An eye opening and emotional experience. Part 2 of 3.

DRC Blog | 5th February 2009

Day 1 Part 1

We wake the next day to scorching hot sunshine, tired after just a few hours sleep but excited about the day ahead. After a security briefing and my first meeting with fellow War Child staff we head out on our first visit to Frere Maino a War Child funded centre for street children.

When we arrive we’re greeted by about 35 boys, the residents of Frere Maino. Chairs have been set up outside the centre where we can all chat. We’re keen to talk directly to the boys about their experiences, why they’re here and how War Child can help improve things.

This is when we met Eric. Eric is 11 years old and from Goma, where the current fighting in DRC is raging. When asked what he would ask President Kabilia to do if he could he says “I would ask him to take me home to Goma so I can find my parents”. Eric was separated from his parents when the fighting broke out. His aunty was leaving the war torn worn area and offered to take him with her to relative safety in Kinshasa. However, when they arrived, she left him or was separated from him, for reasons we are unsure of, and Eric spent the next 5 days alone with nowhere to sleep and no one to protect him. He was eventually found by one of War Child’s partner organisations and an emergency space was found for him at Frere Maino where Eric has been now living for 4 weeks. At the centre he is fed and clothed and attends schools lessons. He is also safe from the multiple dangers of living alone on the streets.

When Eric recounts his story he is teary but resolute – he wants to go home and find his parents. War Child’s staff and local partners will now make attempts to find Eric’s family but the current fighting makes searching for them an extremely difficult task. Eric’s situation is heartbreaking for me to hear and as a first introduction to life for some children in Congo it is difficult to contemplate. The fact that Eric talks about his situation in front of all the other boys and centre staff, highlights to me how safe they feel at Frere Maino.

Many of the boys we met there have similar stories of how they ended up on the streets and at the centre in the first place but they are keen to tell us how supported they feel there. One boy tells us that the other boys here are his brothers and that “War Chid are my mother and father now”. We ask them what would make the centre better for them, expecting the answer to be more toys, more clothes – what they say is they want to own the building so they know they can never be removed from the safety of the centre; they want their school to be closer so its easier for them to attend classes and they want jobs so they can support themselves.

One thing that strikes me is that these boys (who range from about 8 years old up to 16) are quite solemn when we first sit down and take the opportunity to talk to us seriously – they don’t ask for frivolous things, they want an education and the opportunity to make their own livings, they want to improve their own lives. They have seen life in a way I can barely imagine and they are so young. Having said that, the next 20 mins are a lot of fun - once we start taking pictures. Taking photos outside in Kinshasa is a risky game – the locals don’t like it and more than once we’re shouted at for it. But here at Frere Maino when the camera comes out so do the smiles! The boys love the digital camera and being able to see photos of themselves immediately. To start off with they’re quite shy but after a few minuets they are all posing and wanting photos taken and I’m surrounded by smiling kids all jostling for a picture. A few of them even take some photos for me so I can be in them.

This visit is a difficult one. Even though the boys are really well cared for I found it hard not to be upset by their situations. I found the fact they can seem so happy, chatty and upbeat in the face of such hardship, amazing.

After a meeting with the centre staff and a lunch with the boys we are waved off and head for our next meeting. Our second visit of the day was to AMEEMA another War Child supported centre for street children.

AMEEMA is different to Fere Maino in that boys and girls are allow to attend. AMEEMA is a small centre with a big a personality. We are met by the excited squeals of Mabel a four year old sweetie who was born at the centre. Her smile, laugh and chattering are infectious and she soon has our entire group jostling for photos of her and her other little friend, four year old Jonas. We’re given a tour of the centre which includes a small and compact dorm for girls and one for the boys where the children sleep beneath mosquito nets – a big deal in a country where malaria is one of the country’s biggest killers. They also have a school room where, dressed smartly in uniforms provided by the centre, the children learn basic literacy skills. I’ve never seen a class so well behaved or happy.

Another difference between AMEENA and Frere Maino is that AMEEMA takes in girls with babies. It was initially a shock to see a girl with such a young baby but both mother and child seemed well cared for. The visit to AMEEMA was the pick me up we all needed after a long and emotionally draining day – Mabel and her happy nature brought smiles to all our faces.

We headed back to our digs for dinner, a bit of a debrief over a few drinks and then an early night in preparation for our second day in Kinshasa; A day that was going to prove even harder than the first.

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