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Orphanhood in Zambia- The Inside Story
The picture below is of a street-child receiving shoes and clothes from the Child Rescue Mission. The child is one of many supported by the Kabwe District Scouts Association. The clothes were sent to the CRM from Mrs. Lise McIntyre of Souke, British Columbia in Canada. The child is orphaned, one of many in the Republic of Zambia who depend on such hand-outs to survive.
Zambia's children have most of the same challenges that other African children face. They have the good fortune, so far, of not having to live through any major civil conflct. They may as well, since so many of the children are the silent victims of their parent's short life expectancy. Even before the advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic Zambians had a short life expectancy, not many could expect to live into their fifties. Such numbers do not make much sense when presented in an abstract way. In reality this means that if a Zambian woman bears a child when she is thirty she can not expect to be around to celebrate the child's fifteenth birthday. If one hopes to be around to educate their child all the way through college, then they must have that child at an early age. Inspite of the fact that the country has been relatively peaceful since independence in 1964, the mortality rate for both adults and children is high. Without argument the main reason for this situation is the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Orphanhood for the Zambian child results in children being shifted from one home to another through the cultural and traditional adoption system of the extended family. In Zambia the children left behind by dying parents are normally "adopted" by any family member assigned to take this responsibility by a council of family members who meet soon after the burial of the deceased. There is little or no Government involvement, save for times when abuses are reported, a rare occurrence as most abuses go un-reported. Often and mainly due to the tough economic times the people are going through, the children have to be split and "shared" out among relatives since no one family may have the means to support all the orphans. This may result in a situation where one child moves into a good home while another may end up in the village or shanty compound. This latter situation can be very painful for the children whose parents may well have been middle or upper class people. The child goes through unbearable shock and many fall into all kinds of substance-abuse problems due to their despair and the bad social environment. Their school grades may get negatively affected and they will at times fail to proceed with school.
In the homes that the children find themselves all manner of physical and sexual abuse may result in trauma and even physical harm. Cases of child defilement and child labour are not uncommon. When a mother dies the father to the children, if he is around at all, will often remarry quite quickly. The new woman may have children of her own or may proceed to have children with the man. In such situations horrendous forms of child abuse may occur, ranging from verbal to physical abuse. There is often nowhere else for the child to go and they simply have to endure the pain and suffering. This has been one of the principle sources of the street-kid phenomena. Boys often find it difficult to endure the nw and harsh routine of house-hold chores which they may not be used to from their parents homes. They will run to the streets to escape the injustice and harsh labour. Girls may endure the situation a little more because they would already have been "broken" into their prescribed roles of house work. Girls will not therefore take to the streets as easily for this reason. Apart from the house work the girls will naturally find it harder on the streets so they may resort to early sexual involvement and early marriages to gain appreciation, money or to escape from their harsh guardians. In both cases the children face trauma, there is no lesser pain for either gender because a child is a child. Boys on the streets are are also physically and sexually abused by the bigger boys, they are far more vulnerable to physical harm due to the lawlessness of the streets.
When older girls stay home for extended periods in these "foster" homes, they may be given the role of a kind of "surrogate mother" to the younger children found in these homes. They have to cook, fetch water, carry the baby and do all manner of jobs in order to earn their keep. This disturbs their school and social life. Sadly, this very proximity and isolation may lead to sexual abuse at the hands of older male relatives. The owners of the homes are powerful, particularly because nobody else is will sacrifice to take in the orphaned children. This situation makes the girl very vulnerable to sexual abuse and incapacitated to report the abuse. Children who are abused in this way react in all kinds of ways. One way I find most common is that they have a great distaste for males and may resort to a kind of "revenge promiscuity" in which they in turn abuse men for money. They know no other way of having a male-female relationship except an abusive one. They have low self-worth and will sell their bodies for sex in order to survive. Many have a true loathing for males and will only see them as a source of easy money. Loving relationships are seen as not being possible and simply not profitable. Prostitution in one form or another becomes an option for easy income. The other reason is that a girl who is forced into child-hood sexual activity fears to have a normal relationship because they have to explain why they are not virgins to their lovers, often this would mean revealing dark family secrets or losing the young lover. Hence, the girl is trapped in a life of sex for money . This leads to a vicious cycle of HIV/AIDS, death and orphanhood.
There is a need for more ingenious programs to address this situation. More incisive investigations that target the home situation need to be done. It is necessary for Governments to pass laws that guide families on how to adopt the children left behind by dying relatives. Erroneously, it is percieved in Zambia that the extended family is dying and hence children are left on the street. This is inaccurate, the children end up on the streets via abusive homes and impoverished households. Every Zambian funeral ends with a discussion on how to take care of the children and assets left by the dead. The problem arises after the children enter the new "foster" homes. Government has to establish a system where families report the presence of orphans under their care so that the Child or Juvenile inspectors may visit these homes to offer help and guidance on the welfare of the orphans. The current situation amounts to abandoning the children into the hands of any "well wisher" who may care or want to abuse the children for labour or sex. Until this is done Zambia's orphaned children will continue to suffer and the number of street-bound children will continue to grow.
Alexander Fundafunda
Lead Consultant
Child Rescue Mission |
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