Situation Mwanza

With 450000 citizens Mwanza is the second biggest city of Tanzania. It is located in the north- west of the country directly at the westside of the Victoria-Lake which is the biggest lake of Africa and the second biggest lake of the world.
Mwanza is surrounded by a lot of rocky hills and so it is situated like a tale between two bays.
The biggest Inland port of Tanzania and the central railway junction make Mwanza to the economic main point of the country.
The centre of the city is small and comfortable. Expensive cars are passing the well paved and crowded streets and people are wearing wealthy clothes while doing their daily routine work.
A wide choice of small shops are selling electronic and modern equipments and all the current fashion is presented.
You can find a multitude of of banks, hotels, restaurants, bars, travel agencies, cafeterias and almost a casino. Between the main centre and the big bus terminal there is a big market where they sell clothes and a lot of different fruits and vegetables. 

But the wealth of the city deceives.
A huge number of homeless families is living in the streets of Mwanza and there are approximately between 700 and 1000 street children.
During the last decard the number of the street children was dramatically increasing. For this fact there are different reasons, social and economical aspects like

- diseases: 50% of all orphans loose their parents because of the high mortality in the country which is caused by HIV/AIDS

- divorces: after many parents divorce or one of them died, a lot of children have to suffer from maltreatments of their step-parents and thats why they escape from home running to the streets

- poverty: Tanzania is the fourth-poorest country in the world. Hoping to escape poverty at home the children run to the streets looking for a better life. Some of them are even kicked out from home

- urbanisation: the plenty of natural ressources and the high population in big cities like Mwanza make them to basic economic places so that a lot of people from rural areas resettle to the urban regions, expecting better life oppurtunities. While trying to start a new life, most of them, especially the young generation, are ending up in the streets.

The life for the children on the street is hard. The whole life and daily routine is just about getting money or food. Some of them are selling cigarettes or sweets, but most of them are begging or steeling for their survival. In this endless fightings there is no space for a real childhood. Even in the young age of 5 or 6 years they have to act and behaive like adults and they have to take over the whole responsibility for their life.
Because of the never ending, hopeless situation and the influence of elder children, they start smoking, consuming drugs or gambling.
In the evening they sleep in little groups at the edge of the road, not safed from insects, other animals, diseases or seasonal variations. Especially in the rain-season when the whole city is a flood area of rubbish, there is no possibility of a dry and safe place to sleep. At this time they suffer a lot from different diseases, and very often children die.

Most of the time you can just find boys hanging around in the streets. Normally girls are not seen. They hide themselves in back corners or families take them from the streets and abuse them as 'housegirls' or sex-slaves.

But even the little boys become victims of physical violence or sexual-abuse. The street children are living in a system of hierarchy where younger children are helpless controlled by the elder children. Either they are forced to beg also for the elder children (because it is always more easy for the younger children to arouse compassion and get some money), or they get abused again and again to satisfy their sexuell desire. Big groups of strong and powerful guys are searching for the most weak and little boys in the streets as their victims. Very often they are also 'selled' to other adults who take advantage of their bad situation. Prostitution and so-called “Sex for Food- Procedures“ are a normal part in the life of street children.

The Tansanian Government has no idea how to handel the always increasing number of street children. Neither they are taking measures or searching for solutions nor they are trying to do something preventive. They are just interested in keeping the “public order“ and the positive appearance of the big cities. This is why a lot of children were cought from the streets and locked away by order of the police (especially in the biggest city of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam).

The only help is coming from the Non-Government-organisations (NGO's).

But there is never enough help for all street children. And for those who don't get help there is no opportunity to escape from the life of the street. Without education they are growing up becoming criminals and thiefs, who are ejaculated and convicted by the society. They have no chances and no perspectives for their future.