Grace and Blessings' story

Grace and Blessings live in a small squat. This desolate place sits behind the busy market area of Harare. A small area has been turned into a street refuge; ramshackle tents and structures made out of tarpaulin and sacks around a cooking area. Black with soot, covered in old food debris, the place is no better than the city dump.

The two girls stand out - not just because they are girls but as young children. It is hard to believe that children as young as 11 and 13 can survive in this harsh environment. The group of about 17 street children and youth range in age from 11 to 25. Each one has a different story to tell and so many of their stories resonate with a million other children around the world. Tales of abandonment, abuse, grinding poverty and struggle.

Both Grace and Blessings share the same story. Both were abandoned by their fathers when their mothers died, and new step-mothers were unable to cope with more children, turning to abuse sufficient enough to make life unbearable for these two young girls. Both ‘escaped' to the city - with a child's naivety hoping that things might be better.

Frighteningly, it appears that there is a 24-hour window for girls coming to the street. For both Grace and Blessings, arrival in Harare at the central bus station meant 24 hours of fear, loneliness and, in Grace's case, deception and rape.

Asked why they haven't returned home, the girls both respond that they don't wish to return to a life of beatings and hunger. These two girls are pre-pubescent - they look like small boys scurrying around the camp, proudly showing their small home to anyone who shows an interest. Blessings has already been placed in a Children's Home but ran away - life on the street had made life in an institution difficult to adjust to.

Outreach workers (street workers) at Streets Ahead acknowledge that as soon as they start to mature and become young teenagers, their lives will change. They will become victims of sexual predators - both other street boys but members of the public too. Incredibly there is great solidarity amongst children, despite the fact that bullying, sexual abuse and real violence also takes place on the street. These two girls have temporarily found their place with the other children, and there is a sense of community at this ‘base'.

In order to protect girls like these from a life of risk, illness and abuse, it is vital that street workers and the wider community are vigilant for newcomers, such as Grace and Blessings.