the kids of Kampala 

In Kampala the Bembejja Project (Luganda for ‘princesses’) helps girls in very underprivileged areas to receive care, education and training in life skills. The team works with their guardians to enable them to give appropriate care, or identifies girls without guardians who need to be resettled with a relative or foster family. Older girls are also taught a skill, such as tailoring or hairdressing which would enable them to earn money to live independently. Bible teaching and a Christian environment introduce the girls to the Lord Jesus and each is given the value she deserves. Crosslinks associate, Gill Olaaka, is project co-manager with a Ugandan colleague: “It is an incredible privilege to see young girls living in desperately difficult situations but who still have the ability to laugh, encourage one another, care for each other and, as many of them do, profess a real and sincere faith in God the Almighty Father.”

deprivation in Durban

John Trent, another Crosslinks associate, has been working for some years with street children in Durban. There is little institutional care to cater for the numbers and many choose not to enter the system. How can those outside the system be supported and helped? Some like Harry and Michael come from Johannesburg and have only a vague idea of where their living relatives may be. When asked how long they have been on the streets, others can only answer “A long time”. For Xolani (top second to right), the harsh realities of street life and his continued glue addiction have started to affect his mental ability. John, with others, is looking for answers from the children themselves. It may lead to a change in the way help is offered. It may mean more participation from boys like Thando (top right), who fled from a poor home when wrongfully accused of a crime. He has finally overcome his addiction, and each day after school helps in the Streetwise shelter and encourages other children not to suffer the same fate. As the team teach the good news of Jesus, they become trusted friends of the young people – a rare thing in an environment where the normal pattern is abuse. Whether Kampala or Durban, may the hope, joy and justice of the Gospel be shared with those children who are most vulnerable.

  Crosslinks magazine October 2006 index