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Getting off the streets and grasping the future
Extracted from the Street Child Africa newsletter
March 01, 2008

Richard's mother died when he was seven, and his father soon re-married. After he lost his job, stress in the family circumstances began to show with relations between Richard and his stepmother deteriorating. When Richard was nine, a new baby sister was born and he was asked to quit school and take care of the baby instead. Richard first complied, but then he realised he was missing out on a valuable thing, education. But when he refused to baby-sit, his stepmother refused to give him food and he would sometimes go hungry for the whole day. He writes, "I developed bad habits because of this ill treatment. When I was sent to the market I would swindle a few dollars so that when I didn't get food I could use that money." After Richard's stepmother suspected him of stealing her food and beat him, Richard was thrown out of the family home. His father decided that he was, at 12, old enough to look after himself. As a result Richard came to the streets of Harare and describes this as "one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. It was a survival of the fittest. I used to be beaten, [my] belongings confiscated, [I was] abused physically, sexually, mentally and even spiritually."

Richard's academic hopes slowly faded away. However, after about six months on the streets, he came into contact with Streets Ahead [our partner organisation in Zimbabwe] and started visiting their drop-in centre. Slowly, but surely, he started getting his life back on track. At 16, Richard managed to quit the streets and return home where he enrolled on a woodwork course and did very well. However, his relationship with his stepmother did not improve, and she wanted him to move to live with her rural relatives. Richard did not stay there for long, and when he returned before his due, his stepmother retaliated by confiscating his woodwork course certificate, causing Richard to miss a chance to get a job. Richard avenged this by selling some of his stepmother's belongings, kitchen plates. The dispute escalated and she got him jailed for theft for two months. On release, Richard had no choice but to live on the streets again. However, he continued visiting Streets Ahead and, at 17, got his chance when Streets Ahead offered him a place in a school. Richard vowed to exploit the opportunity, even when his street friends teased him for being too old for school. His aunt took him to live with her until he passed his O-levels. He obtained three A's in English, Accounts and Science, and three C's in Geography, Shona (one of main languages in Zimbabwe) and Agriculture. Richard's dream had come true. Richard concludes : "The most difficult process is trying to fit into society from the streets. Most people keep reminding you of the bad dark past so that if you are not strong you lose focus and concentration. I guess I am living my long-cherished dream and I would like to go all the way to university. Although it's still a long way, I am confident, because I have come the longest. I am keen to be a role model to my peers, especially those I used to live with on the streets. My advice is 'fortune knocks once on a man's door'."

* Name changed to protect Richard's identity.

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