From a rich man's table

27 Jul 2009

From a rich man's table

Scavenging for food in a Juba garbage dump along with some chickens, adults and other children, 12-year-old Josephine Poni said her life depended on how much the rich threw away.

Scavenging for food in a Juba garbage dump along with some chickens, adults and other children, 12-year-old Josephine Poni said her life depended on how much the rich threw away.

"Life is not easy here. We are selling firewood to buy food, but sometimes the firewood is not bought. I learned that there is food in the garbage, so I decided to come here," she said.

Josephine's family was displaced in 2002 by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from Lobonok payam (township), Central Equatoria State. They first settled in the Nyokuron area of Juba, but part of it was later demolished and the family moved to the outskirts of town.

Josephine is one of many children who scavenge in Juba's refuse heaps searching for food. Some come from families displaced by the LRA or the recently ended civil war, while others are orphans, having lost their parents to illness or conflict.

Eight-year-old James Tombe arrived in Juba with his family last year, after spending several years in a Ugandan refugee camp. When they finished the food relief agencies had given them, he decided to forgo school and search the dump for more.

"Even if I go to school, when I come home I stay hungry. I decided to come to the dump so that I can find some food for myself and my family," said James.

The children continue searching throughout the day amid the dump's foul odours, acrid smoke and flies, switching from one heap to another as trucks deliver more refuse to the site.

"We pick what is not completely rotten, like bones and fat thrown out by the butchery, bread, biscuits, uncooked food, and take it home," said 10-year-old Christine Sunday.

Some days the children find only rotten or inedible food and leave the dump at sunset empty-handed.

Ochaka Gasim, who delivers garbage to the site twice a day, said something must be done to help the children, noting that their numbers were increasing. "I feel very sorry for these children. I tried to stop them ... but there was no way that I could."

Increasing numbers of street children scrounging for food in Juba has attracted the attention of the Government of Southern Sudan, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community based organizations and the business community.

Catherine Groenendijk, Programme Director of the NGO Confident Children out of Conflict, said her agency and others were carrying out a programme to mobilize and rehabilitate the children.

The Central Equatoria State Ministry of Social Welfare had allocated land and buildings in Juba's Malakia area for a children's drop-in centre, she said, which the Millennium Construction Company was helping to expand and renovate.

UNICEF was sponsoring programmes at the centre on children's justice, and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on means of livelihood. RA International was providing food and Africa Expedition (Afex) training children and mothers, she said.

"We have mobilized over 100 children, out of whom 20 are attending training in various fields ... mechanics, catering and hotel management ... while others have already ... gotten jobs," Ms. Groenendijk said. Once the drop-in centre was completed, they would train many others, including those without schooling.

Ms. Groenendijk said the number of street children in Juba had increased mainly due to the inability of parents or caretakers to provide them with basic needs like food. "Our training is not limited to street children only. We feel by training the mothers, we will empower them and they will be able to provide basic needs for their children."

Susan Jogo Hope, a mother of three, was optimistic she could care for her children after attending a CCC-organized training course in catering and hotel management at Afex. "With only three weeks training, I am assured of employment by the hotel. I see a bright future for my life and my children as well, although I didn't go to school."