Some of our interns on a busy street outreach.

Queueing up for food on a busy street outreach!

On a busy day we can mobilize over 120 street children. We curry out minor wound dressings and other minor mdical treatments.

Typical footwear

The street child problem has been an increasing concern over the past decade. Poverty, war and HIV/AIDS have caused the numbers of street children to rise sharply in the past few years. Estimates on the number of street children are difficult however it is thought to be between 2000-10000  in Kampala alone. These children have left home for a number of different reasons, usually related to poverty, mistreatment or parental death. Many leave home in their rural villages and go to Kampala to try to make a living in the big city.

A young boy huffing jet fuel

On the streets, these children face a great many difficulties including sleep deprivation (from lack of good shelter for sleeping), malnutrition, disease/infection, physical, sexual and mental abuse as well as a marked decrease in their self-esteem caused by the internalization of societal disapproval. Many of the children take up drinking alcohol or using drugs to help them deal with the harsh realities of street life.

Two boys searching for scrap metal and plastic bottles as a way to earn a little money

Children are often mistreated on the street by the government security guards and by the general public alike, facing hostility, beatings, harassment, rape and occasionally, death. Imprisonment is also a possibility in the government run rehabilitation center which is used to house both street children and juvenile delinquents. This center is well known for its lack of facilities and rough treatment of the children who live there.