{"source_url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/lifestyle/wretched-earth-who-cares", "title": "The wretched of the earth\u2026. but who cares?!", "top_image": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "meta_img": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "images": ["https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/49115575792_5b88fff6e5_3k.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/some-of-the-christians-who-turned-up-for-the-new-year-prayers-at_zion-temple-on-january-1-2020._dan-nsengiyumva.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/all/themes/tntrwanda/images/TNT-Webmasthead-Mobile.svg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/small_google_news_logo.png", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/article-author/public", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/all/themes/tntrwanda/images/sign-up-logo.svg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/img_4113.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/mystyle/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/02/fireworks-2.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/all/themes/tntrwanda/images/TNT-WebMasthead.svg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/ernest-sugira-joins.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/a-smartphone-of-mara-phones-at.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/all/themes/tntrwanda/images/footer-tnt-logo.png", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/02/fotojet_0.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/the-volcanoes-national-park-workers-receive_mara-phones-from_connectrwanda-challenge_at-the_boxing-day-in-musanze-district-on-december-26-2019._at-least-24012_phones_were-committed-as-of-december-23-2019.-courtesy.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/styles/push_carousel/public/main/articles/2020/01/01/a-woman-client.jpg", "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/all/themes/tntrwanda/images/icon-search.svg"], "movies": [], "text": "I drive past these semi-permanent houses on my way to work. Each time I see a little boy in the same dirty rugged cloths, playing with younger, seemingly better dressed children. I wonder if he goes to school or has parents. The Ghetto song (1969 by Elvis Presley) comes to mind, increasing my sense of guilt, as I fly past with my son safely tucked away in the backseat. Each time, I feel the urge to stop and ask him a few questions but time waits for no man\u2026..that is until one time, I see him no more. My heart tightens in a knot, fearing that he might be dead; out of neglect, or a drunken kick perhaps?\n\nAfter three days of not seeing him, I sum up some courage in the early morning to drive over to a rundown house about where he lives. A lady in the backyard is feeding her child on beans and cabbage at that odd hour, but at least it is a healthy diet. I ask about the rugged child. She knocks on some little shack by the house and out comes, not one, but three little children and a very pregnant mum. They are very dirty, the middle child hosting a white-foam-like fungal infection all over his head. Seeing the shock on my face, the lady explains, \u201cThere are many other kids like that here\u2026give it another hour and they\u2019ll emerge from those shacks around this house\u201d.\n\nIt turns out there are a number of ladies living in these cramped mud stalls that formerly housed market kiosks; now earmarked for demolition. For now, it is free accommodation until government\u2019s decision to revamp the area. The majority of them are street workers, and nearly all their children are born out of prostitution.\n\nI walk back to the car half relieved that the child has a mother, but not sure he\u2019s any better off nonetheless. I wonder how to help. His mother is a street worker that infected him with HIV at childbirth. His two siblings are HIV negative, thanks to modern medicine. The next time I pass by, most of the women are by the roadside with hungry looking, barely clad children. Perhaps I am seeing them for the first time because I cared to look. I can\u2019t shrug off this feeling that I\u2019ve opened a can of worms.\n\nThinking I could do draw on my project planning skills, I organise a meeting with the ladies to understand their crucial needs. But their pained hopeless look was more than I had bargained for. 60% of them are HIV positive. One of them was a fruit vendor until her basket got nabbed by security agents. She has never recouped her business since. Others were lured to town by family or friends that let them down. They cannot be helped at local level because they have to return to their villages where purportedly, there is better support.\n\nAnother has failed to make it in the city and is afraid to go back to her village with children to support. The mother of the little boy has one eye, the other taken out by his abusive father. Nearly all of them have boils all over their skin, caused by the swamp water they use for bathing, and of course of the HIV infection. When asked if they had eaten, they laughingly pointed at their neighbours that had not come for the meeting. \u2018They worked last night\u2019, they said, \u2018we see them cooking\u2019. Desperate for some income, they work for as low as 500 francs.\n\nBehind the loud alcohol induced verbosity, the pain in their eyes is almost tangible. They are desperately poor, filthy, spited\u2026simply the wretched of the earth. They accept as normal the sneers and awkward looks, and drown themselves in local beer to avert their shame, even if for a little while. The drunken fights are often. Their children seem attuned to this of environment.\n\nAn NGO that supports street workers gives them work for two weeks. The neighbouring residences are profusely thankful. The ladies haven\u2019t fought for a while; too tired after a long day\u2019s work to bother with anything else. I am absolutely pleased with this outcome. Despite the negative comments about them, they have proven that given a chance, they can be useful hardworking citizens like the rest of us. The struggle is still on. I will not give up on them, because I am also a woman; just lucky to be more privileged.\n\nRecently, a mother of two lost her life\u2026to abortion. Another one gave birth to a baby girl born from prostitution. And its Mama cries. It\u2019s the ghetto song all over again.\n\nIn the Ghetto\n\nAs the snow flies\n\nOn a cold and gray Chicago mornin\u2019\n\nA poor little baby child is born\n\nIn the ghetto\n\nAnd his mama cries\n\n\u2018cause if there\u2019s one thing that she don\u2019t need\n\nit\u2019s another hungry mouth to feed\n\nIn the ghetto\n\nPeople, don\u2019t you understand\n\nthe child needs a helping hand\n\nor he\u2019ll grow to be an angry young man someday\n\nTake a look at you and me,\n\nare we too blind to see,\n\ndo we simply turn our heads\n\nand look the other way\n\nWell the world turns\n\nand a hungry little boy with a runny nose\n\nplays in the street as the cold wind blows\n\nIn the ghetto\n\nAnd his hunger burns\n\nso he starts to roam the streets at night\n\nand he learns how to steal\n\nand he learns how to fight\n\nIn the ghetto\n\nThen one night in desperation\n\na young man breaks away\n\nHe buys a gun, steals a car,\n\ntries to run, but he don\u2019t get far\n\nAnd his mama cries\n\nAs a crowd gathers \u2018round an angry young man\n\nface down on the street with a gun in his hand\n\nIn the ghetto\n\nAs her young man dies,\n\non a cold and gray Chicago mornin\u2019,\n\nanother little baby child is born\n\nIn the ghetto.\n\neditor@newtimesrwanda.com", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": ["The wretched of the earth\u2026. but who cares?! | newtimes", "rwanda news", "tnt", "rwanda", "kigali", "news", "east africa"], "tags": [], "authors": [], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 19:48:13 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/favicon.ico", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0", "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "site": "@NewTimesRwanda", "domain": "newtimes.co.rw", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/lifestyle/wretched-earth-who-cares", "title": "The wretched of the earth\u2026. but who cares?!"}, "keywords": "The wretched of the earth\u2026. but who cares?! | newtimes,rwanda news,tnt,rwanda,kigali,news,east africa", "generator": "Drupal 7 (http://drupal.org)", "og": {"site_name": "The New Times | Rwanda", "type": "article", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/lifestyle/wretched-earth-who-cares", "title": "The wretched of the earth\u2026. but who cares?!", "updated_time": "2020-01-02T00:12:43+02:00", "image": {"identifier": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/sites/default/files/main/articles/2020/01/01/myggsgueqbmmybzbtk7up6.jpg", "type": "jpg"}}, "article": {"published_time": "2020-01-01T19:48:13+02:00", "modified_time": "2020-01-02T00:12:43+02:00"}}, "canonical_link": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/lifestyle/wretched-earth-who-cares"}