World Street Children News :: Uganda Streetkid News

Violinist Hits the Streets on a Mission of Music

By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER
Published: October 19, 2007

Walking briskly past Lincoln Center with a violin case in hand and a suitcase in tow, David Juritz looked like a busy orchestral musician arriving in the city for professional engagements. But Mr. Juritz, concertmaster of the London Mozart Players and guest leader of the London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, won’t be wearing concert tails on this visit.

Since leaving London on June 9, Mr. Juritz, 50, has performed not in gilded concert halls but on gritty streets in cities throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and the United States. He is touring as a busker to raise money for Musequality, the charity he founded to bring music education to poor children. New York is his final stop.

On Wednesday at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, Mr. Juritz followed his well-honed routine, setting up shop in front of the large Musequality poster he has carried around the world. He then began performing excerpts from Bach’s partitas and sonatas, which he has played almost exclusively on his “Round the World and Bach” journey.

“The rule was that I had to earn every penny that I would use,” said Mr. Juritz, who left London with an empty wallet. His proceeds have financed transportation and dingy hostels, though he has also enjoyed offers of impromptu hospitality throughout his trip.

After expenses, he has raised about $50,000 for Musequality, about $13,000 of it from busking. The rest was generated by often hastily arranged private concerts and other donations. He hopes to raise another $500,000 over the next 18 months through more conventional methods, like corporate sponsorships.

While there are foundations that support existing music programs, Mr. Juritz said no other charities were dedicated to starting music education projects in poor areas. “The difficult thing is getting these programs off the ground,” he said. “After that they become relatively inexpensive to maintain.”

Musequality’s pilot project at the Tender Talents Magnet School in Kampala, Uganda, which cares for AIDS orphans, will offer its first music lessons next week, including piano, guitar, recorder and choral training. Mr. Juritz, who was born in South Africa, has been inspired by El Sistema, the Venezuelan program that provides disadvantaged children with instruments and instruction and has produced a number of fine musicians, among them the conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

At Columbus Circle Mr. Juritz attracted the attention of Jordan Kinzler, 28, who gives guided tours in Central Park and had heard Mr. Juritz interviewed on BBC Radio in June. “Nice to see he made it through the hard countries and is looking healthy and clean,” he said.

While the trip has often been “fantastic fun,” each day “is a complete scramble,” admitted Mr. Juritz, who says he has dodged unsympathetic security guards in Berlin and suspicious policemen in Asia.

“Busking is really time-consuming and it feels chaotic,” he said, adding, “You have days where you feel shattered.” During a brief stop in London at the end of June, after the European leg of his tour, he said, the prospect of going back out on the road for almost four months seemed “pretty grim.”

But Mr. Juritz said his wife, Jane Davies, a graphic designer, encouraged him not to give up and has been supportive since he told her in September 2006: “Look, Darling, I’ve had this really good idea. I’m going to busk my way round the world.”

Mr. Juritz has been struck by the generosity of unlikely donors, including a migrant worker in Singapore. He recalled trepidation as a gang of street children surrounded him in Montevideo, Uruguay. “I thought, ‘These are exactly the type of kids we want to help,’” he said. “One of them came over and dropped a few coins in my case. You feel it should be the other way round.”

When people walk down the street, “if they decide they’re not going to give you money, they have to blank you out,” he said. “It gave me fantastic insight for what life must be like for those street kids. People see them as being a problem and shut them out, and they’re saying, ‘Hey, just give me a chance.’”

David Juritz is expected to busk at Columbus Circle about 4:45 p.m. today and in the early evening at the ground zero site. He will also perform on Sunday afternoon at a Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra concert at St. Ann’s Church, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights, and is auctioning a private concert for Saturday night on eBay; musequality.org.

Uganda: Forced Onto the Streets to Please the Men
New Vision (Kampala)

OPINION
9 September 2007
Posted to the web 10 September 2007

Katarzyna Heath
Kampala

UGANDA is being refreshed as it prepares for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. There is a lot of cleaning and refurbishment of infrastructure countrywide.

However, one problem remains, the children who scattered on the streets of the pearl of Africa. The children are an everyday annoyance, whining insistently for the sh100 coin, so much so that their rehearsed whimpers now blur into the background as you stroll the pavements.

As a Western visitor to the country, I have not been exposed to this problem in the same way as Ugandans. So I decided, rather than walk around with naïve, preconceived ideas, I would take it upon myself to find out more about the street children during my stay in Uganda.

What I discovered was worse than I imagined; a world of long days, abuse and a complete lack of stability.

The majority of street children in Kampala and Jinja are Karimojong, a nomadic tribe from Karamoja region in the north-east of the country. The region is arid yet the Karimojong rely on cattle for survival.

Due to continued drought and cross-border cattle rustling, thousands of the Karimojong have been displaced, moving to the south in hope of finding another source of income. Many have moved to Jinja district, settling in the Masare Three village on the outskirts of the city.

The Karimojong have very strong cultural beliefs and habits, which they have retained despite their move to a new region. Within the society, it is the women and children who are the breadwinners.

It would not be uncommon to find a woman strenuously building a shelter for the family, while her young child cooks over a hot fire. The men, on the other, hand control the tribe, delegating jobs, collecting the money that the children earn and continuously drink homemade brew, which sometimes leads to abuse and violence in families.

The day of the street children starts early, as early as 4:00am. They wake and walk the three to four 4km from the village to Jinja town. The children are divided into groups, each entrusted with a task for the day.

This can be anything from rooting through the garbage skips, visiting the abattoir for meat left overs, collecting firewood and charcoal or scrap metal to sell. They are also expected to return with money, leading to their daily street begging that we are all witness to.

However, we are not witness to the beating they receive when return home empty-handed because no kind uncle has flicked them a grubby coin or two.

At around 8:00pm the children return home and hand in their day’s earnings and gatherings. They will get a small meal if they are lucky and then go to bed, ready to start the whole onslaught the next day.

Some children do not even have a family to return to; classed as ‘fulltime’ they are runaways and occupy the streets twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Most of them flee their homes due to abuse and neglect, their heads filled with warped views of urban existence. In reality, these dreams are not fulfilled and the end result is there are children working and sleeping on the streets, fending for themselves in unsafe conditions.

The children are exposed to many dangers. Many become part of child trafficking. They are persuaded under false pretences by elders or family ‘acquaintances’ that they are moving to new places with better opportunities.

Instead, they are trapped in a world of exploitation, which exposes them to anything from child prostitution to human sacrifices.

The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) 2006 report notes an increase in child trafficking from Kenya "for prostitution, domestic and farm labour, to the United Arab Emirates to serve as camel jockeys and to the UK for purposes of fraudulent acquisition of council housing and later prostitution."

The children are also dragged into smuggling over the borders, with people taking advantage of the fact that the law does not applying to people under 18.

These children of both internal and external trafficking are held in extremely volatile and exploitative conditions, suffering physical and sexual abuse, non-payment and dire living conditions.

Some of the street children are lucky enough to be entered into programmes set up to help get them off the street and give them an education.

They undergo rehabilitation programmes and have their school fees paid for, subsidised by both national and international funding and sponsorship.

This is a great opportunity to have a fresh start, be able to talk to a professional councillor about their experiences and have a chance for an education.

They are also surrounded by others from similar situations, allowing them to form friendships with children that understand them.

However, it is not that simple, especially for the Karimojong, with their ingrained culture, which does not give due importance to education. The children are expected to continue with their daily duties despite being at school all day.

This leads to many of them losing concentration at school, worried about the physical abuse they will be subjected to if they return home coinless.

Most of the children do not even study the whole day.

They prefer visiting skips in search of food rather remain hungry at school. Since the classes are big, with a teacher-to-child ratio of between 1:50 to 1:100, it is easy for the children to be left behind academically, hence dropping out.

Michael Arepere is one of these children, who is torn between his education and his family. At 14, Arepere is the head of his family because his parents died. He, his brother and two sisters live with an aunt, but she is unemployed, leaving the family’s welfare in his hands.

Arepere juggles between school and steel scrap hunting. On average, he makes between sh500 and sh1,000 a day, which is used to pay the monthly rent of sh7,000 and to buy food for the family.

He is fearful of the day he or his siblings fall ill, as he cannot pay for their medication. He is uncomfortable at school because he worries about his family’s wellbeing.

Despite the problems faced by children under the rehabilitation programmes, they (the programmes) are doing great to help give children an education and stability. They provide accommodation for them if they feel unsafe with their immediate family.

Today many of the children have been able to access vocational training and university studies.

If, after reading this, you have an urge to give coins to the children, hold on.

A spokesman for Outreach, a large non-governmental organisation aiding street children, says: "Although emotionally you have the urge to give the children money, logically it is just not constructive as it is only temporary." They will remain the same.

Helping the children goes beyond giving them money. All that money does is reinforce the Karimojong culture and mindset.

The rehabilitation programmes attempt to change this mindset, giving lessons to families about the importance of their children’s education and the need for behavioural changes in the modern world today.

The NGOs also issue out loans to help the families start small businesses like selling bananas and maize rather than relying on their children for scraps and coins. This will take time, to change a deep rooted culture and belief pattern can take generations, but you have to start somewhere.

This is not to say that you should never give money to a street child again, but perhaps you can take your help a step further. Spare a few minutes to direct the children to a rehabilitation centre.

Many are not aware of these opportunities. By showing the children where the rehabilitation centre is, you are perhaps not helping them that day, but you are getting them off the streets for good in the long run and giving them a chance at an undreamt future.

Ex-street children seek help

Jane Nafula

KAMPALA A group of orphans and former street children from Kampala and Mpigi Districts have appealed to good samaritans to contribute towards the construction of a spacious home for them. The children made the appeal at a breakfast meeting in Kampala on August 25. The group, which also comprises former child sex workers and other vulnerable children, said the accommodation that is being provided by Mother2Mother prayer Link ministries is inadequate. The new home, which will be located in Mpigi, is estimated to cost Shs31.1 million. " We appeal to well wishers to support Mama Agatha so that she can build us a bigger house where each one of us will be able to sleep on a single bed," said a 12-year-old Kerement Kiggundu. Kiggundu is an orphan and a former street child who was picked from Kampala streets by the Director of Mother2Mother, Ms Agatha Idusso. Testimonies He said he came to Kampala from Gomba in Mpigi District when his aunt, who was looking after him, started mistreating him. "My aunt used to beat me a lot and she could serve me little food. So I decided to leave her home and that is how I ended up in Kampala," Kiggundu said. Kiggundu was taken to his aunt’s place after the death of his parents. David Kagimu, 12, an orphan echoed Kiggundu’s request. "We kindly ask you to build us a home. We also want to be like other children with homes," Kagimu said. Kagimu said his father died in 2001 but his mother is still alive. He, however, said she cannot look after them. Kagimu said his mother lives in Kasubi,a Kampala suburb and that she hawks yellow bananas in the Old Taxi Park. Mother2Mother is currently looking after 33 vulnerable children. Ms Idduso said every child has been rehabilitated and taken back to school.

MAPPED OUT: Bill Middleton says it is probably his last trip

Bill Middleton is climbing high for probably his last fundraising trip for street children.

The 66-year-old retired architect from Eynsham is putting on his walking boots to scale the ‘rooftop of Africa’, the Simien Mountain range, which rises to over 4,500 metres at its highest peak. He is doing it to raise money for RETRAK, a Christian-based organisation which tries to reunite children with families and encourage them back into mainstream education or vocational training.

Mr Middleton, who lives in High Street, became involved with RETRAK while working for six years in Uganda.

"I decided to work out there for a while to try and make a contribution to something. It was very rewarding," he said.

"I got to know the director, Andy Williams, who was putting together a football team for street children which became known as the Tigers Club, which has since formed the model for other football projects in Nairobi and Addis Ababa."

"It has developed into projects to provide schooling, buying clothes and medical aid."

Mr Middleton, who was born and raised in South Africa, lived in the USA for four years. He came to settle in England and has previously globe-trotted on fundraising efforts in New Zealand as well as Africa, and this country’s Three Peaks Challenge.

He added: "I think this will probably be my last fundraising effort, so I am hoping for lots of sponsorship.

"I’ve done fundraising trips before, but not quite like this one, where there is altitude sickness to take into account, as well as other things."

He flies out to Ethiopia in November and, while looking forward to the trek, says: "It will put my stamina to the test, as will the non-toilets and the unknown food."

The Simien Mountains is a national park and was made a Unesco World Heritage site in 1979.

Mr Middleton is hoping to raise more than £3,000 to help RETRAK. Karla Hawke, a charity spokesman, said the organisation was aiming to raise £50,000 from the efforts of Mr Middleton and other trekkers.

She added: "It will fund our work with street children in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. They will visit the new street children project in Addis Ababa at the end of the trek, enabling them to see where their fundraising efforts will go.

"We are really grateful to people like Bill."

Anyone who would like to help with fundraising should email thehighstreet@talktalk.net

WILSON ~ a day in the life of an African street kid
From: 6307406900
a David Benjamin film
Premiered May 7
Kampala, Uganda

Let us reach out to the suffering street kids
Thursday, 16th August, 2007
Jennipher Taber HAULING water, firewood, eating from garbage bins on the streets and sniffing glue, such is the life of a street child in Kampala. No chance for an education, no escape from the cycle of poverty, no hope and (oftentimes) no parents. Who is working on behalf of this child? NGOs do a lot of work with orphans and HIV positive children, but there seems to be a much smaller number working with street children to deal with the root cause of the phenomena. As an American, we tend to think we can fix the problem. We tend to think that all we need to do is throw money at a problem and it will be solved. During my time at Dwelling Places in Mutundwe I realised that there is a better way. At Dwelling Places, I met many children with incredible stories of hardship and redemption. Many of the children are orphans, have been sexually or physically abused and were not in school before the intervention of Dwelling Places. The Interim School, which is an incredible idea, prepares kids who dropped out of school before joining the street and those who have never gone to school. Those who have been at school are integrated into the mainstream education system and those who cannot study are sent to do vocational. The goal of the organisation is not to be an orphanage, but rather to rehabilitate the children over two years and place them back with either next of kin or foster care. The children at the home were brilliant and beautiful; many of them spoke terrific English. Six of the oldest are joining university this September. In addition to the 89 children in the home, Dwelling Places pays the school fees of nearly 400 more children in the central and Karamoja region. I am impressed with their work and plan to sell them and be their advocate in the US. Back to my original question, who is working for street children and their families? Who is advocating for them? More than that, who is working to empower them? You and I can combine efforts to reach out to the suffering street children in Kampala and other towns in the country. It takes an open heart with compassion to show love with actions to humanity. The writer is an American citizen who visited Uganda recently

Street Children: One Child at a Time
How Oasis has shared the unconditional love of God with 2 street children.

Street Children in Uganda - Hope Destitute Children’s Centre
Hope Destitute Children’s Centre is a Ugandan charity devoted to the emancipation and empowerment of destitute young people and children. The young people actually built their own school. Visit the website http://www.hopedcc.org/

On the Tigers’ Trail - RETRAK and Street Children in Kampala, Uganda
“On the Tigers’ Trail” is a 28 minute film about RETRAK’s work with street children in Kampala, Uganda. RETRAK’s project there is called the Tigers Club and uses sport, feeding programmes and medical care to reach out to and build relationships with street children in the city. The ultimate aim is to reunite children with their family or establish them in a foster family where they will be loved and cared for and helped to develop to their full potential.

The film is narrated by James McAvoy and was filmed and produced by Stuart Boreham.

Visit the Tigers’ Club/RETRAK website: http://www.retrak.org/

Originally uploaded by: http://www.youtube.com/RETRAKCHARITY

Uganda: Beggars, Street Children a Burden in the City
The Monitor (Kampala)

COLUMN
19 July 2007
Posted to the web 18 July 2007

Andrew Nkurunziza

Over the years the number of beggars and street children on Kampala streets has grown tremendously.

Most of these unprivileged people come from upcountry in hope of better life in the city but end up on the streets.

The beggars and street children are common on Kampala Road, the Constitution Square, the traffic lights in Wandegeya and Shoprite Super and near Sheraton Hotel.

They are mainly children aged 3-18, disabled and surprisingly able bodied adults. There are physically handicapped beggars and those afflicted by leprosy.

Others are mothers who strategically place their children to beg as they monitor from a far. The other group is of young boys and girls aged 10-15. These are lone rangers commonly referred to as street children and to compliment begging, they engage in petty theft.

However, it’s rare to find able bodied males on the streets begging. Why do these people come to the streets?

Most of the beggars come to town to look for a better life or simply for curiosity and quest for adventure.

They believe Kampala is paradise on earth where everything comes easy and free. However, when these people reach the city, they find the opposite of what they expected and with their expectations dashed, they end up on the streets.

The disabled feel sympathetic persons can take pity on them and dole a little money their way. Many of the street children are either orphans or have run away from home mainly because they are mistreated by step mothers. Some girls run away from home because of unwanted pregnancies.

This lifestyle, if one may call it so, has adverse effects. The children are deprived of their rights and live a traumatised life and this may affect them later in life.

They are also exposed to diseases like scabies and Aids, especially among the adolescents. The girls are even raped and give birth to children who surely will also be street children, thereby perpetuating the cycle of street life.

The disabled beggars have also borne the brunt of recent demonstrations in the city. They have been trampled upon by the agitators and tear gassed as police disperses demos.

Because of the harsh life, the children resort to drugs such as marijuana, mairungi and inhale fuel fumes as a coping mechanism to extinguish hunger.

The beggars are also susceptible to accidents. At the Wandegeya traffic lights, many compete with vehicles as they scramble for handouts from motorists. So what must be done to check this phenomenon? The authorities should resettle these people where they can be made productive through engaging in income generating activities.

These people can do something for themselves; disability is not inability. The government should increase funding to Naguru Remand Home where juvenile delinquency cases can be handled better and the street youth rehabilitated.

There is need to enforce laws that would make streets begging illegal although I am aware there will be challenges to implementing this law.

With the run up to Chogm, the City Council has a big task to ensure Kampala reflects a good image of the country.