The following story was contributed by Misengabo Esperance Kapuadi.

Civil wars in 1996 and 1998 left millions of Congolese citizens dead and the living in desperate poverty. In such times of misfortune, kids are often accused of sorcery. This is one reason why an estimated 45,000 children live on the streets of Kinshasa, 30,000 in Lubumbashi and tens of thousands in other urban areas of the country.

Photo | Misengabo Esperance Kapuadi

Jean was seven years old when his mother died and his father remarried. His stepmother, who was deeply involved with Christianity as well as traditional rituals, began accusing him of casting spells on their home. Fed up with being beaten, insulted and deprived of food on a daily basis by his stepmother and father, Jean ran away. He arrived on the streets of Lubumbashi from his native province of Kasai two years ago.

“Living in the streets is very hard,” he says. “The police and some passersby threaten me and sometimes beat me because they think I am going to steal something or they think I am a sorcerer. At night, I sleep on any floor, I don’t have a bed, I don’t have a home. I sometimes go to a shelter for boys like me but I cannot make any money there and the biggest kids are often mean to the younger ones.”

Many children like Jean have been victimized by this deteriorating situation and share similar stories. Whether they are abandoned, runaways, refugees or war orphans, these children survive by shoe-shining, guarding vehicles in the parking lots of downtown markets, asking passersby for change, or prostituting themselves. Although child labor is prohibited by Congolese law, some perform dangerous work in mines to extract diamonds, cobalt or other minerals found in this resource-rich part of the world.

Photo | Misengabo Esperance Kapuadi

In the urban areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, street children are known as “Shegue.” The name is an abbreviation of “Che Guevara” in reference to his independent spirit and toughness. These attributes are necessary to these kids’ survival. Kid gangs usually form not to disrupt the public order, but to survive the violence committed against them with increasing frequency by police and citizens who distrust street children.

A few organizations are making efforts to reintegrate these kids into society, reconcile them with families, or provide them with basic education and vocational training. In downtown Lubumbashi, Bakanja Ville is a shelter where boys can sleep, eat, and talk to a psychologist.

“These kids are the victims of unfortunate circumstances and are very vulnerable. They are surrounded by constant violence, insecurities, and often use drugs to try to deal with their pain,” says Father Eric, a Belgian priest who manages this and other shelters for boys and girls in the city. “With the help of other volunteers of the congregation, if a child expresses the will to go home and reunite with their family, I or someone else would accompany the minor to their family and community to facilitate the dialogue but it has not been easy at all….When a child is rejected by his relatives and accused of sorcery, they are traumatized and marked for life. Plus, they can become more violent and harder to reach.”

Bakanja Ville has become one of the safest places in town for street children. After days and nights living in the vicious streets of Lubumbashi, the boys can always find someone there who is ready to listen and willing to help them. Father Eric and the volunteers strive to convince the kids that they have the power to recover from their hardships. They hope that the mentalities of these children’s families and communities will change and that the Congolese government will take more action to protect them.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Organizations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.