Roads they Walk - a street boy's day in pictures

This is Alex. He is about 14 years old and has lived on the streets for a number of years now. He has been into a number of homes but has not stayed in any preferring the free spirited life of the street to rules. Often he is the boy at program who is rilling other kids up and pushing back against authority.  But as much trouble as he often is, everyone loves Alex in one way or another. He is very street wise and knows how to get what he wants. We asked him if he would like to help us learn about street boys using pictures and video. He said yes and then added "I want to be a movie star!" Not sure if you are going to be that Alex, but thank you so much for sharing with us some of your day to day life! You did great.

This is the gate that leads out of Grace Church. This church is in Kivulu (one of the slums in Kampala)  and home to the street program API runs. As soon as you walk out the gate you are met with a pile of garbage. Alex had his sack ready. These burlap sacks are what the boys use to collect their source of income - scrap.

 

Scrap can come in many forms, bottles, plastic, broken phones, pieces of metal. The boys look for things that can be recycled. Often good scrap can be found in the many sewers that flow through the slum area of Kampala.

 



 





  Alex, like all the boys, shows no hesitancy to clammer down into them and retrieve what they can.

 

Along the one side of Kivulu runs this sewer channel. This is where the boys bath and wash their clothes. Parts of this water system are cleaner than others, but not by much. Often when you cross the channel into Kivulu you can see boy wading in the water.

 

This is the humble abode of two of the older boys, Big and Innocent. They are fortunate in that they have a container that they can call their own. They even have the ability to lock it and keep their meagre possession safe. The cardboard is their bed. The older boys often share their space with the younger boys.



 

 After the boys gather scape they go to weighing stations so see how much it weighs and collect their Ugandan shillings.

 

 

Alex continued to show us the places around downtown Kampala where he collects scrap.

 

The taxi park

Alex loves this picture and is definitely proud of his ninja skills!

 



 

Scrap is others cast-offs. Basically these boys live of the garbage of others.

 

Unfortunately people often see them as having about as much value as the  heaps of trash they wade into. Abuse is inevitable on the streets, verbal, physical, emotional. "People are afraid of us. They don't like us." I have been told by the boys. "But the things that happen to us here even though it is so bad is better than it was before we came to the streets..."

 

Walking is a huge part of a street boys day. They cover miles. 

 

There are so many street boys in Kampala you don't go far without meeting some. Street kids stick together and form tight friendships in order to survive. Alex came across Enoch and they visited for a few minutes sharing a carrot Enoch had in his possession we carried on.

 

 

Pineapple stands are abundant in Uganda. The street boys will often spend their change on the street venders getting what catches their fancy and they can afford.

 

Kisenyi. It is the worst slum in Uganda. I have heard it said you have to do drugs, sell drugs, be a protitute or the child of a prostitute to live here. It has a heaviness over it. This is home to a lot of the kids. Alex does not live here. He lives in Kivulu which is a consideably better place to live even though it is still slum. The boys in Kisenyi often have the vacant look of those who have lost hope.

 

Every time I look at this picture I feel sad. This boys name is Andrew. Others have given him the name Chenga. Chenga is the aviation fluid that is commonly used among the boys. They keep it in bottles and sniff it continually.  Andrew does so much of it that he has been nicknamed after it. Constently using this drug kills the boys mental abilities. The boys who have been doing it for years have been effected so much by it - Andrew is one of these.

 

Kisenyi street boys.

 

Here is where we meet Sabote. He is the boy waving in the picture.

Sabote has lived on the streets for so many years even he has lost count. Some people say they can remember him being on the street as he was loosing his babyteeth. For him the street really has become his "mother." He has spent the majority of his time in Kisenyi and done a lot of chenga. His smile is the best. When he uses it, you can't help but smile too. Sabote also agreed to show us around Kampala and parts of his daily life.

This is the crowded downtown area. You can buy pretty much anything from the shops that line the streets. During the day it is so crowded that is it sometimes becomes hard to find you way through the maze of people and vehicles and merchandise. Due to the sheer amount of people passing through this area a lot of garbage is discarded. In the late hours of the night and the early hours of the morning this area becomes the hunting grounds of the street boys. 

 



We ran into some more street boys. These boys had been working hard all morning and had sacks that were almost full.

 

They joined out procession as we wound our way through the city streets.

Kampala is definatley a cleaner place because of these children.

 

Often with barefeet they walk.

 

 

At night we visited an area called Wandegeya where some of the boys sleep. This is Ivan and Reagan. They often sleep in front of these stores after the owners have locked up shop for the night.

 

 

The neglect these boys experience is incredible. What is happening to them is not right. No child should be without a parent figure in their life, one who they know will love and protect them.  No child should have to live on the streets, sleeping in dark corners with out even a blanket. No child should have to walk for miles ever day wading into the sweres to retrieve what they can to survive. No child should be treated as garbage by others or live in fear of being beaten by the authorities. Where are those who will fight for these boys?

 

Looking at them as a whole becomes overwhelming. But you can't just look at them this way. Yes there are many of them and yes the issues surrounding them are complex and not easily solved. But each boy is an individual. This may be the biggest thing I have learned so far.  I cannot reach the masses of boys, but I can reach out to an individual boy. And this is how it starts.

 

Alex and Sabote are bing reached out to. As I type Caitlyn, a staff member of API, is preparing to open a home of her own. Her plan in to take in some of the hardest boys, the boys that could not easily go into any other home. Alex and Sabote are on herheart and will be coming into this home when it opens at the end of April. You can follow her story here http://ugandansunshine.blogspot.com/2013/04/prayers-for-enoch.html