20 street kid girls get pregnant after being raped by thugs

Facing abuse at home after the death of both parents five years ago, 15-year-old Lindiwe (not her real name) dreamt of working as a health professional.

But all she nurses these days are wounds of the abuse she has suffered, first as an orphan and then as a street kid after fleeing home. While her friends are now in their early years of high school, Lindiwe leads a tormented life.

The situation she fled from home is better than what she is going through in Harare's streets which she now calls home. She cannot remember when she lost her virginity as sexual abuse is routine.

"I thought coming in the street was a solution, but I was wrong. We are abused by these big boys who have the muscle and are feared by everyone," she said.

Although she would like to return home and reunite with other family members, the presence of abusive relatives leaves her with no choice. After her parents' death, life became hell forcing her to flee the family home in Chitungwiza.

"I was being abused by my uncle. He would beat me up and at times punish me for unknown crimes. I would go for days without food. If I went to eat at our neighbours, he would beat me saying I am embarrassing him. The situation forced me to go in the streets and stay there," she said.

Dressed in a worn out black skirt and a torn blue jersey, the little Grade Six dropout could not hide her frustration at the manner in which "old boys" in the street treat desperate girls.

"I would like to be at home with my relatives, but how can I stay with abusive people who take advantage of me because I am an orphan? It is better to be in the street and be abused by a stranger than by someone you expect to provide care," Lindiwe said.

The Daily News met Lindiwe at a function organised by Streets Ahead, an organisation that works to rehabilitate streets kids. With HIV and Aids deeply affecting Zimbabwe, girls like Lindiwe have their lives in danger as access to condoms and other protective mechanisms is limited.

"Because you do not always have condoms on you, at the same time you need food from these boys, chances are high that you will have it (sex) without a condom," she said.

In a day, she needs at least $2 to make ends meet and this has to come from street begging. The sexual abuse that is rampant on the streets means organisations have to deal with another problem. As of April this year, at least 20 babies had been born from street kids and more girls are pregnant, according to Street Ahead. Street Ahead programmes coordinator Shaibu Chitsika said his organisation is overwhelmed by the growing number of street children and newly born babies.

He attributed this to increasing levels of poverty and children orphaned by the Aids pandemic.

"If we had enough resources, we would be able to track down on each and every new street kid to ensure that we provide counselling and maybe reintegrate them with their parents in a shortest period," said Chitsika.

With government not showing any effective plans to mitigate the problem of street children or the root causes of the phenomenon, it could be a matter of time before this time bomb explodes.