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Members of the 2011 and 2012 Child Jury.

WHAT DOES THE CHILD JURY DO? The members of the World’s Children’s Prize Child Jury are experts on the rights of the child through their own life experiences. They can be members of the jury until they turn 18. Every jury child primarily represents all the children in the world who share the same experiences.

However, they also represent children of their own country and continent. Whenever possible, the jury includes children from all continents and all major religions.

• The jury members share their life stories and what violations of the rights of the child that they have experienced themselves or that they fight for. In this way, they teach millions of children around the world about the rights of the child.

• Every year, the Child Jury selects the three final candidates for the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child from all those who have been nominated.

• The Child jury leads the annual conclusion of the World’s Children’s Prize program, the grand Award Ceremony.

• The jury members are ambassadors for the World’s Children’s Prize in their home countries and throughout the world.

• During the week of the Award Ceremony, the members of the jury visit schools in Sweden and talk about their lives and about the rights of the child.

You can meet the jury members here.

Gabatshwane Gumede, 17,

SOUTH AFRICA

Gabatshwane’s parents died of AIDS when she was little.

Despite the fact that Gaba was HIV negative, many people were afraid of catching HIV from her. She had no friends, and everyone at school laughed at her. Where Gaba lives, most people are unemployed. Many are HIV positive, and many children are orphans. Violations of the rights of the child are common.

These days, no-one laughs at Gaba. She is a singer and a child rights champion, and many children look up to her.

Whenever she can, Gaba buys food for the poor, and gives orphaned school friends food parcels.

“I demand that our politicians work for the rights of the child.

I have discussed this with South Africa’s Minister of Education, and with many other politicians.”

Gabatshwane represents children who have been orphaned

by AIDS and children who fight for the rights of vulnerable children.

Hannah Taylor, 16, CANADA When Hannah was five, she saw a homeless man eating out of a garbage can. Since then, she has been speaking to school children, politicians, executives and the Prime Minister of Canada, to tell them that no-one should have to be homeless. She founded a charity that has raised over a million US dollars for projects for the homeless, and she has started an educational programme for schools.

“We want to show that everyone can get involved and make a difference for homeless people and the rights of the child.

We all need to share what we have and care about each other.

When I was at a home for homeless teenagers, I gave all the children a hug. One of the quiet ones said: ‘Until today I thought no-one liked me, but now I know that you like me.’”

Hannah represents children who fight for the rights of the child, especially for homeless children’s rights.

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Hamoodi Mohamad Elsalameen, 14, PALESTINE

Hamoodi lives in a poor village south of Hebron on the West Bank, an area that is occupied

by Israel.

“One night, Israeli soldiers came to our village in tanks.

They gave orders through a loudspeaker, telling everyone to switch their lights on. They shot in all directions, and three people were killed,” says Hamoodi.

When he was five and heard about a little boy being killed, Hamoodi said, “I want a gun!”

But now he takes part in negotiations for peace. He has Jewish friends, and plays football with them several times a month in Israel.

“I like playing football, but we don’t have a pitch in our village. We usually play on a field further away, but when the Israeli soldiers come to arrest someone, they drive us away. They take away all the fun things,” says Hamoodi.

Hamoodi represents children in conflict areas and children living under occupation.

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PHOTO: KIM NAYLOR

Maria Elena Morales Achahui, 16, PERU Maria Elena left her village in the mountains when she was 12, without telling her parents.

She has seven siblings, and she knew that her family was struggling financially. She also thought the teaching in the village school was poor. In the city of Cusco, she became an unpaid maid for her aunt, receiving only pocket money.

She had to work so much that she couldn’t go to school.

When she complained, her aunt threatened to beat her.

Maria Elena missed her family so much, and eventually went home for a visit. When she returned to her aunt’s house, she was thrown out onto the street. Now Maria Elena lives at a home run by an organisation called Caith. She goes to school and is part of a group that works to defend maids’ rights.

Maria Elena represents girls who work as maids, often under slave-like conditions, and fights for their rights.

ward Cerery open the A ju ild ch ds. e th of ent the awar The members lps them pres he ia ilv S en mony. Que

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Brianna Audinett, 15, USA When Brianna was eleven, her mother left her violent father.

Brianna and her three brothers became homeless in Los Angeles. They moved around a lot, sometimes staying in motels, but motels don’t allow five people to share a room.

Eventually they found a place in a shelter. They lived here for many months, sleeping with other homeless people in bunk beds in a dormitory. They always had to be quiet, and

could hardly ever play. But opposite the shelter was the School on Wheels, which gave Brianna and her brothers somewhere to play, school materials and help with their homework.

“When I grow up I want to be a doctor, and help homeless people,” says Brianna. “They don’t have any money, but I’ll help them anyway.” Brianna and her family now have their own home.

Brianna represents children who are homeless.

Lisa Bonongwe, 16,

ZIMBABWE

When Lisa was four, her father drank and beat her mother almost every night. Sometimes until she was unconscious on the floor. When Lisa cried and shouted at him to stop, he chased her and her big brother out of the house.

“We had to sleep on the veranda, even in the middle of winter when it was freezing,” she says.

When she was seven, her mother threw her father out and Lisa joined the Girl Child Network girls’ club at her school. They teach girls about their rights.

“At the girls’ club, we talk about things that are important to us. Girls aren’t safe at all in Zimbabwe. We are abused and raped, and we have to do all the housework. If there isn’t enough money for everyone, it’s always the boys who are allowed to go to school. I help organise meetings and demonstrations for girls’ rights.”

Lisa represents children who fight for girls’ rights.

Mae Segovia, 13,

THE PHILIPPINES

When Mae was nine years old, she had to leave school and start working to help support her family. She was forced to dance and undress in front of a camera in an internet café.

The images were sent all over the world via the internet. It took two years before the owner who exploited Mae was caught by the police. He is now in prison, as are many of those who viewed the images.

But Mae was unable to stay with her family. There was a risk that she would suffer again as a result of poverty.

Today, she lives at the Visayan Forum Foundation’s safe house for vulnerable girls. She goes to school and fights for the rights of other girls who have suffered abuse.

“I miss my family, but I love going to school and my life is better here,” she says.

Mae represents children who have been exploited by the sex industry and children who fight for the rights of the child.

Nuzhat Tabassum Promi,14, BANGLADESH “If the sea level rises by one metre, the southern part of Bangladesh, where I live, will be underwater. I think about that often.”

“Global warming is causing the ice at the North and South Poles and in the Himalayas to melt. As a result we are hit harder by cyclones and flooding,” says Nuzhat. “When I was on my way to school the day after the mega-cyclone, there were dead and injured people all over the place.”

Nuzhat lives in the little town of Barisal in southern Bangladesh. Every morning

she puts on her school uniform, hails a cycle rickshaw and gets a lift to school.

“Cyclones – very severe storms – affect Bangladesh every year. But the country is well-prepared, and has a good cyclone warning system. The absolute worst thing that has happened to me in my life was when I thought our school had been destroyed by the megacyclone.”

Nuzhat represents children who have their rights violated through natural disasters and environmental degradation, as well as children who demand respect for girls’ rights.

Mofat Maninga, 15, KENYA “I want to talk to the President of Kenya and tell him that life is hard for children. I want to tell him that his policemen beat children who live on the street and put them in prison. In prison! How can you lock a child up just because he or she is forced to live on the street?

How can you steal a child’s freedom? I would tell the President that he should take care of the children instead.

Give them a place to live, something to eat and the chance to go to school.”

When Mofat was eight years old, his mother died of AIDS. “My grandmother had taken care of her, and she hadn’t told me how ill my mother was. It came as a shock. I felt so alone.”

A couple of years later, Mofat also became ill. His grandmother took care of him, but when she died, the rest of the family kicked him out of the

MORE CHILD JURY

house. Mofat was 13 years old and had to live on the street.

But today Mofat lives in a home for street children and goes to school again.

Mofat represents children who are HIV positive and children who live on the street.

Liv Kjellberg, 13, SWEDEN “It starts with being teased for something, like wearing the wrong clothes, being shy or looking different,” says Liv. “Then it continues with pushing and shoving, and it just gets worse and worse.” Liv found herself excluded by the other girls right from the first year of school. She had to sit on her own in the school canteen, and she was subjected to shoving and taunting.

“The teachers aren’t always aware of what happens between pupils, and when children are bullied they might not say anything. They think that tomorrow will be better, that they might be able to hang out with the others.”

Liv got involved and raised money so that the organisation Friends, which works to combat bullying, could come to her school.

“Now things are better in class and no-one bullies other people. And I have seven close friends at school.”

Liv represents children who are bullied and children who fight against bullying.

Poonam Thapa, 16, NEPAL Represents and fights for trafficked girls who are sold as slaves to brothels, and all girls who are subjected to abuse.

Pages 8–9

David Pullin, 15,

UNITED KINGDOM

Represents children who have been separated from their parents and are cared for by society, as well as children who fight for the rights of the child.

Pages 10–11 Ndale Nyengela, 14, D.R. CONGO Represents child soldiers and children involved in armed conflict.

Pages 12–13

Emelda Zamambo, 12,

MOZAMBIQUE

Represents orphans and children who fight for the rights of the child.

Pages 34–39

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Poonam Thapa, 16 (2012)

The man who sold Poonam was taken away. Nepal has a new law against trafficking, and he could be sentenced to 20 years in jail and made to pay the equivalent of five years’ salary to Poonam.

Traffickers often visited the village, trying to lure young girls away with false job offers. Their parents didn’t always understand the danger. They thought the offers sounded like fantastic opportunities – and they meant one less mouth to feed and one more wage.

Since Poonam was an orphan, she travelled to the Indian city of Shimla at a very young age, to pick apples and mushrooms and work as a waitress. That was where she met the man, who was a few years older than her.

Poonam

Tricked and sold

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TE X T: MARTIN SCHIBBYE

PHOTOS: JONAS GR AT ZER

got trafficker jailed When Poonam Thapa from Nepal met an older man, he tricked her and sold her to a brothel in India. Today, Poonam is free and a member of the World’s Children’s Prize child jury.

Recently she managed to get the man who sold her arrested and put in jail.

“You tricked me into running away and promised we’d get married!” shouts Poonam to the older man being held down on a bench at the Maiti Nepal centre in the capital city of Kathmandu.

Poonam recognised the man when he visited Maiti Nepal a week ago to look for

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his missing wife. She didn’t dare say anything until he had left. But when Poonam explained that he was the man who had sold her, they tricked him into coming back.

“I have never seen this girl and never been to India,” says the man. Poonam can’t hold back any longer.

“I know your father’s name, I know that he’s blind in one

eye, so don’t lie to me!”

The founder of Maiti Nepal, Anuradha Koirala, calls the police and asks Poonam, who is now 16, to tell the whole story from the start.

Poonam grew up in the village of Ichtko, in one of the poorest countries in the world – Nepal. The young people in the village used to dream of another life.

When Poonam was 14 and living back in her home village in Nepal, the love of her life suggested that they should run away together to the big city of Mumbai to get married and live together.

“But you have to run away the day after me, so that nobody suspects that we ran away together. Then we’ll meet in India,” the man said to Poonam.

After several days in different cars and buses, Poonam arrived at a house in a dark alleyway on the outskirts of the Indian city of Mumbai, home to fourteen million people. But something wasn’t right. The room was full of girls. Some of them were even younger than her. The man she was meant to be meeting was nowhere to be seen.

One of the women in the house told Poonam to have a bath and change into a short skirt. Then someone put “You tricked me!” shouts Poonam angrily at the man who sold her to a brothel.

make-up on her. The men who turned up forced her to drink alcohol, and she heard the others talking about ‘customers’.

“What’s a customer?” she asked Mala, one of the older girls.

“You’ve been sold. This is a brothel,” replied Mala.

Living hell

That evening, lots of men came to the brothel. Poonam refused to let them touch her.

She cried, screamed, kicked and bit them. They held her down, whipped her with electrical cables and burned her with cigarettes until she gave in. Poonam was exploited by ten to fifteen men every day.

When she tried to escape she was captured. After ten months, the Indian police stormed in. They had received a tip-off that there were children in the brothel, and they took Poonam with them.

That was how Poonam came to the organisation Maiti Nepal, which received

the 2002 World’s Children’s Prize for its work with girls who have been trafficked and exploited.

Police on their way

The Chief Inspector’s walkietalkie crackles as he stomps into the room at Maiti Nepal where Poonam and the man who sold her are waiting.

“Yes, okay, I sold Poonam for 40,000 Indian rupees (USD 1000), but it was the first and last time I’ve ever sold a girl!” confesses the man who Poonam reported.

The room falls silent.

According to Nepal’s new

Human Trafficking Act, the man could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and have to pay Poonam the equivalent of five years’ salary.

“As long as there are people who are prepared to sell other people, it’s hard for us police to react fast enough,” says the police officer. He thinks Poonam is incredibly brave.

“If she hesitates even slightly, it makes it hard to get him convicted,” he says, leading the trafficker to the prison van.

Poonam slumps down in a seat, exhausted. Despite everything, the future looks

bright for her. At Maiti Nepal, she and other survivors receive support and training.

On the World’s Children’s Prize jury, Poonam represents and fights for girls who have been subjected to trafficking and sold to brothels as slaves, as well as all girls who have been abused.

Poonam gives H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden flowers during the World’s Children’s Prize ceremony at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Sweden.

More slaves today 200,000 girls and women from Nepal are slaves at brothels in India. Every year, 12,000 new girls arrive, many of them under 16. There are thought to be 1.2 million sex slaves in the world. The turnover of the global sex trafficking industry is estimated to be at least USD 9.5 billion, and up to USD 32 billion.

There are at least 12.3 million slaves in the world today, roughly the same amount as the total number of slaves sent to Europe and America from the 15th century to the 19th century. Others estimate that there are 27 million slaves in the world today.

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David Pullin, 15 (2012)

"All the members of Staffordshire's County Council have signed an assurance, The Pledge, drawn up by us in the Children in Care Council, in which they promise to fulfil our rights," says David.

David fights for children David’s mother and father were alcoholics, and when he was young he was often left alone all day long. Today, he lives with a foster family and fights for children with a similar background. David Pullin, 15, from the UK, is a new member of the World’s Children’s Prize jury, representing children who have been separated from their parents and are taken care of by the state.

“I lived with my mum and dad when I was young. They were alcoholics and they often left me alone in our flat when they went out drinking.

Sometimes I was alone all day long. Because I was locked in, I couldn’t go anywhere. There was never enough to eat, only things like crisps, biscuits and maybe a little bit of bread. I had no friends and often put myself to bed. That was hard, because I was afraid of the dark. When I started going to pre-school, the teachers realised something was wrong. I was malnourished and I was

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always wearing dirty clothes that were too small. And since I wasn’t used to being with other people, I mostly just sat on my own in a corner. My mum often smelt of alcohol when she dropped me off and picked me up. My dad ended up in jail and my teachers contacted social services and told them I wasn’t being looked after properly at home.

When I was seven, it was decided that I should move in with a foster family. I was really worried – even when everything’s terrible at home,

you still want to be with your own mum and dad. Would the new family be nice to me?

Would they like me?”

Children’s Voice

“But as soon as I got there, I felt safe. They hugged me and welcomed me. It wasn’t long before they felt like my own family. And I started to make friends at school. Despite all that, I still felt a bit lonely, since nobody else shared my experiences. Then my social worker told me about the Children’s Voice Project, a forum where children who have been in care can meet up and talk about what they’ve been through, and support one another. I have now been involved with Children’s Voice for three years. To begin with it was all about me “It is my dream for all children who are in care, to be able to live a good life and to have their rights respected, just like other children.”

needing support, but now my focus is more on supporting others who need my help.

Because even though I had a tough time when I was younger, I’ve still been lucky.

I have a fantastic new family and life is good for me. But I know that not all children in care are as lucky as me, and I want to fight for their rights.

“I’ve been involved in developing a child-friendly information pack that every child who is taken into care will receive. It’s full of information about the rights of the child and bullying, as well as important phone numbers for hospitals, social services and

“I have now been involved with Children’s Voice for three years.

To begin with it was all about me needing support, but now my focus is more on supporting others who need my help,” says David.

in care “Where I live in Staffordshire, there is a Children in Care Council. All twelve members of the Council are children who have been in care. The other children in the Children’s Voice Project wanted me to be on the Children in Care Council, so I’ve been on it for two years now. One of the things I’ve helped achieve is to make sure that children in care get more pocket money. Along with adult members of the County Council, I visit children’s homes to make sure that that the children who live there are well looked after. If the furniture and doors are broken, or if the windows aren’t clean and the place is dirty,

Adults listen

“In general, I feel that the authorities here in Staffordshire are good at listening to us children in care.

It was actually the authorities that started both the Children’s Voice Project and the Children in Care Council

– things that give us the chance to have an influence on important issues that affect us. Recently, all the members of the County Council signed a special pledge drawn up by the Children in Care Council. In it, they promise to fulfil our rights. I am so happy about that, because that’s exactly what I’m fighting for. For us to be respected and to have a voice. My dream is for all children in care to have good lives, and to have their rights

respected just like all other children.

My mum has stopped drinking now, and we meet up regularly, but we have decided that I’m going to stay with my new family until I’m an adult.”

David represents children who have been separated from their parents and are taken care of by the state, and children fighting for these children’s rights.

TE X T: ANDRE AS LÖNN

Children in Care Council

I report it to the County Council and it gets fixed. One boy at one of the homes only got half the amount of pocket money he was entitled to. I went to the Director of the home and the County Council and complained, and it was sorted by the next day!

Another very important job I have through the Children in Care Council is to help interview adults who want to work with children in care. I look for adults who always put the children’s best interests first, and who are understanding and good fun! So far, the adults have always given the jobs to the people we have recommended!”

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the people responsible for the rights of the child in the government. It’s important that all children in care know their rights, and who they should turn to to make sure they are respected.”

Bikes for all!

“Children in care often don’t have a bike of their own, and I think that’s wrong – we want to have fun like everyone else. I talked with the authorities about this, and said that I thought all children who couldn’t afford it themselves, or whose foster families couldn’t afford it, should get a free bike from the County. They agreed! But they said that they’d leave it to us on the Children in Care Council to start up the project.

Right now there are twelve children cycling around on bikes they have received from us!”

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Ndale Nyengela, 14 (2012)

“This is your pen now,” said the soldier, handing a rifle to Ndale Nyengela, who had been kidnapped by an armed group in D.R. Congo at the age of 11.

Today, Ndale is 14, free, and a new member of the World’s Children’s Prize jury.

“It was an ordinary day. I woke

up at sunrise, washed and put on my school uniform. I picked up my bag with my pen, jotter and ruler, and went out to meet my classmates. There were six of us,

Ndale

forced to swap his pen for a rifle half walking, half running, because we were a bit late.

We took a shortcut on a path through the forest.

Suddenly we spotted two armed soldiers among the trees. They shouted for us, and it was too late to run away.

‘Where are you going, boys?’ asked one of the soldiers.

He took our schoolbags and emptied them onto the

ground. They also found the money I had with me to pay my school fees and buy beans.

It was market day, and my mother had asked me to buy two kilos of brown beans.

‘You understand, boys, that in this country there are not enough soldiers. So now it’s time for you to help out,’ said the other soldier.

‘But we’re on our way to school,’ I said.

‘Listen! If you think you can refuse, we might as well just shoot you right here. Got it?’ he said, smacking our heads with a stick.

Ndale was on his way to school when he was kidnapped and forced to become a soldier. After three years he managed to flee.

“Now my life has begun again,” he says.

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I was terrified, and I thought God must have forgotten about me. Otherwise why would I have ended up in this mess? I thought about my mother and father and my siblings.”

Nightmare was real

“We walked for three days without eating or sleeping.

We weren’t allowed to talk to one other. When we walked too slowly they kicked us and shouted all sorts of things. I was so tired. One evening they burned our school uniforms.

The whole thing was like a nightmare. But it was real.

After three days we reached their camp. When I saw all the soldiers and the terrible huts they lived in, made of branches and sheets of plastic, I thought: ‘This is the end of my life.

“Yes to school, no more military camps”, says one of the placards. With the organisation, BVES Ndale and other freed child soldiers receive help working through their terrible experiences and get to start going to school again.

But first they have to take off their uniforms.

I’m a schoolchild, what am I meant to do among all these weapons?’

One of the soldiers gave us uniforms and weapons.

‘This is your pen now,’ he said, passing me a rifle.

The uniform was much too big for me, but a woman cut off the sleeves and legs.

There were other child soldiers in the camp. They asked me if we had any money. But we didn’t. The next day, we started rifle training. The whole time I was thinking: ‘I don’t want to learn to shoot. I’m a schoolchild!’

Once we knew how to handle our weapons, they said now it was time to learn to kill people.

‘That tree there is a person.

Make sure you hit the heart!’”

Flight

“I spent three years in that army. One day one of my friends, a grown-up soldier, came to me and said: ‘Let’s run away together! I heard on the radio that UN troops and people from something called BVES are here to help set child soldiers free.’

His plan was to get hold of civilian clothes from one of the travelling salesmen who came to the camp. We would

put the clothes on under our uniforms and run away during the night.

We crept out at night. Once we were deep in the forest we threw away our weapons and took off our uniforms. We slept in the forest and then we managed to walk in our civilian clothes, all the way to the place where we had heard child soldiers were being set free. We hurried there.

‘We just fled from an army and you can see that he is a child. Will you take care of him?’ said my friend to a man from BVES, who was standing beside a large white UN car.

‘Don’t be scared, we’ll take care of you,’ the man said to me.

I was so happy, and my life began again. Here at BVES, I am calm. Here, I get to go to school. My favourite subjects are music, English, geography and history.

When I am finished my studies I want to make music about what it’s like to be in the army, and about the rights of the child, so that everyone understands what rights children have. I want

to stop children from being made to become soldiers. All adults must remember that they have been children.

Many adults forget that. But I also want to be able to take care of my parents.”

“Yes to school uniforms” and “No more military uniforms” it says on two of the placards.

The child soldiers have taken off their uniforms to burn them.

Ndale represents child soldiers and children in armed conflicts.

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“One morning, after two months in the camp, we woke up to shocked voices: ‘The enemy is coming for revenge! Everyone take up your arms!’

A few days previously, soldiers from our camp had attacked another army and stolen a cow and lots of other things. Now this army was coming to take back the stolen goods.

We children had to go first.

That was always how it worked. We hid in the forest, near a road. Someone began to shoot. I can’t describe how scared I was. It was my first battle and it was still dark. I couldn’t understand what was happening. People were falling down dead beside me.

People were screaming. All the shooting. I felt utterly overwhelmed by feelings of fear. When I tried to hide, the other soldiers shoved me forward and said: ‘If your friend dies, it doesn’t matter. Just step over him! It’s your duty.’

Two of my school friends were killed on the very first day. The fighting continued for twelve days. All that over a cow.

When I got back to the camp, I hadn’t slept or eaten for several days. But when I finally got the chance to sleep, I couldn’t, because of all the thoughts and nightmares about what I had been through.”

TOLD TO: GUNILL A HAMNE PHOTOS: GUNILL A HAMNE & BO ÖHLÉN

At war

Emelda Zamambo, 12 (2012)

Emelda is a teacher and Global “When I’m an adult I want to be someone who risks danger in the fight for children who need help. Just like the candidates for the World’s Children’s Prize,” says Emelda Zamambo, 12, an orphan from Maputo in Mozambique.

But Emelda isn’t content to wait until she’s an adult to fight for the rights of the child.

Early every morning, she runs her own school at home, for children who would not otherwise have the chance to go to school. She teaches them to read, write and count.

“

1

, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!!!

The children count out loud together as Emelda points to the different numbers on the chalkboard.

“Great! One more time!” she says, and they start again.

It is 8.30 in the morning, and around ten children are sitting on the ground outside Emelda’s house, as they do every weekday. Their eyes are fixed on their young teacher as she writes new numbers on the simple piece of chipboard that is the school’s chalk-

Eraser

I bought this with my lunch money, instead of buying food at school.

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board. Emelda started her morning school almost a year ago, and most of these children have been attending since then.

“I have always helped my younger brothers and sisters with their homework. We used to do it sitting in front of the house. Then word started to spread that I helped them with homework early in the morning. Suddenly, other children who wanted help started to turn up. To begin with it was just a few, but now I teach twelve children every day. For free, of course!” says Emelda, laughing.

Some of Emelda’s students are neighbours who need a

Chalk

My grandmother bought it for me as a present, because she was so pleased that I was helping other children.

Vote president! bit of extra help to keep up with their studies in school.

Others are so poor that they can’t afford to go to school at all.

Father shot

“I really hate to see poor children who can’t go to school and never get opportunities in life. Often they have lost their parents and end up on the street because there’s nobody to take care of them.

Many of them are forced to work. It is so horribly unfair!” says Emelda.

Injustice makes her really angry, and she is well aware that she could have been one of those deprived children.

Chalkboard

An old piece of chipboard I found nearby.

Pointer

I got this from my uncle, he’s a carpenter.

The Globe at morning school “Going to school is one of the most important things there is. It gives you a better chance of finding work later in life, which means you’ll be able to take better care of your family. If you don’t get an education, there is a big risk you’ll always be poor and live a really tough life. And one of the most important things you can learn in school is the rights of the child. If we know about that, we can learn to defend ourselves and we won’t be exploited so easily. That’s why I use The Globe at my morning school,” says Emelda.

When Emelda was six years old, her father was shot dead by thieves, and just a few months later her mother died of malaria.

“Everything fell apart. I didn’t think anything could ever be good again. I was terrified that I would be left alone and end up on the

street. But in spite of all the bad things that happened, I was so lucky.”

Emelda’s grandmother and her uncle’s family welcomed her with open arms. She got a place to live, food, clothes and the chance to go to school.

“More than anything else, I got a family who love me.

35

Corporal punishment banned in 30 countries According to article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, you have the right to protection from all forms of violence, neglect, mistreatment and abuse. So corporal punishment is a violation of the rights of the child. Despite this, every year 40 million children are beaten so badly that they need medical care. Only 30 countries have banned all forms of physical punishment of children, and therefore only 4 in 100 children in the world are totally protected from violence by law.

The most recent country to ban corporal punishment is the newest country in the

Corporal punishment banned at Emelda’s school!

“I only use the pointer for teaching, never for beating! At almost all other schools in Mozambique, teachers often beat the students on the palms of their hands or on their bottoms. I think that is terrible! If there’s something we don’t understand, or if we don’t behave as we should, the teachers should explain and demonstrate things properly instead.

I think it’s easier for us children to learn things if we are not beaten, if we’re not afraid. You can’t learn well if you’re scared. And after reading The Globe, I know that beating children is a violation of our rights!”

The Child Convention in The Globe “We can learn a lot from the page in The Globe that describes all the rights a child has! For example, before I didn’t know that according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children who live on the street actually have a right to a home, an education and a good life,” says Emelda.

36

They hugged me and said that I belonged to their family.

That they would take care of me, and that everything would be ok. And it was true.

Now my uncle and aunt have become my father and mother, and my cousins are my brothers and sisters. I have been given the chance to live a good life, and I want to find a way to share that with others who need help. That’s why I run my school,” says Emelda.

The Globe at school

At eleven o’clock, Emelda thanks her students and says that she’ll see them tomor-

world, South Sudan.

Many countries allow corporal punishment in schools. In Mozambique, adults are allowed to beat children at home within the family, and at school. What happens in your school and your country? Do you dare to tell teachers, parents, politicians and other adults that beating children is a violation of the rights of the child? Tell us how you and your schoolmates are treated. Share your thoughts and experiences on corporal punishment by email to myrights@worldschildrens prize.org or online at www. worldschildrensprize.org.

row. She goes inside to change into her school uniform, because after lunch Emelda is a student, not a teacher. She loves going to school, and recently it has been even more fun than usual. They have been preparing for the Global Vote by reading The Globe magazine lots.

“I realised straight away that the stories in The Globe could be about us here in Mozambique! Stories of poor children who are hungry, exploited, lose their parents to AIDS, and end up on the street, forced to work. They could easily be from here.

Emelda Zamambo, 12

Global Vote president

A couple of nights before the Global Vote, Emelda was

lying reading about street children’s rights in The Globe. She felt that her school should do something for all the children who don’t have the chance to get an education. The next morning she rushed to school earlier than usual to talk to the headteacher about her ideas.

“I explained that I had read in The Globe that all children, even street children, have a right to go to school.

I suggested that those of us who were better off could maybe donate some money to allow children who live on the street to buy school uniforms and eat lunch here. So that they could eat a square

"When mum and dad died, my grandmother and uncle gave me a family who love me," says Emelda.

meal and learn things in peace and quiet.”

The headteacher took Emelda seriously and listened to her ideas. She couldn’t make any promises straight away about street children, but she did want to give Emelda an important task.

“The headteacher said that she could see I had a passion for the rights of the child and that she was delighted about that. So she wondered whether I would like to be Global Vote president, taking responsibility for the whole event at our school. At first I was really nervous, but most of all I was happy. Because I believe that the stories in The

Emelda helping her grandmother with the washing up.

Globe are so important, I plucked up the courage to do a welcome speech, even though there were over 300 students gathered at school on that special day!”

Candidates inspire

And the people who have inspired Emelda to be courageous for the rights of the child are the candidates for the World’s Children’s Prize.

“I want to be a doctor, and just like the candidates, I want to be someone who risks danger in the fight for children who need help.”

Right now though, Emelda is still a few years off starting her studies to become a doctor, and there are at least twelve people who are pleased about that. Her students.

Tomorrow at half past eight, they’ll be waiting for Emelda’s morning school to get started. As usual. 

TE X T: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOS: JOHAN B JERKE

Before, I just had a feeling inside that these things were unfair and wrong. Now that I’ve read The Globe, I know that these are violations of our rights.”

Emelda was one of the students who got most involved in The Globe and the preparations for the Global Vote at her school.

“So much happened inside me when we were working on it. I had so many thoughts and feelings buzzing about in my head that I could hardly sleep.”

a teacher … and in her favourite clothes!



Emelda as ... a student …

LOVES: Being with others and helping others.

HATES: Fighting, violence, and seeing poor children live on the street.

BEST THING THAT’S HAPPENED: Having a family who love me.

WORST THING THAT’S HAPPENED: When I lost both my mother and father.

WANTS TO BE: A doctor and help others.

DREAM: For all children to be happy.

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Sharing “I have several schoolmates who are orphans and who struggle to make ends meet. They are poor and hungry. It’s not fair and it makes me angry and sad.

Sometimes I take my lunch money and buy a drink, some crisps or some bread for someone who needs it more than I do. I have had great opportunities in life and I’d like to be a voice for those who have not had those opportunities and who don’t have the strength to demand respect for their own rights. If things had been the other way round I would have wanted someone to fight for me!” says Emelda.

The polling booth

The boys put the finishing touches to the chair that has been transformed into a polling booth.

Global Vote flowing smoothly

“This is where everybody comes to queue to cast their vote in the ballot boxes at the front. And it is our task to explain things and help everyone so that things flow smoothly,” says Emelda as she shows the other voting officials around the Global Vote area at Unity 19 Primary School in Maputo.

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Nuzhat Tabassum, 13 (2010)

Nuzhat afraid of drowning N uzhat lives in the little town of Barisal in southern Bangladesh.

Every morning she puts on her school uniform, hails a cycle rickshaw and gets a lift to school.

“I love going to school and learning things. The absolute worst thing that has happened to me in my life is when I thought our school had been destroyed by the mega-cyclone Sidr.”

Cyclones - very severe storms - affect Bangladesh every year. The country is well-prepared, and has a good cyclone warning system.

“We knew that a severe cyclone was coming. As luck would have it, we had moved from the village where our relatives live and where we had a house. My parents had rented an apartment in town so that my sister and I could

go to a good school. When we were born, my father planted lots of trees around our house in the village. He had planned to cut down those trees and sell them bit by bit, to be able to pay for our studies. Throughout my childhood I felt safe when I thought of those trees growing around our house in the village.

But now there was a terrible cyclone on its way. We pre-

pared by making sure we had food and water at home in our apartment. In the evening I was sitting reading by candlelight when the cyclone hit us. Our neighbour’s tin roof was torn off and thrown against the window where I was sitting. I wasn’t harmed, but a girl from a neighbouring house was killed by a falling tree. I was terrified. I thought the

“If the sea level rises, this part of Bangladesh will end up under water,” explains Nuzhat.

17

 TEXT: MONICA Z AK phOTOs: KIM NAYLOR

“If the sea level rises by one metre the southern part of Bangladesh, where I live, will be underwater. I think about that often,” says Nuzhat, 13. “Global warming is causing the ice at the North and South Poles and in the Himalayas to melt.

As a result we are hit harder by cyclones and flooding.

When I was on my way to school the day after megacyclone Sidr, there were dead and injured people all over the place.”

Nuzhat is a new member of the World’s Children’s Prize Children’s Jury. She represents children who have their rights violated through natural disasters and environmental degradation, as well as children who demand respect for girls’ rights.

Nuzhat always goes to school by cycle rickshaw so that nothing bad happens to her on the way.

Nuzhat reads the paper every day to understand what is happening to the climate.

water in the river would rise and we would all drown.

Throughout that terrible night, I prayed to Allah that he would stop the cyclone.

We were lucky - the water level didn’t rise in our town. But cyclone Sidr killed several thousand people.”

Like a nightmare

By the morning the storm had subsided. The only thing

Nuzhat could think about was whether her school was still standing. When she left the house she saw horrific sights. Houses in ruins, fallen trees, and debris all over the streets.

“I saw hundreds of dead bodies and lots of injured people. It was like a nightmare, but I kept going - I wanted to know whether my school was still there. It was.”

Later, Nuzhat heard that their house in the village had been razed to the ground by the cyclone, and all the trees her father had planted had blown over.

Law not enough That was the moment when Nuzhat’s commitment to the environment, the climate and the future started. She and her father visited those who were worst hit. She would never forget their despairing faces. They had no homes, no food, no clean water, no clothes. After cyclone Sidr and after the next cyclone, she and her best friend raised money for those who were worst hit.

“Since then I have been trying to understand what’s happening to the climate. I read the papers every day. I talk to my mother and father about

There is a law that says all children must go to school until Year 9. Today there are almost as many girls in school as boys. But there’s a shortage of school buildings and teachers.

That’s why the classes are so big. It’s normal to have 100 students in a class, and in Nuzhat’s class there are 98 girls. Out of the country’s 155 million inhabitants, 4 million are children between 5 and 15 who don’t go to school and have to work.

ulated in the world! I’m worried. We have to put a stop to global warming. But that means all countries have to help.”

appreciated Looks up to: Mother Theresa Hates: Boys who tease girls and throw acid Loves: My family Wants to be: A teacher

what I read. Also, in school we have talked about the greenhouse effect, which is causing the earth to heat up.

It is making the ice caps around the North and South Poles and the glaciers in the Himalayas melt. If the sea level rises by one metre, the whole of southern Bangladesh will end up under water.

Where will the survivors go then? My country is already one of the most densely pop-

altogether. In other places there will be drought and desert will spread.

hit hardest, even though the country itself is only responsible for one thousandth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

If the gases known as greenhouse gases continue

to be released at current levels, global warming will keep getting worse. The result could be that the earth’s temperature increases by two to six degrees. Every degree of heat increase will bring severe consequences for humans, animals and the environment. Some island countries will be wiped out

Nuzhat Tabassum Promi, 13 Likes: Reading.

Favourite book: Sherlock Holmes Doesn’t Like: When girls are not

Bangladesh drowning as earth gets hotter

T

he earth is getting hotter because of the behaviour of humans, and this is a great threat to us all. Global warming is causing the glaciers of Greenland, the Himalayas and the South Pole to melt 18

and will make the sea level rise all over the world, maybe by several metres.

Researchers estimate that one quarter of Bangladesh could be under water within a hundred years. Deforestation

is making the situation there even worse. It is thought that 35 million of Bangladesh’s 150 million inhabitants will be climate refugees in as little as 30 years. Bangladesh is one of the countries that will be

Girls equal

The thing that makes Nuzhat most angry is when people feel sorry for her parents because they ‘only’ have two daughters and no sons.

“Girls are worth just as much as boys. The other day I

At www.worlds childrensprize.org you can read more about global warming.

read about a father who went out with his little daughter.

Then her body was found she had drowned in the river.

The man said to his wife: why did you give birth to a girl?

Things like that make me furious. But I feel that my parents are happy and proud of my sister and me.”

Nuzhat goes to a school with 2600 girls.

“There are 98 students in my class, but only one

Make-up bush outside house Every time Nuzhat looks at the henna bush outside her house, it makes her happy.

“It’s my make-up bush. You crush the leaves to make a paste, then use it to paint patterns on your hands.

Yesterday I painted my nails and fingertips. And on the palm of my hand I painted a round dot. That’s the sun. It’s like the sun on the flag of Bangladesh. I think that having henna patterns on your hands looks better than nail polish. In my school, we’re not allowed to wear lipstick. It’s against the rules. But we are allowed to make our hands beautiful with henna.”

Rights of the child and the environment Global warming causes flooding and drought, which lead to violations of children’s rights because: • Children don’t get an education, because schools close down.

• Children lose their homes and families.

• Children are forced to flee.

• Children become ill.

19

Torrential rain in Nuzhat’s hometown of Barisal, but this time there was no cyclone warning.

The fruit of the jackfruit tree can weigh up to 50 kg.

teacher. That’s why it’s essential to take extra lessons. I’m one of a group of girls who get extra lessons in the afternoons from three different teachers. I believe it’s important for girls to go to school.

That’s the best way to change this country. Now there are almost as many girls in school as boys. And the girls get better grades than the boys. All a girl needs is an education, and she can go far. In Bangladesh there are lots of women who have important jobs. Our Prime Minister and three government ministers are women. And the leader of the opposition is a woman.

That’s great. But the one I admire the most is Mother Theresa. I’ve read about her at school. She worked with the poorest of the poor. I want to do that too. My goal is to become a teacher.”

The cyclone took all the trees and the family’s house. Nuzhat is planting her first tree after the cyclone. It’s a jackfruit tree, Bangladesh’s national tree.

Nuzhat always travels to and from school by cycle rickshaw. She doesn’t do that just because it’s a long way. She also does it because she is a bit afraid of boys. She hates boys who tease and shout abuse at girls. Worst of all are the boys and men who throw acid at girls.

“It costs money to travel by rickshaw, but I feel safer doing that. And it’s the most environmentally friendly

mode of transport there is.

Cyclists do not emit carbon dioxide, and do not contribute to global warming.”

On the way home from school it starts to rain and she wraps a sheet of plastic around herself to stay dry.

The monsoon season – the rainy season – has started.

Back to the village

It’s Friday and Nuzhat has a day off. Nuzhat and her

father are going to visit their village. A friend gives them a lift there. On the way the rain starts to pour again. The road is covered in water, and water gushes down from the roofs of the houses. It’s hard to see through the windscreen.

“I both love rain and am terrified of it. In June the monsoon season starts, when the weather is hot and it rains non-stop. There’s something romantic about rain. I love

the sound of rain on a tin roof. We sit inside and listen to it. My sister and I usually recite poetry. At the same time, I’m scared of the rain.

I’m afraid of floods.”

When they reach the village, they have to wade through the ten-centimetre deep water that covers the ground. She sees the little hill where their house used to be.

There is absolutely nothing left of it. They take shelter from the rain in a small house where some relatives live.

“The storms, cyclones and floods have become much worse. One of the reasons is deforestation. The huge rivers that run through Bangladesh start in the Himalayas and run through India and my country, and reach the sea where I live. All the way along the river, forests have been cut down. That means that the water doesn’t get drawn

How many planets do you need?

20

USA needs 5.5 planets EU needs 3 planets

Global average 1.25 planets

Future dreams

Nuzhat’s greatest dream for the future is to put a stop to global warming, so that her country doesn’t disappear underwater.

“And to be a doctor. I’ll work with the very poorest women in Bangladesh. And once I’ve earned some money I’ll rebuild our house in the village that was destroyed by mega-cyclone Sidr.” 

Plastic bags not allowed

Bangladesh Miracle

Nuzhat with her little sister, mother and father. Before, the average woman used to give birth to seven children. Today, that figure is down to 2.7 children. This is known as the Bangladesh Miracle. How did it happen? Family planning, good maternity care, vaccinations and a new perspective on the importance of children going to school. Today, many parents are proud of only having two children, and proud that they go to school.

Find out your footprint!

E

very person makes their mark on the earth. The more natural resources a person uses and the more waste they create, the greater their impact on the environment. Each person’s impact on the earth is called their ecological footprint.

One planet would be enough to sustain the lifestyles of most people on earth. However, we’d need 5.5 planets if everyone had the same lifestyle as the average person in the USA, or 3 if we all lived like the average person in the EU. The higher the number of planets, the more your lifestyle contributes to global warming and climate change.

up into the earth, so there is more and more water in the rivers. It’s disastrous.

Especially for a country as low-lying as mine. But we can’t just sit and wait for everything to get worse. We have

to do something, like plant trees. The trees absorb the carbon dioxide in the air.

They stop the earth from being washed away, and they give shelter from strong winds.”

When the rain stops for a while, Nuzhat wades out on the slippery ground and plants some tree seedlings that she and her father bought on the way here. The very first tree she plants is a jackfruit tree. This is Bangladesh’s national tree.

“The fruit grows really big and can weigh as much as 50 kg. When they are unripe you can use them as vegetables, and when they are ripe you can eat them as fruit. You can eat the seeds too. You can use the trunk to make furniture and doors.”

You can find out your own ecological footprint and calculate how many planets we would need if everyone on earth lived as you do here: www.myfootprint.org www.footprint.wwf.org.uk www.earthday.net/Footprint

12-year-old Ripon has just finished work for the day in a CD shop. Before going home he buys fruit for his mother.

The fruit is put in a paper bag.

There used to be 129 million plastic bags made in Bangladesh every day. 100 million were used every day.

That was bad for the environment, and the bags blocked drainpipes and caused flooding. So the manufacture of plastic bags was made illegal.

“There used to be plastic bags lying around all over the place. Now you hardly see any at all,” says Ripon.

Thumbs up bad

Don’t do a thumbs up sign in Bangladesh. It means “I don’t give a damn about you!” It’s very rude.

Thumbs up good

In many other countries, people use the thumbs up sign. There it means: OK!, or that something is really good. In those countries, thumbs down means something is bad.

21

Mofat Maninga, 14 (2010)

Mofat brave like Nkosi M

”Hi, my name is Nkosi Johnson. I’m eleven and I have AIDS...”

The boy who is reciting Nkosi’s famous speech is called Mofat Maninga. He’s 14 and he comes from Kenya. The street children in the city of Kisumu are holding their Decade Global Vote, and Mofat is representing Nkosi, one of the candidates.

“But I don’t really need to do much acting. My life and Nkosi’s are very similar in lots of ways,” says Mofat, who is a new member of the World’s Children’s Prize Jury.

He represents children who are HIV positive and children who live on the street.

ofat grew up with his mother’s family. He and his older cousins used to take their grandfather’s cows and goats to graze. His mother was a nurse and they always had enough to eat. Life was good. But when Mofat was four years old, things started to change.

First, his grandfather died. A couple of years later, his little sister died.

“And when I was eight, my mother died. My grandmother had taken care of her, and to protect me she hadn’t told me how ill my mother was. It came as a shock. I felt so alone. I often heard my moth-

er calling me in my sleep, and it made me so happy to hear her voice! When I woke up, life felt so unfair.”

Afraid of dying

A couple of years later, Mofat started to feel ill and weak.

“I got a cough and cold that just wouldn’t go away. In the end, grandma was so worried that she took me to the hospital. She told the doctor that my mother had had a similar cough, and that she died of AIDS. I didn’t know what AIDS was, but I was worried.

The doctor tested me and discovered that I was HIV positive too. A psychologist told

me about how HIV could lead to an illness called AIDS, and that I should start taking medicine straight away. I was terrified. I was so scared of dying.”

Mofat’s grandmother took care of him as best she could, but she was old and sick.

Soon, Mofat had to do all the domestic tasks. He washed clothes, cooked food and cared for the cows, while also trying to get through school and remember to take his vital medicine at regular times.

“In the end I was so exhausted that I collapsed unconscious, and was in hos-

Don’t steal children’s freedom!

Mofat

“I want to talk to the President of Kenya and tell him that life is hard for children, just like Nkosi did when he talked to the President of South Africa. I want to tell him that his policemen beat children who live on the street and put them in prison. In prison! How can you lock a child up because he or she is forced to live on the street? How can you steal a child’s freedom?! I would tell the President that he should take care of the children instead. Give them a place to live, something to eat and the chance to go to school.”

Nkosi Read about Mofat’s idol, Nkosi Johnson, who was honoured posthumously – after his death – by the World’s Children’s Prize for his fight for children affected by HIV and AIDS, at www.worldschildrensprize.org

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN phoToS: KIM NAYLoR

12

13

No to glue!

Mofat at the bus stop where he used to sleep. He visits his friends who still live there.

“Many of them sniff glue to forget their problems and keep warm, but I never did that. The glue makes them all act strange and violent, so I just didn’t feel like doing it,” says Mofat.

pital for several days. I really needed to stay in longer, but we couldn’t afford it. When I got home I found out that grandma was in hospital too.

My aunts brought me food from time to time, but they always went home again as soon as they could.”

“One afternoon, they told me that grandma had died, and that no-one in the family wanted to take care of me any more. They were scared of catching HIV. I didn’t know how I would get by, and I …and in school uniform.

In his favourite clothes…

We are a family

Beaten by the police

“The other boys are my friends, my brothers. We are a family. Sometimes there are boys who don’t want me to sit in their beds when we tell each other stories at night, who say I should sit on the floor instead. They are scared of catching HIV, and that always hurts,” says Mofat.

asked for help but they refused. Instead, they forced me to leave my grandma’s house. I was thirteen years old.”

Mofat left the village and ended up on the street in a small town nearby. The only thing he managed to take with him were the clothes he was wearing: shorts, a t-shirt and a pair of sandals. He didn’t have a penny. He start-

ed to steal hens and chickens and sell them at the market in order to survive. But he got caught.

“Three policemen took me to the police station. They tied up my hands and feet and started to beat me. The policemen whipped me and shouted that they were going to teach me a lesson about what happens to people who steal. I tried to explain that it

was the only way I could get something to eat, and tried to get them to stop, but they wouldn’t listen. They didn’t let me go until I was coughing so much that I think they were afraid I was going to die.

This happened several times.

Once they actually brought my uncle in, but he just said he didn’t know who I was.”

Became a street child

“Finally they threatened me, saying that unless I stopped stealing they would put a tyre round my body, douse it in petrol and set it alight. That

made me really scared. I decided to move to Kisumu and maybe start back at school.”

Things didn’t go as Mofat had hoped. The only people in the city who accepted him as a friend were the children who lived on the street.

“During the day we searched for food in the bins outside restaurants, and in the evenings we begged at the bus station. At night we lay close together with paper sacks as blankets. There were seven of us in my group and we tried to protect one anoth-

Friends’ favourite shoes!

Mofat’s…

er. And we needed it, because almost every night the police came and woke us. They beat us and we ran for our lives.

Anyone who was caught was taken to the police station and beaten, then taken to the Children’s Remand Home, a youth prison.”

The longer Mofat lived on the street, the worse his health became. He didn’t take any medicine and he got a rash all over his body and a constant cough.

Living at the Centre

One day he went with some friends to a day centre for street children, called HOVIC. He got food there, and started to go to school again.

“I trusted the leaders, so after a week I told them that I had HIV. They took me to

Mofat Maninga, 14 Loves: Playing Play Station!

A couple of my friends have them.

Hates: Seeing people being

treated badly.

Best tHing tHat’s Happened: When I went to the Impala Park with my school. Impala antelopes are so incredibly beautiful. I love wild animals!

Worst tHing tHat’s Happened: All the times I’ve been so ill I’ve had to go to hospital. I’m scared and I don’t want to die.

Wants to Be: A doctor and save lives. dream: For all the children in the world to have good lives.

…and his friend Daniel’s favourites.

We love football

14

“My favourite sandals are made out of old car tyres. The coolest sandals right now are the ones that point upwards at the toes. These sandals are called Akala sandals,” says Daniel Owino, 14.

“We often play football and I love it, but I don’t always have the energy to join in. I cough and when I run too much I get dizzy,” says Mofat.

“I made this ball myself!”

15

hospital straight away, and made sure I got more medicine. The doctor explained that I would die if I continued to live on the street, since he didn’t think I would be able to eat healthily and regularly, and take my medicine at regular times. So the leaders of HOVIC said that I could move in to their home for boys who had lived on the street if I wanted to. Now I’ve been living here for almost a year. This is my home now.”

At 19.30 every evening the boys gather. Then they read The Globe together.

“Our meetings are really important, and those of us who speak English can translate to Swahili for those who don’t. Leading up to the Global Vote, we work with The Globe during the day as well, down at the centre for all the street kids in the city.

So we have learned about our rights, about democracy, and about how elections work.”

Nkosi is a hero

“I love reading The Globe.

Now I know that even I have rights, and that all children have the right to a good life. I am most inspired by reading about Nkosi Johnson from South Africa. He is my hero!

He and I have similar backgrounds. Our families died round about us, and people were afraid and let us down.

But Nkosi was brave and strong when he dared to speak openly about having AIDS, and when he demanded that all children with HIV and AIDS should be treated just as well as other children.

He said they had a right to medication, to education, and to love and friendship. I want to be just like him! And Nkosi has given me the strength to become that person. Now I want to fight for all children who are affected by HIV and AIDS, and children who live on the street.” 

16

Mofat reads The Globe.

Lots of medicine “Now I can see a doctor whenever I need to, and here I can take my medicine and eat regularly.

I’m much healthier than I was on the streets. I have even been able to start going to a real school again. The problem is that it’s a boarding school, and as soon as I become even slightly ill I get sent back to the centre. They don’t want me to die at the school. So I miss a whole lot of classes,” says Mofat.

07.00 Seven pills

13.00 Three pills 19.00 Eleven pills

Brianna Audinett, 11 (2005)

 TEXT: CARMILL A FLOYD PHOTOS : KIM NAYLOR

Brianna’s tutor Rosemary helps her understand a tricky problem.

Brianna wants to help the homel It’s late in the evening when Brianna, 11, goes with her mother and elder brother Adrian to book a room at a run-down motel. Her two eldest brothers are hiding round the corner. Five people aren’t allowed to share one room, but her mother can’t afford two. If they are found out they’ll end up on the street tonight.

W

hen the coast is clear, their mother smuggles Ryan, 12, and Daniel, 14, into the room. Inside, they all breathe a sigh of relief.

They’re safe for another night. Since Melissa, the children’s mother, left their violent father a few weeks ago, they’ve moved around

different cheap motels in the poorest and most dangerous parts of South LA. The family can’t stay long in each place – the motel staff would notice that too many of them are sharing a room and throw them out. But now their mother’s money is

starting to run out. Where will they go then?

Melissa looks for help in the phone book and fi nds the numbers of a few homeless shelters. She and the children fi nd it hard to think of themselves as homeless. A homeless person – isn’t that a dirty man dressed in rags who lives in a cardboard box? She starts to call the shelters anyway, while the children listen. It turns out that some shelters do accept families.

“How many children do

you have?” asks the man at the shelter. “How old are they?”

When he hears that Melissa’s oldest boy, Daniel, is 14, he turns them down.

“He would have to stay on his own with the adult men.”

“But he’s only 14, he’s a child!” says Melissa.

“Those are the rules,” says the man at the shelter. “We never let teenage boys stay with the families. It could be dangerous.”

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meless when she grows up

Brianna Audinett, 11 Lives: In South Los Angeles.

Likes: Shoes, drama, reading books, writing stories.

Doesn’t like: Being bored.

Happy: When I’m at School on Wheels.

Looks up to: My mom.

Wants to be: A doctor or a film star.

The children’s mum slams the phone down and tries the next shelter, but it seems hopeless. In Los Angeles, lots of teenage boys as young as 12 are members of violent gangs. The shelters worry that the young boys will turn violent and hurt other children.

But Melissa won’t give up.

She nags, pleads and begs until she fi nally fi nds a shelter that will let the whole family stay together.

Be quiet!

The next day they take the bus to the homeless neighbourhood in downtown Los Angeles. The shelter looks like a prison; it’s a big, grey concrete building. Brianna thinks the area is scary. It’s messy and dirty. There are

Brianna doesn’t like the homeless neighbourhood; it’s dirty, messy and sometimes dangerous.

people shouting and waving their arms, drinking alcohol and lying like corpses by the side of the street. Suddenly, Brianna notices an old man staring at her. Her mum sees it too. Eventually she tells him to stop. He walks a little further away but keeps on staring.

“Don’t worry mom,” says Brianna later, “I can protect myself.”

Brianna and her family stay at the shelter for six months. There’s space for them in a dormitory with bunk beds in the family area. There are lots of other mothers with children here, and Brianna quickly makes friends. She thinks the best thing about the shelter is knowing you have a place to sleep. The worst thing is the 55

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Brianna

One day a film team comes to School on Wheels. They’re going to make a movie.

Brianna and her friends are going to write the script and act in the film. “

Brianna with her family: Daniel, Ryan, Adrian, Brianna and their mum Melissa.

 TEXT: CARMILL A FLOYD PHOTOS : KIM NAYLOR

streets outside, and that it’s so cramped and noisy in the dormitory. Children scream and cry and ambulance and police sirens wail outside every so often. Brianna’s brother Ryan’s asthma gets much worse at the shelter, and he coughs all the time.

Playing like normal kids is almost impossible.

‘Be quiet, sit still,’ is all they hear.

“They act like they don’t know what fun is,” complains Brianna to her mum.

“We’re not going to live here for ever,” she promises.

School on Wheels saves the day Right opposite the shelter, Brianna fi nds her own space at School on Wheels’ learning room. Brianna goes there every day after school.

“I love School on Wheels.

They take care of us and protect us,” she explains to her mum. “If some mean guy on the street starts bothering you, they help you out.

They gave us a toll-free telephone number we can call whenever we need help.”

Brianna and her brothers get new backpacks and a tutor each to help with homework. Their mum also gets help when the kids have to change school. Lots of important papers and documents have disappeared during the time they’ve been homeless, but School on Wheels sorts out new ones.

Most importantly, the children’s mother knows they are safe while she’s at work.

“We wouldn’t have made it without you guys,” Melissa often says to School on Wheels.

One day the family hear that they’re going to get help to fi nd an apartment of their own. It feels unreal. It’s fantastic. Brianna is delighted to be able to leave the shelter, but she plans to come back to the homeless neighbourhood in the future.

“I want to become a doctor when I grow up, and help sick people, especially homeless people. They have no money, no health insurance, but I will help them anyway.” 

Brianna in full costume as Ruby.

h Li g

ts, c

I

’m playing one of the heroes, I’ll be called Ruby in the movie,” explains Brianna. She and her friend Janine, who will play superhero Pink Ice, are a team.

“We rescue people and fight bad guys,” says Janine, who, at the end of the movie, tries to transform the whole world to a sea of pink diamonds. They wrote the script of the fi lm themselves, with their homeless friends at School on Wheels. The fi lm team is from an organisation called Hollywood Heart.

Normally they work on real movie sets in Hollywood, but on their days off they want to do something to help children who are having a hard time. For three days, School on Wheels is transformed into a fi lm set.

The kids get to write scripts, build sets and make props and costumes.

Finally they shoot the fi lm and once it has been edited they get to go to a gala premiere.

“It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” says Brianna. “If I can’t become a doctor maybe I’ll be a movie star!” 

am

a e ra

c t io

n!

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becomes a movie star Hollywood Heart goes to School on Wheels and the homeless children are the stars of the day.

Khadijah, 16, takes a break from her college applications to be in the film.

Before shooting, all the children have to get their make-up and costumes on.

Salmai, 7, has been given silver hair and a dollar sign round her neck.

Ryan Audinett, 13, is playing a detective and has handcuffs at the ready.

Ryan Wilson, 13, shows off his best movie star pose with a plastic rifle.

Superheroes Pink Ice (Janine) and Ruby (Brianna) prepare for the next scene.

Hiding behind the Red Devils mask is Ryan Mcneil, 9.

Adrian Audinett, 12, likes making movies, but he really wants to be an architect.

F I L M FA C T S People call Los Angeles the capital of film, and the Hollywood district is worldfamous. The first Hollywood movie was made back in 1910. It was called ‘In Old California’ and it was a silent film. The first film with sound was called ‘The Jazz Singer’ and it came out in 1927.

In the beginning, the film companies made foreign versions of American movies so that people who didn’t understand English could watch them too. They would shoot a version with, say, French or Spanish actors. After a while they realised that it was cheaper and easier to dub or subtitle the movies in different languages. When more people started to get TVs in the 1950s, many people thought the film industry would die out. But it didn’t. These days, the big film companies in LA make around 60 movies a year and the film industry has a multi-billion dollar turnover.

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Liza Bonogwe, 12 (2007)

Lisa

fights for girls’ rights

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN phOTO : pAUL BLOMGREN

“Having your rights respected means getting to be who you want to be, without anyone pushing you down,” says Lisa.

And Lisa knows who she wants to be.

“I want to be like Betty Makoni. She’s my hero! I too want to be someone who helps girls to stand up for their rights.”

I

t’s lunchtime at Lisa’s school in the mountains of eastern Zimbabwe.

The girls from the girls’ club begin to gather on the football pitch, as they do every Monday and Wednesday. Within a few minutes, over a hundred girls are sitting in small groups talking. After a while, Lisa gets up. She stretches one arm up towards the sky and shouts: “Girl child!”

The others get up and reply: 78

“Sky is the limit!”

They shout so loud that the boys playing football a little further away stop playing and sit at the side of the pitch, surprised.

“Girl Child!” shouts Lisa again.

“Sky is the limit!” everyone replies, even louder this time.

When they have sat down, Lisa welcomes everyone to the meeting. She starts with a good piece of news: “You know we’ve been The sky really is the limit for these girls!

selling books and pens for the last little while, and I just want to tell you that we have now gathered enough money to pay school fees for twelve of our friends. Now they can keep going to school a while longer! Isn’t that great?”

The twelve girls stand up, and it seems like the other girls’ applause is never going to end.

Manage on their own When the clapping has died down, Lisa continues by asking if anyone has a prob-

Lisa, 12

It’s Lisa’s job to fetch water.

lem, or if they know anyone else who needs help. One of the girls stands up: “A girl called Grace has stopped coming to school and I don’t know why. We must make sure that nothing bad has happened to her.

Maybe we can write a letter to her mum?”

They talk for a little while about what they should do and decide that the best

thing is probably to send a letter.

“A girl called Evelyn has had to go to the city to work as a maid. I think we should give her some money so that she can come back to the village and start school again,” says another girl.

“I don’t have any shoes,” says a little girl shyly, and sits quickly back down.

Someone suggests that

CD for girls’ rights!

Lisa and twelve other girls in her girls’ club got to travel to the capital city, Harare, to record one of the songs on a CD for girls’ rights. The CD is called Wake Up Girls, because girls need to wake up and know their rights.

The song that Lisa sings on is called Rega Kuchema (Stop Crying).

“My dream is to become a doctor, but I could also imagine becoming a pop star. It was so cool to be in the studio,” says Lisa.

Listen to Lisa’s song at

www.childrensworld.org

they should ask Betty for more money so that they can solve the problems. But then Lisa gets up again: “No, we can’t just ask for help the whole time. We have to fi nd our own ways of making money. We need to work harder selling pens, books and vegetables so that we can help even more people!”

Everyone nods and agrees.

Lives: In Makoni village, beside the girls’ holy mountain, Chitsotso.

Loves: My mum.

Hates: When I´m ill and can’t go to school.

Worst thing that’s happened: That dad hit mum.

Best thing that’s happened: When I was chosen to be one of the leaders of all the girls’ clubs in Zimbabwe.

Looks up to: My hero Betty Makoni!

Wants to be: A doctor.

Dream: That all girls all over the world will become strong and know their rights.

Mum was beaten When Lisa gets home from school, her mum, Fortunate, has already cooked dinner – maize and beans.

Afterwards Lisa washes the dishes before going out to water the vegetable patch.

“I try to help mum as much as I can. I love her.

And she’s alone,” says Lisa, looking down at the ground.

A few years have passed since the terrible things that happened to her mum, but she still fi nds it hard thinking about it. Lisa still has nightmares and often wakes up in the middle of the night.

“I was only four when it started. My dad drank and he used to beat my mum almost every night.

Sometimes mum was 79

Dolls just for girls?

Lisa and her mum sew dolls’ clothes.

unconscious on the floor, but he just carried on hitting her. When I cried and shouted at him to stop, he went crazy. He chased me and my brother away from the house. Then we weren’t allowed in again. Even if it was cold, even in the middle of winter, we had to lie and sleep on the veranda outside the house. We lay really close together to try to keep warm, but it was impossible to sleep. We were so cold that we shivered, and we could hear mum screaming

The Girl Child Network tries to help the very poorest girls, especially in the rural areas. There are 120 girls in Lisa’s club. When Betty Makoni comes to one of their meetings she asks what their biggest problems are and what the girls most need help with.

Their reply was:

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in the house. The worst thing was that I couldn’t do anything to help her.”

The girls’ club Things were awful for three years. But one day, Lisa’s mum decided she wasn’t going to let herself be beaten any more.

“I both love and admire mum for being so strong that she dared to get up and say ‘that’s enough’. That he never got to hit her again,

and that he had to go and leave the family in peace.”

The same year that Lisa’s dad moved out, she joined the Girl Child Network’s girls’ club at school. She was only seven at the time.

“I wanted to do something so that no girl ever has to experience the terri-

“The best thing I own is my doll Jennifer. I got her from my mum when I was six.

Often on Sundays after church my mum and I sew new dresses for Jennifer.

I love my doll, but I think it should be okay for girls to play with cars. And for boys to play with dolls. But parents here really don’t think that’s okay.

I think that girls are given dolls because people want to prepare us for becoming mothers and taking care of children. Boys get their toys so that they can practice for doing difficult technical jobs.

I don’t understand that at all.

It’s so crazy! Girls can do technical things too. It is my dream for girls all over the world to be able to train for those jobs that are almost always done by boys at the moment. I think we should become doctors, pilots, engineers and even presidents!”

How are the girls?

42 have no shoes 41 have no school uniform 32 have no underwear 46 have no school books 22 are going to be sent home from school because they haven’t paid their fees 11 have lost both parents 33 have lost their father

8 have lost their mother 11 have a seriously ill mother 1 has a seriously ill father 1 has a seriously ill father and mother 62 are ill themselves

“It’s so sad that all of you who fight so hard to be able to go to school come to this meeting both barefoot and hungry. I’m so proud of you, that you still manage to meet and fight for your rights,” says Betty.

Cars just for boys?

The wheels of the wire car kick up dust as 12-year-old Award proudly steers his car.

“I make these cars myself. It takes three days to make a car. First I collect the steel wire that we use when we build houses. Then I start to bend it. The wheels are made from old plastic bottle tops. To make the back wheels wider I join four lids together by carefully melting the seams over the fire. When the steering mechanism is finished, the car is ready to drive. I’m really careful with the car – it’s my only toy.”

ble things my mum went through. I knew that the GCN fought for girls’ rights, so the girls’ club was perfect for me. The club is a place where we girls can talk about the things that are important to us. We take care of each other and help each other to be strong. In the girls’ club we’re safe.

Outside the clubs, girls aren’t at all safe in Zimbabwe. We are raped, abused and have to do all

the house work while the boys play and have fun. If a family doesn’t have much money it’s always the boys that get to go to school. The girls have to start working or are married off to some older man. The man pays lobola (a dowry) to the girl’s family, and the parents then use that money for the boys’ school fees. It’s so terribly unfair! I get so angry when I think about it!”

Loves Zimbabwe “Boys and girls are worth the same, and both want to have a good future. We girls have to explain this to our parents and everyone else.

Lisa’s club helps girls “Sometimes we get money from Betty. Then we buy school books and pens and we sell them. But we also sell vegetables from our own vegetable patches. We usually work on our vegetable patches at breaktimes. While helping others, we also learn about how to grow vegetables. That means that we’ll be able to manage better when we’re finished school, even if we don’t get jobs.

We sell the

vegetables and books to our parents and teachers. We use the money to buy school books and pens for the girls who can’t afford them.

Sometimes we even pay people’s school fees. With the money we make by sell-

ing things, our club helps twelve girls pay school fees and buys school books and pens for 30 girls.”

The girls’ club members sell the vegetables that they grow.

But it’s still unusual here for girls to dare to say what they think openly. Luckily enough, we’ve got help.

Betty Makoni helps us to dare to be confident and

What can Lisa’s club do with the money?

On a good day, Lisa and the other girls can earn as much as 5,000 Zimbawean dollars ($20 US) Here’s what they can do with the money: Pay school fees for one term for 5 girls... … or buy 27 exercise books’ or 94 pencils or 31 pens!

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Writing poetry “We write lots of poems in the girls’ clubs,” says Lisa. If something bad happens to one of us, it’s a good way of explaining what happened. Every new member of the girls’ clubs gets a diary too. We write in our diaries about everything that happens in our lives, both good and bad things.

We write about our dreams, but if we or our friends have been victims of violence or abuse we write about that too.

Lisa does her homework.

Lisa saved me!

Every day when Lisa was on her way to school, she saw how Christine was beaten in her home. She felt that she had to do something, and one afternoon the girls’ club knocked on Christine’s door… demand our rights. She’s my hero!”

“Despite all the problems we have, I love Zimbabwe.

It’s incredibly beautiful here and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I plan to stay here and fight for a better life for the girls here. And I actually believe things will get better in the future, even if it takes a long time. I help to arrange meetings and marches where we tell peo-

ple about girls’ rights, but I think we need to work even harder. All girls must also dare to start talking about these problems with their male friends. Because if the boys know how hard things are for us, I believe that they’ll change. They’ll become good men who take care of their daughters and wives in the future!” 

Safe village goats “Many of the girls in my club live in Betty’s safe village, which is really nearby. The girls there don’t just learn to grow vegetables – they also take care of goats and chickens. They get food from the goats and learn how to take care of them, all in one go,” says Lisa.

Beautiful baskets Lisa’s club grows vegetables and sells books. The girls in other clubs weave baskets, which they sell.

82

“Lisa and five other girls stood at the door. I had been beaten every day since I was ten years old. I didn’t know why my mum did it and it made me ill. When Lisa asked Mum why she beat me, she didn’t answer. When Mum didn’t reply, Lisa threatened to phone the police. She said that they would put her in prison. Mum got angry, but I think more than anything she was scared, because she agreed to stop. Since then she has never hit me again. Now we’re friends and I love my mum.

I think it was incredibly brave of Lisa to dare to come to our house and tell Mum to stop. If Lisa hadn’t saved me I would still be getting beaten.

Lisa and I hang out

together a lot at school.

We tell each other everything because we trust each other.”

Christine, 12

Gabatshwane Gumede, 11 (2004)

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Gabatshwanes song “Thank you for your magic...,” sings Gabatshwane in her song to Nelson Mandela.

She thanks him for all he has done for the children of South Africa, for her freedom, for the chance to go to school and for his respect for children’s rights. But she thanks him particularly for the help he’s given to her and other children who’ve lost their parents to AIDS or who have AIDS themselves.

Gabatshwane helps the poor people of the village and orphaned school friends. She buys food for them with the money she earns with her band.

76

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ne morning, Gabatshwane’s mother didn’t wake up.

Gabatshwane shook her but nothing happened. She thought that maybe her mum was just tired. But her father and big brother Vusi knew that she’d died in her sleep. She’d had AIDS. A year later, her father also died of AIDS and Gabatshwane, her sister Zodwa and Vusi were orphaned. No one would take care of them.

They had to manage by themselves in the small family house in the village of Letabong in northwestern South Africa.

“I used to look up at the sky and ask mum to come back home. I got very upset when she didn’t answer.

Finally I understood that she was still around but couldn’t talk to me in the usual way,” says Gabatshwane.

After the deaths of her parents, many of the villagers

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This is the chorus of Gabatshwane’s song about Mandela, or ‘Madiba’ as he’s known in South Africa: “Hey Madiba, you take me up.

Hey Madiba, you take us to school, you respect our rights. Hey Madiba, you make me proud. Thanks for your magic!”

Listen to Gabatshwane’s song to Mandela at www.childrensworld.org

Her other hero, Nkosi Nelson Mandela is Gabatshwane’s biggest hero. But she also has another hero: Nkosi Johnson, the boy who fought for the rights of children with AIDS in South Africa to be treated with respect. Nkosi died of AIDS at the age of 12 on 1 June 2001– the same day that South Africa celebrated International Children’s Day. In April 2002 Nkosi was posthumously (after his death) awarded the Global Friends’ Award by the children of the world. He also shared the jury children’s World’s Children’s Prize with Maiti from Nepal.

TEXT: ANNIKA FORSBERG LANGA PHOTO: VICTOR MATOM & EVAN HAUSSMAN/NMCF

Thank you for the magic, Madiba!

Read more about Nkosi at www.childrensworld.org

g to Mandela were afraid that she, too, was ill and thought that they could be infected by her. But a test showed that she didn’t have AIDS. Even so, Gabatshwane remained without friends. When she was little she fell into a tub of boiling water and was burnt on her right arm and leg.

“Everybody at school laughed at me and I was always alone,” she says.

When the other children were out playing, she stayed

PHOTO: AP

➼

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Gabatshwane and her big brother Vusi do not only shop for themselves…

Prison number became AIDS campaign Nelson Mandela supports children and families with AIDS through his children’s foundation, NMCF, and his 46664 campaign. The numbers come from his time in prison on Robben Island: his prisoner number was 466-64.

Many celebrities, such as Beyonce and actor Brad Pitt, support Mandela’s work with AIDS. Mandela’s goal is to help children who have lost their parents to AIDS. He doesn’t want the world to forget AIDS sufferers and orphans.

So he’s requested the artists who support the campaign to make a record called 46664.

…with the money she makes from the music, Gabatshwane buys food for the poor in the village and gives food parcels to her orphaned school friends. The woman receiving a bag full of groceries today is very happy.

➼ at home and listened to the radio. Soon she knew the words to all the popular songs, and one day her brother heard how well she could sing.

Now that their parents are dead, it is Gabatshwane’s big brother Vusi who takes care of the family.

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A hug from Mandela Her big brother Vusi formed a band and called it Gabatshwane, with Gabatshwane as the singer.

The first song she wrote was

about Nelson Mandela.

“I wanted to thank him for everything he’s done for our country. Life was terrible in South Africa during apartheid, and people died full of rage in their hearts,” she says.

When Nelson heard about Gabatshwane he invited her to sing at a concert in Cape Town. He really liked the song about him and he

thanked Gabatshwane with a big hug. Since then he has helped spread the word about the band, which has resulted in more concerts.

Today, Gabatshwane performs nearly every weekend.

“I wish that I could wake up one morning with a heart as good as Nelson Mandela’s,” says Gabatshwane.

Like Mandela she tries to help children in need. With

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U

the money she earns she buys food for the poor people of the village. She also brings food parcels to her orphaned school friends.

“When my mum died I felt like I was all alone in the world. Nobody should have to go through that,” she says.

Sings about AIDS Gabatshwane used to hide her scars under long skirts and long-sleeved tops. Now she doesn’t bother.

“It’s so hot here that you can die from heat stroke.

And after all, it’s my body!”

nathi, 12, lives in Soweto in a home called the Bethanie Children’s Home. Many of the children there have either run away from violent parents or have been orphaned.

Unathi doesn’t know who his mother or father is. He was found on the pavement wrapped in a plastic sack when he was a new-born baby.

“I think my mother was sick and very poor. She couldn’t look after me but she knew that someone would find me on the pavement,” says Unathi.

Bethanie has been Unathi’s home ever since. Although Nelson Mandela supports the centre, he’d rather children never had to grow up in a home – they belong in families.

With the support of Mandela’s children’s foundation, the staff at Bethanie either look for new parents or help to deal with the problems in the children’s families so they can move back home. But as yet no one has adopted Unathi.

Maybe it’s because he has AIDS. But he’s not as ill nowadays; four years ago, Unathi and the others began taking AIDS medicine.

Before that it had been too expensive.

says Gabatshwane.

But she still doesn’t like it when other children get teased. Especially if it’s about AIDS. Gabatshwane thinks that people should be nice to children with AIDS. She tells her classmates that you can’t get AIDS just by playing with infected children.

Gabatshwane thinks that AIDS is South Africa’s biggest problem, particularly as there isn’t enough medicine to go around. Her parents couldn’t afford to buy AIDS medicine and when they became ill they

died almost immediately.

“If it goes on like this, the world’s population will soon be halved. It makes me mad just thinking about it,” says Gabatshwane, who’s written a song about AIDS. She usually sings afro-pop, but her song about the children of Iraq is a rap number.

“I saw on TV how the children cried. They’d lost their parents in the war. It made me think what a real pity it is that more people don’t have a heart as good as Mandela’s.”

Going to summer camp Unathi and his friends have planted a tree in memory of friends who have died of AIDS. No children have died at the home since they started taking the medicine.

Unathi thinks this is great, and says it was Nelson Mandela who helped make the AIDS medicine cheaper.

“Sometimes I don’t understand why ‘Tata’ Mandela is so kind. But it’s lucky for us that he is. Otherwise things wouldn’t be this good for us,” says Unathi and explains that ‘Tata’ means ‘Grandad’.

After school Unathi enjoys roller-skating and playing football or cricket. Then he watches TV and does his homework. In two months’ time, during the school holidays, Unathi and his friends will be going on a summer camp – all arranged by Mandela. They’re indeed very lucky to have such a kind-hearted grandad!

(Unathi’s name has been changed for this article.)

Gabatshwane Gumede, 11 Lives: In Letabong in South Africa with my brother and sister. We’re orphans.

Sings: My own songs about AIDS and Nelson Mandela in Gabatshwane, an afro-pop and rap group.

Her earnings: I buy food parcels for orphaned school friends.

Hero: Mandela and his good heart. Nkosi Johnson, the boy who fought for the rights of children with AIDS.

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TEXT. ANNIKA FORSBERG LANGA PHOTO. BO ÖHLÉN

‘Grandad’ Mandela helps Unathi