Agnes’s Kisenyi Initiative

I planned to shop with my street friends and to witness joy in their faces as they bought their essential items. I did not find them, but I met a woman begging on the street with two beautiful twin girls. I asked if I could accompany her home. She agreed but asked me to wait until 7:00 PM East Africa Time (EAT) when she would be heading home. Her sister, who had just arrived from her begging spot, helped carry one of the babies as we made our way.

We walked through corridors filled with people smoking marijuana and arrived at her home around 7:30 PM EAT. I was met with suspicion by a large group of Karimojong residents. They questioned the woman who brought me (Nalongo), and when she went into hiding, their questions turned to me. I tried to gain their trust by explaining myself and speaking their language, but it didn’t work out. Excited to meet them, I paused for a photo with them, but they became wild about it. Explaining that many people take their pictures but offer no support in return, instead, they lose their children in the process. Respecting their concerns, I quickly put away my phone, and we continued to chat in our local language, thereby essentializing the local impact. It was dark, and I felt uneasy with the thugs lingering nearby. I safely walked to the taxi park under the protection of Alupo and Maria. Thus, I concluded my first day conducting the local impact activity.

Kampala Slum Realities

The next day, I arrived in Kisenyi, a suburb of Kampala City, got lost unfortunately, but eventually located the home with the help of Alupo, whose contact I had obtained. This time, I was warmly received and truly felt at home with them. While they prepared food (sauce), I went with Alupo and Maria to a nearby shop.

I could only afford 25 kgs of posho, which they would eat together. The meal served was familiar, and I ate it without hesitation. Sharing this meal helped to build their trust, and we took our first picture together. The individuals I met at home were Karimojong, although they are known for their hostile reputation, they proved to be very friendly. With this visit, I could conduct a needs assessment in preparation for local impact activities aimed at improving their livelihoods

Karimojong Community Challenges

Most Karimojong residents of the Kisenyi slum left their homes in search of food. Karamoja region is known for its scorching sun, which hampers crop production and leads to frequent famine. Constant cattle raids and rampant theft have caused conflicts that drove many Karimojong people away as well. Many young girls sought employment as housemaids but ended up on the streets due to mistreatment by their employers. In the slums, they survive primarily through begging on the streets of Kampala and collecting leftover food. They are helped by restaurant employees, at no cost, to gather food scraps, which they share with their family later.

They also collect food items such as beans, maize, simsim, and sorghum from produce shops. In abattoirs, the children and their mothers gather blood and discarded parts of the animal carcasses, such as chicken heads and legs, animal skin, and intestines, for a meal at home. They are sometimes called upon to collect carcasses of dead chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Despite the harsh living conditions, members of this community cook and eat together. When food is ready, they all share it from the same dishes.

Education in the City

Most children in this community do not attend school. The cost of being in school is very high. Children often help by begging to contribute to the family’s expenses. Over time, some street children have received support to pursue education. When they secure jobs, they often bring their families out of the slums. An elderly woman in that community currently awaits her daughter, who is now a nurse to take her home.

Health-seeking Behaviors

Medical attention is only sought when a child or adult falls seriously ill. Pregnant women are delivered by traditional birth attendants, only seeking medical help if complications arise during childbirth. Common childhood illnesses, such as malaria and diarrhea, are managed traditionally because they cannot afford prescribed medications. For example, in addition to facing discrimination when they visit health facilities. 

Hygiene Facilities

Despite the high population density, this community lacks both latrines and bath facilities. Fecal matter is discarded into a sewage trench running directly in front of their houses. The trench becomes filled with stagnant, dirty water until heavy rain clears it. Due to the cramped living conditions, they cook and eat in the same area. Malaria and diarrhea are prevalent, especially among children.

Accommodation

Their rooms are constructed from iron sheets and lack windows. With five timber, bunk frames stacked on top of each other. Each bed is shared by at least three individuals, including mothers and their children, summing to more than 50 people. On rainy days, they must cook and sleep in the same space.

In its poor condition, each adult must pay a particular sum. With 1,000 UGX (0.27 USD) per day, and 500 UGX (0.14 USD) for each child to sleep in these rooms. Failure to make these payments results in eviction until the payment

Natural Difficulties

Rain disrupts their daily activities and their ability to earn a living. It impedes the movement of people who might give them money. It further affects their access to food collection areas and washes away seeds they would gather from the ground.

Daily Life on Kampala Streets

For these street children and their mothers, the food search begins immediately each morning. Young girls and boys head to slaughter areas and vegetable markets to collect discarded animal parts and poor-quality vegetables. Meanwhile, some women stay home to wash and prepare the collected food.

According to this community, city authorities allow them to beg on the streets starting from 1:00 PM daily. At that time, most people dispersed to engage in activities such as begging, collecting food remnants, and picking cereals. The poor financial status renders them highly vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse.

Rape and Defilement

They live in dangerous city slums. The girls return home at night through the lonely corridors in the slums inhabited by drug dealers, thugs, and alcoholics. When raped and defiled, their social status makes them unfavored by law implementers and are prone to injustice. This is because they are only known as street children without understanding why they live the way they do.

Street children are aware that they may not be helped and painfully sit on their problems. Severe vulnerability leads girls into sexual activities at a tender age, as a result, more children are born into the same chain. 

Theft of Their Children

Their babies have been stolen by people who come to their community in the name of helping them.

In 2024, a baby was stolen by a woman who took the mother shopping. She bought clothes for the baby and the mother, but disappeared with the baby while the mother tried on clothes in the market.

Death by Ritualists

Many street children have disappeared mysteriously. They have presumably been sacrificed by ritualists or for their organs. This has created a climate of fear and insecurity within local communities, making parents and residents anxious about the safety of vulnerable children. 

Verbal and Physical Abuse

A majority of people show no empathy for street children. Many are verbally abused and beaten while begging, which contributes to their social isolation and creates a negative local impact on the overall well-being and safety of the local community. 

Unpaid Labour

The poor social status and financial pressure faced by street mothers and their children often lead to exploitation. Women and children work for just a meal as their wage, with very few receiving pay, and some not paid at all.

They hope for support to educate their children, believing that with good jobs, their children could help lift them out of street life. They urge compassionate individuals who genuinely want to help to visit and interact with them in their homes. This will provide a deeper understanding of their circumstances and foster ways to improve their lives. They seek empathy from those who do not see them as human beings. Often, when people encounter them begging on the street, they face insults, and the children endure verbal and physical abuse.

Girl Power USA’s Support

Let’s intensify local impact activities aimed at resettling street children and their mothers in safe environments, through the following approaches:

1-Take action to advocate for the special and dedicated treatment of street children and mothers as a vulnerable minority group. Let’s publish articles and opinions in local newspapers, participate in radio talk shows, and make TV presentations. This could help attract attention and support from the government and other stakeholders.

2-Provide essential services directly to their homes, such as immunization and family planning.

3-Advocate for a national plan to rehabilitate street children and their mothers. Given that they often live in clusters, establishing dedicated land or housing for this purpose could be effective.

4-Creating income-generating activities within these designated areas provides opportunities for earning money. This could be ensured through activities like crafts that can help reduce their reliance on begging.

5-Establish special schools and health facilities in these areas to address the educational and health needs of street children.

6-Advocate for the inclusion of street children in the national budget to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive approach to solving their issues.

Let’s engage in activities aimed at registering great local impact to deliver them from the path of darkness.

Next Steps by Agnes and Girl Power USA

Identifying urgent needs and planning targeted interventions to support them, such as:

-Mobilizing donations of clothing, shoes, sanitary materials, and soap within local communities would have a local impact.

-Coordinating with nearby government facilities to provide home-based immunizations for street infants.

-An ideal approach would be to partner with local organizations, such as Marie Stopes and government health centers. This would offer contraceptive services to street mothers and sexually active street girls.

Join us to become a part of improving the lives of street children in Kampala. 

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