We can start!!!!

So we've been working on figuring out ways to actually support these kids and get the mosquito nets that they desperately need. We finally have a game plan and we're going to start tabling next week to raise money. Patrick contacted some organizations around D.C. but none of them really wanted to donate money to us, which is understandable since they all have their own issues that they need money for. Courtney's high school is collecting money and her mom is placing a jar where she works, which is a good start. At the end of this week we're going to work on putting a slideshow together and making some posters to raise awareness and to try to let people know we're going to be collecting money for this so hopefully it works. But at least it's a start. When we hear back from Isaac, one of the teachers at Fountain of Hope, we'll add more information about the kids but for now we'll work with what we have.

I finally got to write an article about the issue of street children for AFJN and it's going to be published in their next newsletter. I also posted a link to this blog so people could learn more, so if you're an AFJN supporter and you're reading this -- Welcome and I hope you are willing to support our project and donate a few dollars, any amount is perfect! I really liked the way the article turned out because it's something I really care about and I wanted to make it perfect. After it's printed I'll post it up here or post a link to it or my other article, which is about the ICC and not so much about street children.

I'll update this next week after we meet and let everyone know how we're doing with the tabling! We have the support of the Community Service Center so we know we can table and nothing is stopping us except the piles of homework that we all have to do, but I'm definitely willing to set that all aside and put a lot of time into helping these amazing kids. :)

See you next week!
-Katie

Slow Start

We have all these ideas for the project but as of now we're on hold because we haven't heard back from Fountain of Hope. We really want to get them involved and get the kids involved because there's only so much we can say about them or even know about them, it's best for people to get to know these kids for who they really are. So right now we're waiting and hopefully we're going to hear from them soon. If we don't hear from them by the end of next week I think we're going to start the project anyways from what we remember and the pictures we have and our memories of them, it's not ideal but it's what we have and we're going to have to make the best of it.

I'm also interning for Africa Faith and Justice Mission this semester and I've decided to do my research there on street children to raise awareness about the real situation. I feel like people know there are a lot of AIDS orphans in Africa but I don't think they know how bad the problem truly is or the lengths these kids go through to survive.

I know when we were in Zambia one evening we were walking back to our hostel with dinner for the whole group because everyone was sick of cooking and just wanted something simple. So we were walking back and this group of kids started following us begging. We told them no, which was really hard, and told them to go to Fountain of Hope for food and care and our leader gave them directions. Then they got worse so we said "Choka," which means go away in Nyanja. They followed us all the way to the street where our hostel was and then our leader, who had lived in Zambia for 3 years, told them that they had no respect which is a huge deal because respect is extremely important to them. The kids stopped and yelled things at us, but they weren't following us more. All of a sudden I felt something hit the back of my leg and looked back and the kids were throwing rocks at us. Then one of them took out a glass Coke bottle and sniffed it and put it into his pocket. Our leader told us they were high and he was sniffing glue because then they don't feel cold or hunger. But this wasn't just a chance encounter with some kids who were getting high, they felt like they needed this to live and get through the night.

This is why I want to do my project on street children and raise awareness about it to the members of AFJN. They're kids, they deserve a childhood and a place to eat and sleep and a family and school, they shouldn't be forced to sniff glue or sewage, if they can't get the glue, to make it through the night. And there are millions of them in Zambia alone. There are organizations that are trying to help, but I think people only ever hear about AIDS and AIDS orphans in orphanages. In reality there aren't that many orphanages and there are too many kids, in the US people would be appalled, but in Africa it is the reality every day. So why don't those kids deserve to be watched over too? Why does our prevention of street children stop at the US borders?
-Katie

The Very Beginning

My project for the service learning is to help with a project I was already planning on working on. I went on the Alternative Break Trip to Zambia this winter and it was absolutely amazing. So now for our post-trip activism we've decided to send one of the organizations mosquito nets. Fountain of Hope takes in street children and feeds, educates and shelters them and lets them basically be kids again. Most of the kids are there for only three months while their real or extended families are located, some of the parents have died of AIDS, but some have been there their entire lives. Some of the kids ran away from their homes for various reasons and others were forced to live on the street because their parents died. In Zambia girls are more valued because they will do the cooking and cleaning and care for the other children, but boys traditionally do nothing and are viewed as burdens on the extended families. So Fountain of Hope takes them in and they have beds there, unfortunately there are 40 beds and only 2 mosquito nets. Malaria is a huge problem and is the number one killer of people in Zambia, even above AIDS, so getting these nets for the kids is crucial. Our plan to raise money for the nets is to have students or faculty or whoever "sponsor" a child. We'd give them information about a child and a picture and they could donate all or part of the cost for the mosquito net for that child. I think this is a good way for people here to get involved because they can see the children affected and have a reminder of what they did to help out a greater cause. I hope that this can be made a little bigger and that maybe we can partner with an organization and donate more nets to similar organizations. But it needs to be taken one step at a time, and we are at the very beginning.

Today we have officially started plans to send the mosquito nets for Fountain of Hope. Our student leader from the Alternative Break Trip contacted RAPIDS, who is willing to front the costs to mail the nets to them and we can get them for about $6-7. Although we still have to contact netsfor life to see what they can do, I think we might go with this group. They would buy the nets from a company in Lusaka (the capital of Zambia where we lived for 2 weeks) and deliver them to the kids at Fountain of Hope which is in Kamwala, a suburb of Lusaka. We're also e-mailing Fountain of Hope, they only have one computer for the whole organization, and seeing if maybe the kids can fill out a paper so people can get to know who they really are instead of just what we remember. For now there's not much we can do until we hear from netsforlife and Fountain of Hope, but hopefully once that happens we can start and things will move along pretty well.

Here's some video of the Fountain of Hope kids and students from our trip dancing and singing that I filmed while we were there to help you get to know some of them. The older ones are the educators and outreach workers who go and find the kids off the street. I hope you enjoy and get to know the kids we're trying to help a little bit better.
-Katie