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According to government estimates, as many as 15,000 children live on the streets of Uganda's capial city Kampala aged from seven up to the age of 17. Many are refugees who have fled their homes from the instabilities in the DRC and South Sudan, however most are from poor Ugandan families where children have left seeking a better future only to end up destitute on the city's street, vulnerable to exploitation. Those children have been forced onto the streets due to poverty, harsh
conditions at home, abandonment, school drop-out and food shortages with many
coming from larger families especially those with a new step-parents who don't
or won't care for the existing children in the family.
AIDS is also a major factor with Uganda having one of the highest prevalence
rates in the world leaving 800,000 children orphaned through AIDS related
deaths out of a total orphan population of some 1.6 million children.
Many children also end up on the streets having been trafficked on the promise of money being sent
back to their birth families with the going rate being 20,000UGX, some £5.00. That money is rarely forthcoming and the children go on to work in domestic servitude, brick
laying, general and construction labouring, sand mining, stone
quarrying, tree planting, cutting, and in other labour intensive
industries; their destinations are as far afield as Canada, Egypt, the United Arab
Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Some later escape and find their way onto the streets. In 2020, Uganda made further attempts to improve the situation launching an action plan to combat trafficking in persons and a child protection policy that prioritizes the elimination of child labour in partnership with international stakeholders. The government also passed a law to ban giving money or food to children living on the streets of Kampala, however the problem persists and children continue to live there, just hidden further from the authorities placing them at even further risk.
These street children in Uganda are rarely loveable street urchins, rather drug takers, smokers and the walking wounded after altercations with the local police
and other youths. Daily life consists of searching for scraps of food,
begging or stealing in order to survive. Others hunt for pieces of scrap metal that can be sold, finding small tasks to do in exchange for food or money including carrying luggage for people at the bus depot, sorting beans in a market stall, sweeping and doing laundry. Most of the children live in 'dens'. They do not club together as
one homogenous group, rather older boys take money off younger children
and beat them unless they comply or simply because they catch them
playing on the streets rather than making money for them.
UNICEF reported the plight of one street boy, a 10-year-old, who was stabbed, doused in petrol and set on fire by
other children. He received severe burns however survived the
attack.
There are OVC (Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children) policies in
operation in Uganda, however many are under-funded and under
publicised leaving it to NGOs, charities and individuals to make a
difference. Not only do they face resource issues but also a
largely hostile population who mainly don't care about the
problem. One
such project working with street children in Kampala is
Raising Up
Hope for Uganda (RUHU), a non-profit, grassroots organization
based in Bulenga just outside the city itself. RUHU is an umbrella
organization that has an orphanage, day care and safe house for
neglected children.
The House of Hope or "Safe House" is a building which
currently houses approximately thirty boys from ages ten to
sixteen, all of whom are former street children. It is essentially
a rehabilitation centre for young boys who were found living on
the streets. RUHU operates an outreach program and gets to know the children
who have gathered in the slums of Kampala
from all over the country, by tending to their wounds and playing
football with them to build trusting relationships before
inviting them to House of Hope. At the House of Hope, they provide the children with beds, meals
and education, all in a structured and loving environment and work
to reintegrate them into normal life and give back the childhood
that so many of them have lost to homelessness and poverty. As
most of the children there have never attended school before, it
is helpful for them to be put in a basic classroom setting,
learning rules and structure. This transitional period helps
before they can be placed in a formal school as part of the
process of reintegration. After a year of living in House of Hope,
these children are ready to move on to formal education
Find out more about Raising Hope for Uganda, its
safe house, outreach projects and other services for vulnerable
children and young people in need here and, if the situation of
street children in Uganda concerns you, you can sponsor one of
their children or make a donation to the project to help. Just to bring it home, the little lad (above)
was poisoned by eating damaged food he had found in
a bin in Kampala. Yahaya died alone in the gutter aged just
fifteen. If you are interested in working with street children in Uganda there are some provisos and, sorry to be harsh, but we need to make them clear. Firstly, this is not poverty tourism. Please don't sign up if you simply want some photographs of distressed and anguished kids for your Facebook page to solicit comments from your friends about how amazing you are. Yes, that sounds harsh, but nevertheless true. These kids are not little Oliver Twists. They are hard. They do drugs. They injure and get injured. They live in a feral state in a state with no safety net. But they also crave love and affection in a sustainable and meaningful way.
Get involved if you're not easily shocked and can commit for a period but please don't get involved if (a) you will find the experience emotionally too distressing or (b) you're not prepeared to check out the latest legislation regarding street children where you intend to work. For example, it is now a criminal offence to provide food, money or other practical offerings to street children in Kampala and, if caught, you will be incarcerated. The video below gives some insight into the life of street children in Uganda together with details of projects and programs working with these children that you may choose to support.
Street Children Uganda: Raising Up Hope For Uganda
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Street Children Uganda: Consortium for Street Children
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Street Children Uganda: Nsimbe Transit Centre
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Street Children Uganda: Homes of Promise
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Street Children Uganda: Save Street Children Uganda
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Street Children Uganda: Sponsor Children in Uganda
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Street Children Uganda: Children in Uganda
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Street Children Uganda: Volunteer in Uganda
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Street Children Uganda: Country Profile
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