‘Beggars for hire’
Published On August 23, 2019 » 1744 Views» By Times Reporter » Features
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•STREET children with faces and entire bodies patched with black ash caused by smoke from the tyres.

By JESSIE NGOMA-SIMENGWA –
THE growing number of children swarming the streets of Ndola, in the Copperbelt Province, is an issue that touches many people, some of whom are moved into providing financial and material help.
However, what is unknown to the alms-givers is that some of the children on the streets are ‘hired’ by the elderly and blind people.
It is heart-breaking for many to see children brave the cold nights especially that Zambia has not been spared by the ravages of climate change.
Some nights have been too harsh for Cosmas and his friend Hezron, who have had to survive by burning discarded tyres to keep warm.
The two are among the many children trying to “earn a living” off the streets.
During rush hour in the morning, one would mistake the street kids for pupils attending creativity lessons.
Their faces and entire bodies are patched with black ashes caused by smoke from the tyres.
Cosmas believes being on the streets is comforting as this saves him from his father who abuses his step-mother.
His biological mother could not manage to take care of him because she is out of employment as a domestic servant.
Most uneducated men and women living in high-density areas are vulnerable and survive through menial jobs.
One of the most serious problems that have resulted in the increase of street children in Zambia is urbanisation.
Like other big cities in the country, Ndola has seen an increase in the number of street children.
Urbanisation has led to the creation a number of low-income neighbourhoods, with many people living in unplanned settlements which lack clean drinking water, and have social problems such as heaps of uncollected garbage, poor sanitation, overcrowding, lack of flushable toilets, a lack of amenities and other social requirements.
Author of ‘African Religions and Philosophy’ John Mbiti observes that most problems of the emerging society are concentrated on people living in cities.
He further notes that because of urbanisation, questions of housing, slums, earning and spending money, alcoholism, prostitution, corruption, and young people roaming the streets in search of employment have greatly increased.
Mbiti also says that the social problems have brought with them issues of unwanted children, women with children out of wedlock, orphans and delinquents, all of whom need special social care to be brought up or integrated in communities.
“There are poor people who sit about in the streets begging for money and food some of whom are cripples and others are just lazy,” observes Mbiti.
Clearly, the rapid population growth and the rise in the number of street children have exerted much pressure on the local authority.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as a human being below the age of 18 years.
Furthermore, it sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.
Children in Need (CHIN) executive director Bestone Banda says the ever growing number of street children is a source of worry.
Mr Banda said in an interview that a new trend had emerged in which vulnerable children on the streets of Ndola and other parts of Zambia were now being hired by elderly and disabled people to beg on their behalf at a small fee.
“They are hired by the disabled and blind to assist in begging for money or to position them at strategic places where they can attract ‘donors’ among members of the public,” he said.
Mr Banda said people usually sympathise with children of the disabled and easily give them money.
These children scrounge for alms on the major streets and, at the end of the day, surrender the earnings to the people who engage them for the task.
Copperbelt Province Social Welfare Officer Chrissy Hilweele said the continued parading of the disabled in town is an act of indiscipline as they are now receiving social cash transfer which is paid by the Government through the communities they come from.
He said the problem of street children was a source of worry for all Zambians, and appealed to all stakeholders to take keen interest in the matter.
“The streets have been infiltrated with children as young as five years sniffing petrol. If not addressed, we are seeing a cohort of criminals in waiting,” Mr Hilweele said.
CHIN also noted that some parents are the secondary cause of child-begging and have contributed to the rise of children parading themselves in town.
“Not all the children found in streets live there. Very few are homeless,and most of them come from homes to work for the disabled for a fee.
“Young girls with children who have joined the streets are also another group hiring the street girls to carry their babies so that people gain sympathy and give them money,” Mr Banda said.
Similarly, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Ndola expressed concern at the rising number of girls roaming the streets who are being abused by older boys, including ordinary citizens.
Cynthia Shaba, the focal point person in Ndola, said in an interview that the association has a programme that identifies vulnerable households and assists them in paying school fees and other requirements for girls so that they do not return to the streets.
“Street girls are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse and are being exposed to early sex before they reach adulthood,” Ms Shaba said.
Some children have no access to education despite Zambia having a policyon free primary school education.
They are being exploitedby their parents through begging for money and food, and selling items such as groundnuts.
Furthermore, the YWCA contends that the policy on free education is not effective because there are some “hidden” costs that come with schooling and disadvantage most of the children.
“There are so many barriers such as purchasing a uniform, shoes, report book and project funds in schools that parents have to pay but fail to meet,” Ms Shaba said.
FromCHIN’s viewpoint, the state of children on the streets should be declared a national disaster in the same manner that the Government has done in addressing early marriages.
Mr Banda explained that the ministry of Sports and Child Development previously ran a programme where street children were taken to camps with others being integrated, but it did not succeed because of lack of funds.
In order to help transform children’s rights,the local government, social welfare, and other stakeholders should come up with comprehensive programmes that should be implemented.
But while solutions to this crisis are being sought, it is “business as usual” for Hezron and Cosmas who continue forging ties with the disabled and the elderlyfor their daily income which they alsoshare with older boys who claim ownership of the streets.

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