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Tanzania is a country with an estimated population of 38.000.000 people, with children under 15 constituting the 46% of the total. It is divided into 26 regions, one of these is the region of Arusha; the regional capital and largest city is also named Arusha with a population of approximately 270,485 people. Arusha is one of Tanzania's most developed and fastest-growing towns. It is the starting point for Safari trips and treks to various parks, lakes and mountains in the area, therefore a major tourist centre. It is an important town in the political sphere as it's the seat of the Tripartite Commission for East African Cooperation and also the site of the Rwanda genocide tribunal. Arusha also boasts a thriving agriculture due to its lush surroundings providing coffee, wheat and maize as its primary products.
But, although Arusha is one of Tanzania's most developed cities, poverty and street kids still remain a major problem, in fact the number of youth taking to the streets is actually increasing. This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly to the impact of poverty on households (especially in rural areas) which can result in frustration, domestic violence and alcoholism leading to the breakdown in family relationships and children taking to the streets as a safer resort. Secondly lack of education and opportunities. Many young people, excluded from school or unable to pay school fees, may take to the street temporarily in search of an alternative source of income to help support their families. After a while the lure of the street may provide stronger than family bonds.Thirdly the effect of HIV/AIDS that has left many kids without an immediate family. For these kids it is difficult to find foster families to take them in as family units are generally already quite large; therefore the streets may be their only option. A recent census (Mkombozi:2005) indicates that there are approximately 900 children (144 girls and 731 boys) living in Arusha's streets.
Life on the streets for these kids is hard. They are socially stigmatised, viewed as a nuisance and excluded from mainstream activities. This forces them to resort to crime to feed themselves. This may include theft, prostitution and drug dealing leading them to often be abused (verbally, physically or sexually). Drug taking is also extremely high amongst street kids as momentary relief. Sniffing glue is their drug of preference as it knocks them out and helps them sleep at night without feeling the cold or noises of the street. This, of course, makes them extremely vulnerable. Due to their stigmatisation they are also unable to access basic services trapping them in a cycle of poverty, violence and crime.
In Arusha we worked with a large number of young people. A number of them were still living on the streets, whilst others, through the help of a Children's Centre, have been able to find a job, thus enabling them to rent their own rooms, and the girls were actually residing at the centre and pursuing their education. What emerges from their photos is their vulnerability and their need of a family. Many, lacking the closeness of their blood relations, form strong bonds with other youngster in the same situations. These kids form their own families on the street; they look after each other, protect each other and share their food and shelter. But their photos and stories also highlight their fears, their hopes for the future and the need for their basic needs to be met in order for them to start living rather than merely surviving.