Support street children in Africa

On their recent journey from resettling a boy in Rwanda, Retrak’s social workers followed up on Addae, a boy who had survived on the streets of Kampala for nearly a year before being resettled last year in his original community, a tiny rural village in south west Uganda. He had originally come into contact with Retrak through our Thursday feeding programme and has then stayed at Tudabujja Halfway Home for six months before he was able to be resettled.

His resettlement had not been without challenges. During the time he had been living on the streets, his parents had moved to an unknown location, leaving Addae no hope of being resettled with his family. Undeterred, he said that with 3 months’ room rent and a small amount of capital loaned to him by Retrak, he would be able to start a small business, enabling him to generate a sustainable income and to survive against the odds.

Addae was right. On a follow-up visit, Retrak’s resettlement staff were delighted to discover that not only was he still managing to afford to rent the room but he was also enjoying amazing success in his small business. He had been able to afford a new mattress and bed sheets and had built up a stock of 500kg of beans to sell. On top of this he was trading and growing onions and, most impressive of all, was employing 2 staff to roast cobs of corn by the road side!

Addae’s story illustrates how a small loan of just $50 can make a world of difference to a street child, taking him from struggling to survive on the street to running, in his own words, a “business empire”! This is only possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters, so thank you for supporting Retrak and helping us to transform the lives of street children.

Links:

• For more street children stories please visit our website

Pictures:

• Addae (JPG)