Age: 13
Arua, Uganda
I am 13 years old. I was living in Eastern Uganda with my parents until they separated; I stayed with my father who later married another wife when we moved to the city. My step-mother did not like me; she always gave a bad report about me to my father.
One day my friend stole money from the neighbors shop and my stepmother accused me of stealing the money. My father locked me up in a room awaiting punishment, as I had always been beaten and mistreated. I escaped and ran away from home; my father mobilized a group of men to chase me but I managed to escape and run to the city.
I lived in the city for three months with a friend. We used to collect used plastic water bottles and sell them; we used this money to buy cheap food in the down-town market. I slept on the veranda of the main post office building. One time I was arrested by police and remanded at the Juvenile offenders’ center; after two months I escaped back to the streets.
We were picking scrap metal from the railway station; someone from the Youth Corps home asked us if we needed a place to stay and we accepted. Now that I have a home, I want to start going to school. I want to become a lawyer and get people out of trouble.
I like watching TV, enjoy boxing; I hate people who mistreat others and I hate being idle.
