Two years ago, 13-year-old Kenny Shukuru and his elder brother Pacific Jibu, 14, experienced the menaces of life on the street. Growing up with two other siblings and their father working as a taxi-moto rider and their mother a tailor, poverty was high. This prompted the two youngsters to leave and try their luck on the streets.

"We were told that when you get to Nyabugogo, you immediately find coins in the surrounding areas. Also, that there were many ways to earn money on the street than staying home,” Shukuru recalls. 

On average, the brothers would get about Rwf1, 000 to 1,500 per day from begging. With the cash, they would buy doughnuts as their favourite snack, and the rest would be given to the head of the group to let them sleep under bridges in the Kimisagara area. 

"Most of the time we slept on an empty stomach. If we spent a day without getting anything, we would chase after trucks that transported sugarcane to get something to eat,” says Shukuru. 

According to Simon Sinzibizabejo, the boys’ father, Shukuru has always been a child who ‘never settled at home’.

"When I would get back from work, their mother would often tell me that he was gone and would even spend three days missing from home. Later, he would come back on his own,” the father narrates. 

At the time, the family lived near the main road and could not afford a nanny to look after the kids in their absence, and so their father felt that their behaviour was being influenced by that, so he decided to shift. They moved to Nzove village in Kanyinya. 

Memories of the street

In a world full of dangers and risks, the siblings had different moments. One of Shukuru’s best memories, he says, was when he got Rfw50, 000 in just seven days. As a child from a struggling family, that was a big achievement. 

He decided to surprise his six friends with clothing from the market. "I went to the market and bought my friends a pair of shorts and a shirt each.”

However Shukuru missed his mother, Mado Mukamusoni, and would occasionally visit her at work.

"Take this Rwf5, 000 as I search for more. If things fail, I will come back home and start carrying people’s luggage, and see how best we can survive,” Shukuru told his mother.

There was also the time he bet Rfw1, 000 on a friend in a fighting competition amongst the clique, and his friend won. "We never paid for where to sleep since then, we took over. We were happy on the streets since we were at the top and nobody asked for money from us again.”

Big brother Jibu is more reserved, and a little shy. The good memories he has was when they did not go to sleep hungry. Even though life seemed easier on the street, it was tough; there were cold nights as the youngsters would sleep on paper boxes without anything to cover them, and they got many injuries running after trucks. 

"I will never forget when I injured my knee trying to get on a lorry transporting sugarcane. I was deeply hurt and got a very big wound,” Shukuru says. 

He went back home for treatment as the wound was getting worse. "He returned home bleeding and we took him to the hospital, after the wound got better, he disappeared again with his big brother,” the father says.  

The future

When the boys who are now in P5 at Groupe Scolaire Nzove returned home in 2020, they had dreams and plans for the future.

Shukuru says he wants to be a soldier and is inspired by some of Rwanda’s greatest generals, while Jibu believes his future lies in teaching. 

Their parents continue to provide and care for them as best as they can, and, the boys say, they promise their father to study hard and help get their family out of poverty.

The boys also participate in ‘Inshuti Z’umuryango’ (Friends of the Family), an innovation that brings child protection services closer to communities and better reaches marginalised children and families. They continue to visit the streets to convince others to go back home too. 

According to Emmanuel Nshumyumukiza, the head of the community where the kids stay, they always remind them of the dangers of living on the street. 

"We tell them how they can be injured through violence and accidents yet the future is bright no matter how hard the situation is at home. They could grow into great leaders if they go back to school,” Nshumyumukiza says. 

Inshuti Z’umuryango has community-based child and family protection volunteers, with two placed in every village across the country. They work as a pair in supporting children and families.

At home, the boys are hardworking, and divide the chores amongst themselves. Their father has leant that spending quality time with the children is a good way to avoid some problems. 

"We don’t give our children the attention they deserve, claiming to be busy with work, and so we don’t know the struggles they face daily. Suddenly, the problems pile up and they act out.” 

He believes that encouraging children to take part in decision-making is the best way forward for a better and happier family.