On the streets of Lusaka

5 February 2010

Despite being rich in natural resources, Zambia is a desperately poor country. 63.8% of Zambians live on less than $1 a day, while the life expectancy is just 39.2 years.

Zambia is one of the most urbanised countries in Africa, with 40% of its population living in cities – including an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 children, who live on the streets. The population of street children in Zambia is constantly rising, as poverty deepens and AIDS continues to claim the lives of so many parents.

Previously, children were largely found on the streets during the day, trying to earn money, and then at night they returned home to sleep. In recent years, however, many more children have been forced to permanently live, work and sleep on the streets. These children struggle to survive – without adult supervision or care – in a highly dangerous and inhospitable environment that exposes them to starvation, sexual and physical abuse, and alcohol and drug dependency.

Living under conditions of virtual starvation – and without access to education – these children have no choice but to fend for themselves by carrying out odd jobs, begging, stealing or resorting to prostitution. “I don’t like stealing but there is no choice,” says one boy. “I am too old for people to have pity on me. They think I am just a thief, but I was not always a thief; I was forced to become one because of hunger.” The longer children remain on the streets, the more difficult it is for them to be accepted back into mainstream society.

There are 1,100,000 orphaned children in Zambia and (according to surveys carried out by YMCA Zambia and a consortium of Zambian NGOs), 34% of street children are orphans. Worryingly, in the YMCA survey, all of the respondents – who were aged between seven and 30 – affirmed that they were sexually active. An average of 61.5% of street children and young people admit to having a sexually transmitted infection, yet 53% did not know how HIV/AIDS is transmitted.

The YMCA’s Support to Street Children and Young People project in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, doesn’t just provide street children and young people with basic needs such as food, blankets and clothing – they also equip them with professional skills. 79% of street children don’t attend school, while 20% have never attended, which makes finding a job almost impossible in an already difficult market. The project provides basic business skills to older street youth as well as young carers to enable them to start up small businesses – such as selling petrol – which would allow them to support the younger children in their care through primary school.

That aside, a group of 30 children are also being trained to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention messages to their peers, while street children with HIV/AIDS (or who are believed to have HIV) are being helped to reach Voluntary, Counselling and Testing (VCT) services through the YMCA’s referral network.

The project aims to help children like Leonard, eight, who lives on the streets of Lusaka. “I was born in a family of two boys and one girl,” he told us. “My father died when I was just three and my mother stayed to take care of me, my elder brother and my young sister.” When asked why he was on the street, he explained, “My mother could not manage to find food and clothes for the three of us.”

Leonard is forced to ask for food and clothes from drivers and passersby. “You can’t eat on the street if you are not creative and brave,” he says. “My brother taught me how to survive. I never plan what to eat because on the street we don’t eat by choice but by chance. Many times we beg for food from well-to-do people. Some of them give, but most will chase you away.”

Despite his situation, Leonard has ambitions for the future, like any other child. “I want to go to school and drive a car like the people I see driving on the streets.” Hopefully, with the help of the Y Care-supported project, children like Leonard will one day be able to fulfil their hopes and dreams.
* Names have been changed.

By Luiza Sauma, Communications Volunteer