ZAMBIA: "I would like to become a doctor because I want to help the sick"

Johannesburg, 21 June 2007 (PlusNews) - Davison Kaunda [not his real name], 15, lived on the streets of the Zambian capital, Lusaka, for three years until he finally moved into the Fountain of Hope Orphanage, a privately-run home for street children.

"My parents died when I was very young, I don't know the exact year. Immediately, my grandfather took me in and I started staying with him in Chilubi [an island in Northern Province].

At first we were staying well together, but he changed. My grandfather started troubling me; he was making me do very hard jobs. For example, while his children were going to school, I was accompanying him to the maize field to cultivate. At home, I was sweeping the house, washing plates, and doing other things.

So I ran away. I took a radio cassette player from his bedroom one day and I sold it for 40,000 kwacha (about US$10), which I used to travel to Lusaka. It was in 2004. My friends [other street kids] took me to Manda Hill [Lusaka's biggest shopping complex]. We were just begging for money; if you are given, you are given.

We slept in drainage ditches, sometimes on the verandas of shops. There were no blankets; we were just sleeping in our clothes, it was tough.

My friends brought me to the Fountain [Fountain of Hope Orphanage]. At first we just used to come here to eat; this year I decided to finally come and settle here.

Life is better here, but some of my friends have remained on the street. I don't go back to the street; I don't admire that life. We are sleeping well here; we are playing well. We eat well, we live well, and we bath two times every day.

I would like to become a doctor because I want to help the sick. There are many street kids who are sick; I want to give them medicine.”

Theme (s): HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), Urban Risk, Youth - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]