On the streets of Kampala

Joe and Jess Sellars are missionaries from Christchurch Harpenden, who have been working with street boys in Uganda since September 2008. In the capital Kampala, there are between 4000 and 6000 boys who live rough on the streets, most in poor health, with little or no education, who have very little hope for the future. Some boys end up here because of abuse at home, others have nowhere to go after the death of their parents, while others have been displaced from their homes in the north of the country following fighting which has recently spread into neighbouring DR Congo. Joe and Jess work as Centre Managers at Tudabujja, a halfway home for streetboys in a rural location outside Kampala. 

Tudabujja, which means ‘we are being made new’, is just one part of the work of RETRAK in Uganda. Retrak is a Christian NGO which works in East Africa but with roots in the UK and Belgium. The boys first come into contact with the centre at a refuge called the Tigers Club House in Kampala.  Standing on the edge of the slum, the Clubhouse is a safe place where children who sleep on the street can come during the day to eat, sleep, get medical attention, education, play football and start interacting with the team. There is space for 30 boys to sleep at the refuge, but another 30 sleep there during the day, vacating the premises at night, to make maximum use of the space. Although accommodation is limited, a free lunch is offered on Thursdays, which is open to all boys who turn up, and this is a way in for some of the most needy children. Between 200 – 300 boys turn up for Thursday lunch regularly.

After assessment by the social workers, boys then come to Tudabujja for 6 months. Set on the banks of Lake Victoria well out of the city, Tudabujja is the perfect place to get the boys out of the city environment and to break the destructive cycles in their lives.  There are two accommodation houses for the boys – Blue Cottage and Yellow Cottage, housing 8 boys each. As Heads of Home at Tudabujja Joe and Jess supervise the care of the boys and 12 staff. There is a comprehensive program of rehabilitation and preparation for reintegration into mainstream society and the boys learn valuable work and life skills. They are helped to achieve an educational standard that allows them to enter formal education on departure, play football which is very popular, and importantly hear the good news about Jesus. The gospel is central to the ethos of RETRAK and all the staff are Christians.  Prayer and Bible study are a regular part of weekly team meetings and also with the boys when they come to Tudabujja.

Some of the boys are able to get jobs working on the land when they leave. The centre teaches farming skills, which is important as 85% of the country is dependent on farming and this provides work for the majority. The aim with most boys is to eventually resettle them back with their extended families, but where this is not possible, Christian foster families are found. Some of the older boys who cannot return home but who have done well at the centre and have good prospects of employment or college education are housed in independent living accommodation administered by the charity.

Prior to their work in Uganda, Jess was working as a teacher and Joe as a youth worker for Luton Churches Education Trust – an inter denominational charity which aims to share the gospel with young people through work in Luton schools (similar to STEP in Harpenden and St Albans). Their knowledge of working within professional practice structures with children in the UK has been valuable in supplementing the skills, and local knowledge of the team. 

Frank's Story
(names of boys have been changed)
Frank is a Tuda boy.  He’s 13 and has AIDS.  His story goes something like this.  When it was discovered that his mother and he were HIV positive they were thrown out of their village.  His mother took Frank to a place in town and left him there, promising to return but never doing so.  After living on the streets for a bit, his health rapidly deteriorating, Frank came to Club House and the social workers started looking into his situation.  Discovering his home town they took him back there to see if his mother could be found.  When they arrived the locals pointed at a grave and said “there’s your mother” before telling him to get lost.  Frank is struggling.  He had a reaction to the antiretroviral drugs he was put on and, understandably also has some pretty huge psychological trauma issues to work through.  Frank is not just an abstract story, he’s very real.  We saw him this morning, played football with him on Sunday and he’s probably in class right now.  Please pray for him.  

Jack's story
Jack’s story I only found out after I’d been here two months even though I’d seen him around at Club House since the beginning. You couldn’t help but notice him- big cheeky grin, lots of personality. Always wanting to be doing something whether helping clean the clinic or looking after other boys who were sick. I asked how he ended up on the street. When Jack was seven his father died and he went to live with his aunt and uncle. His uncle wanted to keep all the inheritance the father had left so he abused Jack until eventually Jack decided to run away. Lots of boys tragically think that things will be better in the city and that it will be easier to make money. Instead Jack found nothing but more violence and little to no food. Because of these years Jack’s growth has been stunted. He is now fifteen and helpful and cheerful as ever. He seems to feel useful and secure at Club House. I talked to him about his future but he felt for him it was too late to start studying. At our Learning Centre in town Jack has been given a chance to learn to read and catch up on seven years of school missed.