Who knows the difference between a street kid and a normal kid here in Tanzania. Well not me. They wear the same clothes and pretty much look the same but John, the street educator from Amani can instantly tell. Firstly he knows most of the street kids and then it has something to do with aimlessness. Apparently the street kids have nowhere to go and he can tell. Two other voluneers and I had the opportunity to travel to Arusha, one of the 5 major cities here in Tanzania with John last Thursday night to observe him working with the kids on the street. He picked us up at the bus station and on the way to our hotel for the night, he pointed out 3 kids sitting on a concrete wall. He suspected they were new to Arusha and he was right as they had just arrived that day. Khasim and Lucas are brothers. They had never known their father and their mother had left one day to look for work leaving the boys in the care of a grandfather (not related). I don't know exactly what happened but the boys at some point left his care but got themselves into difficulties and tried to return. However they couldn't find the bibi. He had either died or moved away. They ended up in a town in Southern Tanzania where they met Salum and decided to come to Arusha. Salum had been living with his mother but she was unable to continue to pay for his school fees and wanted him to go work. I am still not sure what exactly happened but at some point Salum said that he was going to leave and his mother said OK.
So John explained that he would be back in an hour to talk to them which we were after dropping off our gear at the hotel. They talked for about 15-30 minutes at which point John said that we were going to walk around for a while and that they could come if they wanted which they did. Appparently this is a way for John to get the kids to start trusting him. So we walked for about 30 minutes or so visiting some of the places where the kids like to hang out ending up near the near the bus stand. Occasionally John would recognize a kid and they would talk for a while. They were all concerned about the new kids and they would say "have you got the new kids", "oh Im glad you've got the new kids" One of the older boys took us down a street and introduced John to another boy Bismum who had also arrived that day from another part of Tanzania. So with the 4 boys we headed for the Ugi stand to buy porridge.
All of a sudden about 10 kids just appeared. Homemade drums were beaten, kids dancing; one with very sexualized and provocative behaviour swayed to the beat. Most had cardboard under their arms and small bottles of glue in their shirt sleeves that they occasionally sniffed. all were strung out. I was sad to see 2 boys that I had known at Amani and had run away about 2 weeks before. Emmanueli Japhary is a talented artist. As a class project and in an effort to instil basic computer skills, the kids were designing a new Amani flag on the Paint program. Emanueli had taken the task on and truly expressed what Aamni meant to him with vibrant colours but here he was back on the street strung out like a wire. Both he and Athumani were somewhat embarrassed to see us but Emmanueli came up and thanked Susan for caring for an abcess on his foot the week before he left. It was really sad to see the difference in the kids as we knew them at Amani and in this environment; glazed eyes, arms and legs jerking and incoherent.
One boy was talking to John about meeting him the next day to come to Amani. He was even to my eyes in really bad health; very strung out with glue, extremely thin and Susan who is a nurse said that he was very nutrient deficient and if he did come would probably have to go into the hospital and not be able to eat solid food straight away. However John later told us that this boy wouldn't show. He only wanted money to get back to Dar Es Salaam which is where he had been living on the streets for many years. It was really obvious to see which of the boys had been around for a while. John said it was really important to get the kids when they are new to the streets and before they become too addicted. Otherwise the drugs would always be too enticing. He also said that he had to be really careful to bring a street wise kid to Amani because the chances are that they would only stay for a short time and when they left would most proabaly take other kids with him. That is how Emanueli Japhary left having been coerced by Athumani.
It was really interesting to watch the reactions of our 4 new boys as they intereacted with the other street kids. They had been quite cocky up to this point; showing us how they could do cartwheels and backflips, smiling and laughing but all of a sudden in the presence of the other street kids, they were hiding behind John. I think it was all a bit of a shock for them. As we left they voiced that they were scared to stay alone. They were new to the city and didn't know how to find a safe place for the night. One of the older boys said that he would show us a place that they could stay. I am not sure exactly where he intended but as we passed the area of the market John went to talk to some guys who were guarding carts that were left for the next day. They agreed that the boys could sleep under the carts for the night. John didn't know if they would look out for the boys but we headed back to our hotel.
Happily the boys were waiting in the appointed place and time the next morning and we all came back to Moshi. I have to say that bringing a boy in off the streets creates an immediate context and connection. Somehow these 4 boys are already special. I look for them in the morning and want to make sure they are OK and adjusting to life at Amani. John says that Bismus is a good candidate for reunification with his mother. He also explained that the social workers will attempt to intiate that process immediately. The sooner a child can go back to their family the better as the longer they stay at Amani, the more likely they are to not want to return home.
