Every day, our street and social workers meet street children who are in desperate need of support, here are just a few of their stories:
Name Brima
Gender Male
Location Yams Farm Wharf
12 year old Brima has lived all his life with his uncle Mohamed and 7 other siblings, following the death of his father who was killed by rebels during the civil war in Sierra Leone. His mother died during the Ebola crisis of a natural causes.
Brima is currently out of school, having been sent home by his teachers for not paying his school fees.
His uncle works as a fisherman, some days he returns home without a catch, or the ability for feed his family. On the successful days, he catches enough fish to sell, making about £1.70, which is obviously not enough to feed the 8 children and 2 adults.
On days when he doesn’t catch a fish, he is forced to borrow money from neighbours just to feed his family.
With a small business grant of just £50, he would be able to buy a bigger fishing net to help catch more fish and make more money. He would then have enough money to feed his family and pay the school fees for all of the children.
Name Anold
Gender Male
Location Tree Planting
Anold, now 7 years old, lost his mother in February 2015 in the middle of the Ebola crisis to the virus. She died at home, though quite amazingly none of her children were affected, however Anold and his 3 siblings were left to live with their 70 years old grandmother, Mamie.
Mamie has no source of regular income to support her four grandchildren and is in poor health. When discussing with our social workers, she explained that before Ebola, her daughter had asked her to move from her village to look after the grandchildren while she went to work as a petty trader, to provide food for her family.
Following the death of her daughter , Mamie was left with her 4 grandchildren and hardly any money to feed them, let alone send them to school. Although the children’s father is alive, he rarely shows up and when he does, he provides very little financial support – often less that 70p a day to feed, clothe and educate his children, and when needed pay for any healthcare.
Mamie approached the local community school, begging them to allow the children to enrol in school with a promise she would pay them back as soon as she had money to do so.
Anold urgently needs help, to ensure that his siblings can remain in education, and our social workers believe that through a small business grant, we can help Mamie start a business, to help feed and clothe her grandchildren.
Name Memunatu
Gender Female
Location Shell Street
Memunatu was born in Waterloo in 2004 and lives alone with her mother, having been abandoned by her father. At the age of just four, following an accident where she broke her arm whilst playing with friends, Memunatu was taken to the hospital for treatment, though caught an infection, which resulted in her arm being amputated. As a child, Memunatu thought her arm would grow back.
In 2013, Memunatu’s mother was involved in a serious car accident that led to the amputation of her hand, making work and caring for her family increasingly difficult.
When their business selling charcoal failed and income dried up, Memunatu’s mother could no longer afford to send her to school, something she wants to do to become a lawyer.
Name Abu
Gender Male
Location Waterloo
Abu was born in Kissy Town in 2000, though following the separation of his parents, became a street child whilst caring for his aging father. As a result, because his father couldn’t afford the bills, he dropped out of school. Abu took up begging in order to feed himself and his father, regularly sleeping on the street with other homeless children and moving around the local communities, begging for survival.
As a street beggar, Abu suffers constant harassment from the police and market wardens during the day, whilst at night, mosquitos and other dangerous insects often lead to illness and infection. In order to pay for a bowl of rice, Abu loads and unload goods from trucks in the lorry park, as well as selling any scrap metal, rubber and plastic he can finds and sell to get a plate of rice, his only meal of the day.
As a result, Abu no longer attends school, something he really wants to do, so he can train to become a law enforcement officer.
Name Yeabu
Gender Female
Location Waterloo
Yeabu is an Ebola orphan from Cole Town, Waterloo. Her father contracted the Ebola virus after visiting and helping a sick relative, dying shortly after displaying symptoms of the disease. Yeabu’s widowed mother now cares alone for her three children.
Living with extended family members, they survive on just one meal a day. Yeabu helps her mother sell vegetables and fruits in order to feed her family. This struggle for basic survival makes it impossible for Yeabu’s mother to send her children to school
Yeabu has seen the health workers’ tireless efforts in the fight against Ebola and her wish is to become a doctor, though with no education, this is an impossible dream, though has not given up but hope of returning to school one day and achieving her dreams.
Name Jimmy
Gender Male
Location Waterloo
Jimmy became an Ebola orphan following the loss of his father during the epidemic as a result of taking his brother to hospital, where he contracted the virus.
Jimmy, who was in school before the Ebola outbreak, now lives with his adopted mother. After the loss of his father he dropped out of school because his step mother is only committed to feeding Jimmy and not sending him to school. Jimmy suffers neglect at the hands of his step mother and doesn’t have enough food to eat.
Jimmy is forced to gather empty tins from dustbins, selling them to pot makers to earn sufficient money to buy a plate of rice each day. He also helps to sweep and clean up market stalls for traders.
After Jimmy’s father died of Ebola, Jimmy’s birth mother who lives a few miles from Waterloo, single handedly shoulders the responsibility for her three other children, though none are currently attending school.
Jimmy is desperately unhappy that he is unable to go to school, though continues to dream that one day, he will become a bank manager.
Name Wahid
Gender Male
Location Waterloo
Wahid is a destitute child who became a street child at the age of nine, as a result of his parents’ financial hardship, that led to him moving to live with his aunt, who has no reliable source of income and cannot afford to send him to school.
His aunt grows vegetables that Wahid takes to the market every day to sell, to then buy other food items. Wahid has never been enrolled for school, though wishes for nothing more than to be given the opportunity to learn.
Name Aminata
Gender Female
Location Koroma Street
Aminata’s family were subsistence farmers until her father fell ill and died when she was only three years old. Following the death of her husband, Aminata’s mother was expected to marry the younger brother, which she refused, resulting in her needing to leave the family home.
Relocating to Waterloo, to live with her maternal grandmother, Aminata and her mother tried to rebuild their lives, until sadly, Aminata’s mother became a victim of the Ebola outbreak whilst attending the funeral of another Ebola victim.
Shortly after her return, Aminata and her younger brother became infected, were taken to Kerry Town hospital, where sadly her mother died, though Aminata and her brother survived. Aminata now lives with her elderly grandmother, though is now responsible for feeding her family, either begging or collecting waste items to sell and make what little money she can.
With rent for their home outstanding, Aminata and her family have been evicted from their home, they now live with a neighbor though desperately need to find a home of their own.
Aminata is unable to attend school because her family cannot afford the fees or purchase other educational materials. She really wants to go to school, to learn how to become a nurse, so she can take care of her grandmother.
Name Humu, Isata & Saju
Gender Female, female & male
Location Allen Town
These three orphans are living in a child headed household in Allen Town, following the loss of their father to Ebola in 2014, when Humu, the eldest, was just 14. The children’s mother died a year later, leaving Humu to bring up her younger brother and sister.
Left entirely on their own, Humu resorted to begging from neighbours and nearby relatives in order to feed her brother and sister. These three orphans were living entirely on their own in their parents’ house until mid-2016, when their grandmother joined them, helping prepare food and caring for them.
Although their circumstances are improved, Humu continues to beg, to help support herself and her siblings, supplementing their food where she can.
However, the children are currently in danger of dropping out of school, as there is not enough income to pay the school bills. They are desperate to continue their education and have turned to Street Sports Hope for assistance.
Humu enjoys sports, especially the long jump and hopes to become a nurse, though needs to continue her education in order to do this.
Name Lamin & David
Gender Male
Location Allen Town
The boys lost their father in 2015 following an accident, and whilst he was in hospital, contracted Ebola, resulting in family members and neighbours keeping their distance, which fortunately ensured no others were affected.
Their father had a large extended family, who now have no reliable source of income and regularly suffered from malnutrition and starvation. The boys were forced to leave school, as they were no longer able to pay their school fees. They are also now in danger of being evicted from their home for not being able to pay their rent.
To provide for their family, Lamin and David help their mother sell charcoal and food in order to secure a daily meal and are in desperate need of support, so they can eat properly and return to school to continue their studies. The boys both aspire to being engineers, as well as having time to fulfill their sporting talents, playing football at home with friends.