Working with the Street children…the real story
Out in Uganda, near Kampala are many different fancy and expensive hotels, along with several tourist attractions, clean beds, good food and good entertainment. However, not far from where these hotels and lavish food , lies the devastating life and living conditions of the slums.
It is filled with families and young street children living here, sleeping in the dirt and sewage, not being able to eat anything apart from the waste from the local garbage collection points and the bins from the hotels (the food we leave on our plate when we are full up!)
Many of the children here have lost their parents to illness such as Aids , so are now living alone on the streets, looking after their siblings from a young age, and having to work to get money for food, rather than going to school. Many of the young girls fall into the devastating world of prostitution to earn their living, as early as 13 years of age.
On their last visit to the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre with the Yebo team, we spent a great day with them, and this year we will be working even more with them. At the end of the first day that they spent with us away from their home on the streets, one young girl, aged around 14, told our volunteers that tonight when she went back to where she stayed in the slums, she would be working as a prostitue to get money for food and her siblings as her parents were no longer alive. This is especially sad, as the reality hits us after our fun and moving day with them, that we cannot take the bad things out of their life, but we are able to try and make a difference in a positive way.
The children are also victims to serious illness from wounds and cuts that they have from their lifestyle and where they live. They are victims of physical abuse, being beaten and abused on a regular basis. Their life is ‘The slums’ and with no education, and no chance of gaining one, their futures could only be changed by those 
more fortunate and willing to help.
Allowing these children to experience wildlife, have a day out from the streets and to be educated on conservation, as well as therapeutic and creative activities, is something that we are working hard to acheive into a sustainable year long project for them.
Patrick and William, who run the orphanage and charity ‘Raising up hope for Uganda’ also work with the children on the streets, going to see them, trying to provide them with a hot meal, playing fun games with them and washing and dressing their wounds. Just a young man himself, at the age of 20, Patrick is doing a remarkable job in his quest to help and support all of these children, as he himself was once living on the streets.
Below is an article written for us to share with you by Patrick from a recent day spent in the slums with the children.
“Exactly 10am in the morning and I was already in Kisenyi slum trying to work with the street
children, like always the children were so excited to see me immediately and a couple of the children started showing me their wounds that they got in various cases, I went and purchased things that I will use such as gauze, and some other things that we use to clean the wounds, many wounds are
treated such as in the picture.
After this, I encouraged them to go and have a bath which worked out very well though some they dont want to. After that, the children were given some fresh fruits such as mangoes and some drinks. all were told to go and play soccer which was good.”
Patrick, 2011
Today we visited the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre with 43 children from Raising up hope Orphanage in Uganda. The children arrived at around 9.30 in the morning and were very excited about the day.
The children started the day by singing songs about wildlife which they enjoyed alot. They were then asked to draw pictures of wildlife that they had seen on their last visit so they all drew pictures of their favourite animals, which was great fun and the children all got really involved in the activities.
Helen, who works as a care giver to the chimpanzees, works with the children every time they come to the centre and helps them learn more about the chimpanzees each time. She showed them how she feeds the chimpanzees and what they like to eat at the different times of the day.
The children were able to walk around the centre, learning about all of the animals with a specific focus on the chimpanzees, where Helen, one of the keepers, spoke intensely to the children about her own experiences and the chimpanzee’s traumas. The children were encouraged to choose a chimpanzee and write a story about them, winning a prize for getting the name of the chimp right and learning about their background.
From this, the children were able to relate to this story as most of them have come from a very abusive background that is difficult for people to understand. They were also brought to the orphanage just as Matoke was brought to the orphanage of the UWEC zoo.
Priced individually at £19.99, and worth every penny! All of your money goes into the running of the Yebo projects supporting primates, wildlife and children in Uganda and South Africa.
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