 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Kamugisa's next of KIN
Posted on 4-11-2008
Kamugisa
Picking up the pieces of broken lives, one child at a time since 1996, Kampala-based non-governmental organisation Kids in Need (KIN) can truly be described as many street children's "next of kin". Of all the lives they have touched, we bring you one that is anything but sugar-coated. For that is how street life really is in a third world country like Uganda:
Kamugisa Kolebu Tumusime did not have a happy childhood. His father died while he was still a boy and his stepfather had little affection for him. His own mom all but failed to compensate for this, subjecting her son to severe mistreatment including beating, usually preceded by a tirade from her new husband set off by whatever it was he disliked about the boy.
At the age of eleven, when he had had enough of this, Kamugisa ran away from home, leaving his native village of Kiryolo in Palissa district for the usual destination of those less privileged seeking better fortunes for themselves in Uganda - the capital city of Kampala. As one would expect, it did not take him too long to realize that life will not be any easier in the urban jungle.
"It was difficult for me to find a job, because I was new in town," he recalls the tough times, about nine years ago. After some searching, he finally started making living as a porter in Nakawa suburb, earning around two thousand shillings on a good day, enough to get three meals a day and even save a little bit of money for the worse times.
But other street dwellers would often steal his meager savings during the night as he was sleeping outside under a veranda. Further occasional harassment used to come from police which had arrested him several times, releasing him again after a night spent in custody.
But then his life turned around for the better when some of the friendlier peers he met in Nakawa told him about the Kids In Need organisation and how they were helping children, providing free shelter and food, which convinced him to come and see for himself.
"I was here when he came. It was year 2002," says Godfrey Musisi, social worker at the KIN's boys rehabilitation center in Kampala's Mengo Kisenyi slum area. "And I was also the one taking him back home to Palissa, but his mother explained to me her predicament after the passing of her first husband, pleading with KIN to continue supporting the boy as she could not keep him at home because the current husband of hers did not consider Kamugisa his child."
And so it was KIN that sent the 14-year-old boy to primary school for the first time in his life, taking care of the hidden costs of schooling which make the education unattainable for many poor Ugandan children.
Kamugisa started in grade two and kept going for three more years before finally dropping out, feeling uncomfortable among his much younger classmates. Instead, he asked to be transferred to a vocational training with the aim of becoming a motorcycle repair mechanic, which KIN promised to make possible if Kamugisa can find a relative in Kampala who would agree to at least partially support his accommodation and food.
Luckily for him, his older brother, a military man serving in barracks in Kampala, could let Kamugisa stay there, which is also within a walking distance from the place of his skills training. Unlike in school, where his performance was very poor, in the garage which took him under their wings, he has learned fast and has quickly proved his worth.
"I even have my customers to whom I gave my telephone when they came to the repair shop and if they get stuck somewhere with their motorbike, they call me and I come and repair it," says Kamugisa with just about recognizable shade of pride. His ambition, he confesses, is to set up his own garage once he masters the skills he has now been learning for about a year and a half. Already, he can earn as much as 90 thousand shillings in a good month as he is also getting paid for his work under the training scheme.
In his spare time, he likes to sleep or watch football on TV. Like most Ugandans, he religiously follows the English Premiership games, especially those featuring London's Arsenal. Who knows, you might even run across Kamugisa's yet-to-be-founded Gunners' Garage one day in Kampala?
In the meantime, he continues to benefit from vocational training he has been provided with by KIN, the next best thing a kid in need like him can have when his own kin is not around to help.
Kamugisa
Picking up the pieces of broken lives, one child at a time since 1996, Kampala-based non-governmental organisation Kids in Need (KIN) can truly be described as many street children's "next of kin". Of all the lives they have touched, we bring you one that is anything but sugar-coated. For that is how street life really is in a third world country like Uganda:
Kamugisa Kolebu Tumusime did not have a happy childhood. His father died while he was still a boy and his stepfather had little affection for him. His own mom all but failed to compensate for this, subjecting her son to severe mistreatment including beating, usually preceded by a tirade from her new husband set off by whatever it was he disliked about the boy.
At the age of eleven, when he had had enough of this, Kamugisa ran away from home, leaving his native village of Kiryolo in Palissa district for the usual destination of those less privileged seeking better fortunes for themselves in Uganda - the capital city of Kampala. As one would expect, it did not take him too long to realize that life will not be any easier in the urban jungle.
"It was difficult for me to find a job, because I was new in town," he recalls the tough times, about nine years ago. After some searching, he finally started making living as a porter in Nakawa suburb, earning around two thousand shillings on a good day, enough to get three meals a day and even save a little bit of money for the worse times.
But other street dwellers would often steal his meager savings during the night as he was sleeping outside under a veranda. Further occasional harassment used to come from police which had arrested him several times, releasing him again after a night spent in custody.
But then his life turned around for the better when some of the friendlier peers he met in Nakawa told him about the Kids In Need organisation and how they were helping children, providing free shelter and food, which convinced him to come and see for himself.
"I was here when he came. It was year 2002," says Godfrey Musisi, social worker at the KIN's boys rehabilitation center in Kampala's Mengo Kisenyi slum area. "And I was also the one taking him back home to Palissa, but his mother explained to me her predicament after the passing of her first husband, pleading with KIN to continue supporting the boy as she could not keep him at home because the current husband of hers did not consider Kamugisa his child."
And so it was KIN that sent the 14-year-old boy to primary school for the first time in his life, taking care of the hidden costs of schooling which make the education unattainable for many poor Ugandan children.
Kamugisa started in grade two and kept going for three more years before finally dropping out, feeling uncomfortable among his much younger classmates. Instead, he asked to be transferred to a vocational training with the aim of becoming a motorcycle repair mechanic, which KIN promised to make possible if Kamugisa can find a relative in Kampala who would agree to at least partially support his accommodation and food.
Luckily for him, his older brother, a military man serving in barracks in Kampala, could let Kamugisa stay there, which is also within a walking distance from the place of his skills training. Unlike in school, where his performance was very poor, in the garage which took him under their wings, he has learned fast and has quickly proved his worth.
"I even have my customers to whom I gave my telephone when they came to the repair shop and if they get stuck somewhere with their motorbike, they call me and I come and repair it," says Kamugisa with just about recognizable shade of pride. His ambition, he confesses, is to set up his own garage once he masters the skills he has now been learning for about a year and a half. Already, he can earn as much as 90 thousand shillings in a good month as he is also getting paid for his work under the training scheme.
In his spare time, he likes to sleep or watch football on TV. Like most Ugandans, he religiously follows the English Premiership games, especially those featuring London's Arsenal. Who knows, you might even run across Kamugisa's yet-to-be-founded Gunners' Garage one day in Kampala?
In the meantime, he continues to benefit from vocational training he has been provided with by KIN, the next best thing a kid in need like him can have when his own kin is not around to help.
