Street kids, sex workers find refuge
Nov 19, 2003
AT 19, Susan (not real name) is withdrawn and low-spirited. She is suspicious of men. She is however struggling hard to shrug off her disturbing past
By Denis Ocwich
AT 19, Susan (not real name) is withdrawn and low-spirited. She is suspicious of men. She is however struggling hard to shrug off her disturbing past.
When her parents died of HIV/AIDS in the late 1990s, Susan, then 15, began fending for her family of two sisters and a brother. To make ends meet, she took to the streets, where she worked as a prostitute for four years. “I don’t want to remember my past, but it keeps haunting me. Its very painful,†says the mother of a two-year-old boy, a product of her street life.
“Street children go through strain and endurance to survive in that complex environment,†observes Rogers Kasirye, the director of Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) on Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road.
The NGO, founded 10 years ago, has rehabilitated hundreds of orphans, street kids and sexually abused children in slums. Like other children, Susan was removed from the streets by UYDEL and trained in mechanics. Now she earns money to fend for her family.
“Every day I get at least sh5,000. My life has improved,†she says. She repairs mostly motorcycles at Kubiri near Wandegeya in Kampala.
At the UYDEL drop-in centre for the disadvantaged children in Mpererwe, over 100 children are being trained in different vocational skills.
With a $112,336 (about sh200m) aid from the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), the local NGO has in the last two years rehabilitated over 250 children and resettled them into income-generating projects and self-employment.
A total of 161 children (50 boys and 111 girls) have been taken back to primary and secondary schools. Those in secondary schools are given sh70,000 while ones in primary get sh40,000. “We also give them uniforms and other scholastic materials,†says Kasirye.
A further 269 children have been resettled with kits and capital to start up projects. The resettlement package, he reveals, includes a minimum of sh100,000 and other items like blankets, mattress and basins. Each of the girls trained in tailoring is given a sewing machine.
According to IPEC, under the International Labour Organisation, commercial sexual exploitation is one of the most exploitative and abusive forms of child labour in Uganda.
A 1999 ‘Rapid Assessment Report’ conducted in Kawempe Division by UYDEL found out that at least 500 children per parish were sexually exploited in the 21 parishes of the division.
“The victims are faced with sexual-related diseases and psychological torture that lasts for a long time,†says Kasirye.
AT 19, Susan (not real name) is withdrawn and low-spirited. She is suspicious of men. She is however struggling hard to shrug off her disturbing past.
When her parents died of HIV/AIDS in the late 1990s, Susan, then 15, began fending for her family of two sisters and a brother. To make ends meet, she took to the streets, where she worked as a prostitute for four years. “I don’t want to remember my past, but it keeps haunting me. Its very painful,†says the mother of a two-year-old boy, a product of her street life.
“Street children go through strain and endurance to survive in that complex environment,†observes Rogers Kasirye, the director of Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) on Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road.
The NGO, founded 10 years ago, has rehabilitated hundreds of orphans, street kids and sexually abused children in slums. Like other children, Susan was removed from the streets by UYDEL and trained in mechanics. Now she earns money to fend for her family.
“Every day I get at least sh5,000. My life has improved,†she says. She repairs mostly motorcycles at Kubiri near Wandegeya in Kampala.
At the UYDEL drop-in centre for the disadvantaged children in Mpererwe, over 100 children are being trained in different vocational skills.
With a $112,336 (about sh200m) aid from the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), the local NGO has in the last two years rehabilitated over 250 children and resettled them into income-generating projects and self-employment.
A total of 161 children (50 boys and 111 girls) have been taken back to primary and secondary schools. Those in secondary schools are given sh70,000 while ones in primary get sh40,000. “We also give them uniforms and other scholastic materials,†says Kasirye.
A further 269 children have been resettled with kits and capital to start up projects. The resettlement package, he reveals, includes a minimum of sh100,000 and other items like blankets, mattress and basins. Each of the girls trained in tailoring is given a sewing machine.
According to IPEC, under the International Labour Organisation, commercial sexual exploitation is one of the most exploitative and abusive forms of child labour in Uganda.
A 1999 ‘Rapid Assessment Report’ conducted in Kawempe Division by UYDEL found out that at least 500 children per parish were sexually exploited in the 21 parishes of the division.
“The victims are faced with sexual-related diseases and psychological torture that lasts for a long time,†says Kasirye.