The primary project that CRED supports here in Rwanda is the Street-Kids programme run by our CRED Partner GNPDR.
The two project staff are Angelique and Jeremiah, and it is always such a joy and inspiration to spend time with them. One aspect of their work is outreach into three sites in Kigali where the street kids congregate. They go to each site once a week, on the same day, and at the same time, to give some structure and continuity to the lives of the youngsters living such chaotic, dysfunctional lives on the streets as they just focus on trying to survive and get through each day.
Another side to the project is the family reintegration work, and getting the young people back into school when they are ready.
As a non-Rwandan, I'm not allowed to be seen going to visit the youngsters on the streets, but yesterday I did have the absolute privilege of meeting three youngsters who are now back in school. They each shared their story with me, and have given me permission to share with you, including their photos. I have changed their names in order to protect identity.
Ntwari
Ntwari is 15 years old and currently in primary 6 (top year of primary). His mum has been in prison since he was small – just two or three years old. Initially, the neighbours originally looked after him and his sister, but after a few years this got less reliable, especially for Ntwari because he was a boy. So about 4 or 5 years ago he gave up on being able to go to school and ran off to Kigali and started living on the streets at the Kiduruduru site as had nowhere else to go.
In 2022, he started responding to the GNPDR street kids programme, where Jeremiah and Angelique, the programme staff, offered a listening ear, access to health care, and counselling. This also included encouragement to return to school, and in 2023 Ntwari decided to give it a try.
Unfortunately, there was too much peer pressure from other street kids, and he didn’t stay at school for long but went back to the streets. However, once back on the streets he reconnected with the GNPDR team, who continued to support him and give him encouragement and hope.
Earlier this year, Ntwari decided to try again with school, and this time it has all worked out. He is now living with foster carers and has decided that he is going to continue with school until he completes it. He’d then like to be a driver so that he can travel and discover more of Rwanda and Africa. GNPDR give some financial support for his school fees to reduce the burden on his foster carers.
Mateo
Mateo is 22yrs old, in primary 5 class, and has spent most of his life living on the streets. During that time he did drugs, and glue, and had periods of time in and out of detention. He always had links with his mum and siblings, and sometimes would live at home for a while, but his mum struggled to cope with them all. Being at home never seemed to work out, and each time he’d return to the streets. Most of his siblings have also spent time on and off the streets, and his younger brother still spends a lot of times there.
For Mateo, life has had a complete turnaround. He now goes to church and sings in the choir, and is living at home with all the family except for the one younger brother who still finds the streets too much of a pull.
When asked what was it that prompted him to turn his life around, Mateo said that it was a few things. When he was on the drugs, he felt like he was hearing voices telling him to stop taking drugs. His sister was also forever begging him to stop taking drugs and try going to church instead. And then there were Angelique and Jeremiah from the GNPDR street kids programme, who showed him so much care and acceptance, even when he’d just come out of the detention centre and also encouraged him to come off the drugs and consider going back to school.
So, the reason he stopped doing the drugs, and is now back at school, was a combination of all the messages that he heard over and over again. In the end he just started believing them, and he decided to listen to them and take notice. Being released from the detention this past time felt like the opportunity he needed to start over in a new way, so he moved home with mum and went back to school, thanks in part to financial support from GNPDR to pay for school fees contribution. Thankfully, as he is not very tall, and has a young-looking face, he fits in with the rest of the students, even though he’s probably 7 – 9 years older than the rest of the class.
If Mateo does well at his Primary 6 exams (national school leavers certificate), he would like to go on and do senior school, but if not he’ll do some vocational training course instead. Ideally though, he’d like to be a pilot.
As for the younger sibling, Mateo keeps telling him to stop taking drugs just like he was always being told. In this way, Mateo hopes that it will result in his brother coming off the streets like he has done.
Umutoni
Umutoni is 16 years old and was just three years old when her parents separated and her mum moved out leaving the girl in the care of her father. Initially it was OK for her living with her dad, but when he remarried, and step-siblings came along, Umutoni’s step-mother wanted nothing further to do with Umutoni and threw her out of the family home. In danger of being homeless, Umutoni went to her mother who by now had also remarried. She lived there for a while, but the step-father started abusing and violating her, and eventually Umutoni had no choice but to leave and went to the streets.
Throughout all of this time, Umutoni had tried to keep her education going, but it was very hard, especially as parents are expected to pay some contrbutions towards school fees and educational materials. Once Umutoni was living on the streets, she could not manage to find enough money to do this, and so she had to leave school. She tried to get temporary bits of work as a housemaid, or washing clothes etc, but that barely made enough money for her to buy food and it was all a big struggle.
Umutoni feels that her fortunes turned when she met Angelique and Jeremiah from the GNPDR street kids programme. She says that on meeting them she found two people who showed care and concern, and who wanted to listen to her and help her. They encouraged her to go back to school, and so she plucked up the courage and went back to her father and asked him if he would help with the fees. Sadly he said that he couldn’t afford to give her anything for school, although she could stay with him and stepmother if she wanted.
At that point, Umutoni was so disappointed that she couldn’t bear the thought of staying, and she went back to the streets again. That is where Jeremiah and Angelique found her, and continued to engage with her, slowly by slowly helping her to believe in herself and humanity again, and to have hope for the future. When GNPDR were able to offer her some help with the school fees and educational materials, Umutoni grabbed the offer with both hands, and not only returned to school, but also returned to her father and stepmother for accommodation, and a base that is more stable than being on the streets.
Umutoni says that through GNPDR she has learnt to care for others, and to hope again. She is currently in Senior 2 (goes up to senior 6), and ultimately she would like to become a doctor.
I hope you find their stories inspiring, and if you'd like to help any more young people get off the streets and back into school then do let me know.
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