Features:
Children from the sewers

Like rats in the night, they emerge from the drains beneath the roads clutching sludge filled plastic bottles, fermented sewerage – Jenkem.

Constantly sniffing, these children remind me of babies clasping onto a mothers nipple, a survival instinct only in this case it keeps them warm and makes their empty bellies feel full.

I am with street children under the Manda Hill fly-over bridge in Lusaka, Zambia. To escape the nightmare that is their world - violence, starvation, sexual and physical abuse, beatings, fights, thefts, sickness - Jenkem is their drug of choice, their only way out. It lasts for an hour and is easier to come by than glue, petrol, Dagga (Marijuana) or Ballan (uncured tobacco).

There are tens of thousands of street children in Zambia spawned by HIV/AIDS and poverty. The once traditional extended family umbrella for taking care of their orphans is collapsing - there are simply too many to cope with. Living on the street in gangs of up to 15 (aged 4 to 15yrs) is the only security available for these helpless little souls.

Note; Since these pictures were taken, we have raised funds for some of the children to be housed and schooled.

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