden prepared all the necessary legal documents. The Napier Centre for Healing had a home! The team worked endlessly to source adequate funding, which was not an easy task. Durban parishes, individuals and companies were approached. Overseas donors were also sourced by the cardinal.

A generous donor gave not only building materials but also trained construction workers to begin the repairs needed on the premises. It took many months to raise sufficient funds to complete all the structural repairs and to acquire adequate essential items for the housing and the vocational training centre.

There was also the challenge of employing suitable staff members to run the facility. House parents were found as well as a social worker and a kitchen superintendent. The parish priest of the church, which is on the property, serves on the steering committee, as do members of the parish pastoral council.

In the midst of all the setting up of the centre, the Covid pandemic hit. Its restrictions became a major problem and delayed progress significantly — but a very large anonymous donation allowed for the opening to be planned for 2021.

Fundraising efforts are ongoing. An unusual campaign took place in 2022 when Fr Tully and biokineticist Dwain Swiegers raised funds by walking 1000km through South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique to raise funds for the NC4H and Gyms4Africa, a non-profit that helps poor people obtain gym memberships.

 The rehab journey

The NC4H’s holistic programme starts with an intensive rehabilitation at Newlands Park Treatment Centre for 6-8 months, during which the whoonga addicts are treated to overcome their addiction. They then move to the NC4H for a further 6-8 months, depending on their progress.

“The overall aim of the programme is to build the residents’ recovery, prevent relapse and to facilitate the process of responsible reintegration into family and society,” according to Fr Tully, who serves as the centre’s chair.

This approach includes responding to residents with love in a homely environment, giving each person hope and healing in order to rebuild their sense of worth and their relationship with God. The objective is to create a future for them where there is financial stability, employment and reintegration with their family and community.

Skills offered by the centre include cooking and baking, market-gardening, art and music, woodwork and basic building skills as well as basic technology. This vocational training is supported by spiritual enrichment and personal development as well as sports and recreation.

The staff team includes house parents, social workers, a psychologist and spiritual guide, and skills trainers in gardening, welding, woodwork, cooking, painting, and art. The gardening project is hugely successful and the produce is used by the centre to generate funds.

Since opening, a number of men have “graduated” and are back in society. The centre offers assistance by finding employment and then supports and visits these graduates for 2-3 years after they leave to maintain on-going progress.  The success rate is over 60%, which is exceptionally good for this kind of treatment programme.

A success story

One such graduate is Lundi Gqwaru. He was admitted to the NC4H on November 30, 2021, after having lived on the streets for five years. He has completed a business training course with the nearby Grace Family Church. A talented artist, he is planning on developing this skill further.

In September 2022, Lundi was part of the Durban Business Fair at the Exhibition Centre, with a stand where he showcased his artwork which included ceramic pottery. During the fair, Lundi had the opportunity to meet and engage with other emerging entrepreneurs and he also had the privilege of meeting the Ethekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda.

The NC4H maintains good contact with the Denis Hurley Centre, and the two projects complement each other in many ways. There is an excellent working relationship aiding the street dwellers in Durban.

With 15 young people enrolled at present, the NC4H staff is looking to expand the centre this year. The infrastructure for another 15 students is there but the facilities need to be restored and refurbished. The centre hopes that funding will be given by donors to support this extension project.

At the AGM in November 2023, it was reported that the NC4H is now operating within budget and the monthly income is just sufficient to cover running costs. This is a remarkable achievement and indicates that income from donors is being controlled and used with great care.

With the rising costs due to inflation and the plan to extend the facility, ongoing donors are needed. Donations can be made directly to the trust account and are eligible for tax exemption.

2015, the year Cardinal Napier was so troubled by seeing the whoonga addicts, was the Year of Mercy, declared by Pope Francis. The NC4H is now a lasting act of mercy which is assisting many addicts and giving “hope for the hopeless”.

To donate or volunteer: napiercentre.org/#get-involved

Published in the June 2024 issue of The Southern Cross magazine