UgandAshis 70 Kids on the street

UgandAshis 70 Kids on the streets.

Kampala, December 18, 2009.

A world wide phenomena and therefore it also exists in Uganda. Street urchins knocking at your windows or pulling your sleeve when on a boda boda in city center for money. A sad manifestation of global inequalities in fact the children we see here are from the North Eastern part of the country. A region called Karimoja with the Karimojong. The people are nomadic pastoralist and notorious cattle rustlers. Living on the fringes of modern society in an age old way of living - some call them thieves another way to look at it is a way of life that is centuries old.

With the climate change some parts of Karimojong region have become so dry that there is no more option to graze cattle. People have packed up and some of the children have travelled to Kampala to eek out an existence by begging. Far away from custom and tradition. Tradition as the use of ostrich shell as money - a female ostrich will defend her eggs so very hard to get a hold of. The rites to get a wife - rustle cattle from a another tribe or even your own. The clothes and hairdo which somehow remind me of the Masai in Kenya. Now exposed to abuse, violence, police raids, drugs, alcohol, sex predators and the sun and rain.

Today I recall the conversation I had with a new found fellow traveller. She told me how she and a group of Ugandans had organized a rally and food collection so it could be trucked to the area that is acutely suffering from malnutrition. Local companies and individuals gathered over 70 tons of food items.

Their next problem was to get the food to the region. Well Uganda is a straight forward place. You go to the Minister of Karimoja region which happens to be Janet Museveni, the Presidents wife and put forward your case. Even if that Ministry may not be able help across the hallway there is the Ministry of Emergencies and Disasters and lo and behold with in 4 hours trucks are made available.

Things can move and shake in Uganda if you know how and whose doors to open. The only ting of sadness about the productive day of my friend was the remark of one of the big fish of the Ministry. He claimed it was an embarassment to the Uganda people that the elders of the Karimojong had sent sent their children to the streets of Kampala to beg. What would all the foreigners think of the rag tag army of youngsters hustling for money. They should be sent back home.

The bubble of ignorance exists everywhere. Home to a draught. Coming from a man who is comfortably cruising in a Toyota Landcruiser with driver. How easy to condemn a man/woman when he/she is down or even a child. Yet this gentleman was seemingly oblivious to his countrymen’s plight.

Namaskar,

Ashis Brahma.

http://www.bumbasafaris.com/images/008-UgandaMystic.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karamojong