Holly at the Lubuto Library Project: The Streets at Night.

Vasco knows many of the children and young adults living on the street, and he makes weekly trips after dark to promote the Fountain of Hope shelter and the library. I went along last Wednesday to see life on the street for myself. Keesjan Husselman, a film student in Amsterdam who has lived and spent a great deal of time in Africa, was shooting a documentary on street children, and he came, too. We walked along train tracks through downtown Lusaka to the bus station where we met a group of young kids. Vasco introduced me to two of the kids who stay on the street but come to the library, and they came to my storytime. They told me they liked the Zambian folk tale from Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folk Tales, as they stood around tables outside shops. We left the bus station and headed to a dusty space concealed by concrete walls where many of the kids sleep at night. It can only be accessed through a small crawl space where a metal sheet was pried open. Next to an abandoned, rust-covered car are long, rectangular slabs of concrete, hollow inside and serving as sleeping areas. No one was around, so I was able to capture it on film:

I'm becoming accustomed to being the only female in dangerous situations, and Vasco thought we should skip the Soweto Market where the older kids convene at night. Of course, I insisted on going and assured him I would not take any photos. The market is crowded during the day, each wooden stand filled with vendors and their goods, but at night it's black and desolate, and we used lighters and cell phones to walk through it. In the back of the market next to an open field, we found the kids standing in groups, most near the bonfires they build in the last row of the market. They were very nice and respectful and not at all what I anticipated. Zambian music was playing, and I even danced along with a couple of them. Many escape the lure of street drugs, but many use an inhalant called Sticka, which is huffed from a bottle. A few kids holding bottles, eyes glazed over, approached me laughing and slurring "Madam" repeatedly. I was determined to get a few photos, hiding my camera underneath my hoodie and using the natural light setting. It was a foolish thing to do, and I'd been warned against it. I walked away from the group, aiming my camera at the groups gathered around the fires. Three kids followed me because they assumed I distanced myself out of fear.

"Why do you fear us?", one asked me.

"I don't fear you, I just wanted to look at the fires."

"No, you are scared of us! You see our suffering, and you are afraid."

In my defense, his friend said, "She is not scared, she is looking at the fire."

I covertly put my camera away and joined the group around the fires. There were probably forty of them altogether. Street kids form groups, and this group has a lot of respect for Vasco. It is dangerous at night, needless to say. Theft and violence against outsiders and within the street community are common. One kid unzipped Keesjan's backpack. He was from another group across the market, and this group decided they wanted to punish him for it. They have established a rapport of trust and friendship with Vasco, and an attempt to steal from Vasco's friend reflects poorly on them. Keesjan told them he forgave the guy for trying to steal, but we left shortly after that incident. I was filthy and shocked and left the market in silence. Millions of kids in sub-Saharan Africa live that way.

note: For respect and safety reasons, I took these photographs covertly using a natural light setting (with the exception of the photo of me in the car).

gathering on the street