Zambezia (1995), XXII (i).CONVERSATIONS WITH STREETCHILDREN IN HARARE, ZIMBABWERITAH MARIMA, JOSEPHINE JORDAN AND KENNA CORMIE1Department of Psychology, University of ZimbabweAbstractThis article reports excerpts from conversations with 30 boys working thestreets of Harare. The conversations took place from February to November1993. The excerpts describe their living arrangements, their relationshipsand recreation, and their work. Far from presenting themselves as ruffiansout to make a quick buck, the boys like to be clean and well dressed. Theyrespect hard work and they believe in the virtue of honesty. Older boys do notlike to beg and they teach others how to park cars. Eleven of the boys alsohad weekly contracts to guard the cars of office workers. Contracts have notbeen reported in other countries and they may be an important indicator thatthe Harare public accepts the role of the street boys in the day-to-day life ofthe central business district.STREET CHILDREN ARE visible throughout the world in developed and indeveloping countries. The estimates of their numbers are usually given as100 million in 1991 (see for example, Barker, 1993, p. 6), with an expectedincrease to 200 million in 2000 (see for example, Irvine, 1991, p. 1). InZimbabwe the common estimate is around 7 000 to 10 000 (BeatriceMatsvetu of Zimbabwe Council for the Welfare of Children in the SouthernAfrican Chronicle, 20 June 1993, p. 10).Despite daily contact with the children, many members of the publicfind their presence intrusive. In a recent letter to The Sunday Mail, aHarare citizen wrote:I am horrified at the total lack of police control of the 'Street Kids' Š particu-larly in George Silundika Avenue. We are being threatened with physicalviolence if we dare to park our cars without their express permission ... (2April 1995, p. 8).The newspaper reinforced the hostility by captioning the letter 'StreetKid Menace'. The official policy towards street children appears to be a!We gratefully acknowledge the 30 boys who participated in the study; Mr J. Dube whointerpreted the interview with Washington; John McMaster whom we consulted on thetermination of the study; Clive Peter and Alpha Mugudubi who contributed to the design ofthe study and analysis of the data; the UNICEF Library in Harare; and Professor MichaelBourdillon who reviewed earlier forms of the manuscript.1CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREFIGURE 1: LOCATION OF RESEARCH AREA100 200 300 metresI I IR. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIEsocial welfare approach, in which children are removed from the streetsto a 'place of safety'. On the face of it, this is a worthy objective. Inpractice, the state has inadequate facilities for street children. Takesure,quoted by Bourdillon (1991, p. 26), described the 'round-ups' of streetchildren in Harare during 1991:It was very bad. We were arrested for no reason. People were rounded up andsentenced to three years for no offence. At Kadoma we had to live with otherswho were convicted of robbery and rape.The street children see probation homes in terms distinctly otherthan 'places of safety'. Takesure is one of the many who have 'escaped'and returned to the streets.It is very unlikely that the phenomenon of street children will disappearin the short term. The children choose to go onto the streets to escapeviolence and poverty in the parental home and the phenomenon is thusmore or less a symptom of wider economic and social problems.Recent work on street children has tried to free our conceptions ofstreet children from the social welfare model and to present the advantagesas well as the disadvantages of street life. Intellectually, street childrendevelop skills we would associate with market children. They are numeratefrom dealing with money and they are street-wise, something we will showlater. Their formal skills are no less than those of children with similarsocio-economic backgrounds, or children suffering long-term poverty(Aptekar, 1989, p. 427; Ziesemer et al, 1994, p. 658).Aptekar (1989, p. 427) also found the children he studied to beemotionally intact. It appears that the children's systems of peer supportand their relationships with adult benefactors substitute, at least in part,for the family relationships they leave behind.Aptekar (1989, p. 428) suggests that in Colombia, where he did hiswork, the 'problem' of street children issues from a clash between thepatrifocal upper classes and matrifocal lower classes. Aptekar views thelife of street children as an extension of matrifocal society, in whichchildren are encouraged to be independent and resourceful from an earlyage, thus accelerating their development more quickly than the 'culturallydominant group deemed legitimate'.This conceptualisation has appeal even in patrifocal societies in that itpoints us to the phenomenon of street children as an urban sub-culture withits own structure, its own rules and its own dynamics. If we understand thepresence of street children as a sociological entity in its own right, we willhave a better understanding of how the children relate to other urban sub-cultures, how ideas and innovation enter the streets and spread from childCONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREto child, how the street children culture is likely to develop, and how thestreet children might coexist harmoniously with other residents of the city.Work on street children in Harare has been confined to two surveys Šone by the Zimbabwe Council for the Welfare of Children in 1989 and oneby Muchini and Nyandiya-Bundy in 1991. Recently Bourdillon (1994) hascollated the reports of the late Maxwell Rupondo who worked for StreetsAhead.The surveys have been able to confirm that the phenomenon of streetchildren in Harare takes a similar form to the phenomenon in other cities.Most of the children are boys and the boys who work independently areaged from 8 to 18. The boys sell sweets and fruit; mind cars; beg; tout foremergency taxis; and carry goods and luggage. Only about 10 to 15% of theboys sleep on the streets at night (Nyandiya-Bundy and Muchini, 1991, pp.16, 17, 25; ZCWC, 1989, pp. 15, 18, 19, 20).The work reported by Bourdillon was conducted under the umbrellaof Streets Ahead, an outreach programme which aims to provide a drop-incentre which boys can use when they perceive a need. The concept of theoutreach programme follows from a perception of street life that differs inmany ways from the perception held by authorities.Life on the streets is not an all or nothing situation. Children usually jointhe streets gradually. The international pattern is for younger children towork on the streets and to go home at night, and for the children whoactually sleep on the streets, to be older than average (Blanc, 1994, p. 331).The incorporation into the street life comes about in time, with a progressivelearning of skill and a lessening of boys' dependence on their parents. In thisprocess of assimilation, children are known to go home and not come back,and children are also known to go home and return because the streets havebecome familiar to them. Bourdillon (1994, p. 526) tells of Dr Edward Antonio,a street child who became a university lecturer, who seriously thought ofreturning to the life on the streets he knows. Veale, Taylor and Mohommadquote similar sentiments expressed by a more ordinary street boy inKhartoum.After spending time on streets, meeting other boys, using silis [glue], I wantedto live their life... No, there were no problems at home. I had become familiarwith the streets, know what is in the streets and I decided to return.A Khartoum street boy quoted in Veale, Taylor and Mohommad [nd].This study takes up the idea of being familiar with the streets. Wespoke to street boys in Harare for six months from February to July, 1993.We used a conversational methodology to see life through their eyes andto see the streets more as they perceive them.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIETHE PRESENT STUDYParticipantsBoys were recruited for the study directly on the streets and at theAnglican Cathedral where there was a long-standing programme providingmeals and crafts training for street boys. The boys were observed at workand at play. Of the 30 children originally contacted and interviewed, fivehad left the streets by the end of the study.The ages of the children who participated in this study ranged from 8to 16 years with an average of 13 years. Fourteen children were agedbetween 8 and 12 years and 16 children were aged between 13 and 16years.Eleven children were from divorced parents or had parents who hadremarried. Nineteen had blind parents. Of the 30 boys, 24 had someschool background and six had none. One child spoke Ndebele; one childspoke Portuguese. Twenty-nine of the 30 boys spoke Shona and 22 spokeEnglish.ProcedureAll the interviews were conducted by the first author, Marima. On firstmeeting the boys, Marima introduced herself and explained that she wascarrying out a study on how street children lived. She talked to thechildren about general topics, such as the weather, made jokes, and askedthe children for permission to see them again.After a few meetings, Marima further asked the boys' permission torecord their conversations on tape. At first the children did not want to berecorded and talked very little. After a month, the children becameaccustomed to the tape recorder, and from this time the tapes of theinterviews were transcribed into English.Marima met the children regularly on the streets on Mondays, Fridaysand Saturdays between 6 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. At these times, business islow and most of the children who do not sleep on the streets will havegone home.Marima also met the children at the Anglican Cathedral, where theyreceived free meals on Wednesdays from 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 am. Sheobserved the boys during the afternoons and occasionally participated intheir activities.Acceptance into the subcultureIn the first contacts, the children were defensive and distrustful. One childremarked:Are you from the ZBC or The Gazette? They come just like that.13 April 1993, Angwa StreetCONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREAnother boy thought Marima was a charity woman from a church.I saw you today. You gave us a dollar. You were holding a Bible.1 April 1993, Rezende Bus TerminusTo counteract the boys' distrust, Marima interacted with them as shemight with adolescent boys from a local school. She allowed them to carryher bag and appreciated their linguistic skills.Ł So you can speak English?Yes.Ł What grade did you go to?Grade 4.Ł So you are really good?I am not (and smiled shyly).21 May 1993, Robert Mugabe WayAs the boys became accustomed to her, there were several changes intheir attitude. Initially, some children had asked her for money. As theybegan to know her, they restrained each other.Lionel! Sometimes you should learn not to beg for money. It is a bad habit. Sisydoes not have money. Don't you like her company?2 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayThey became very hospitable. One boy bought her a soft drink on ahot afternoon. Other boys promised to buy her a hamburger if she visitedthem on a Friday afternoon. The children spontaneously advised her ofthe times they would be free to see her.You should come around 4.00 p.m. or in the evening when we have finishedour work. Then we can make you laugh.7 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayBy frequently interviewing them at times of their choosing and by notinterfering with their work, she was able to observe their activities closely.Exit from the subculture and ethics of street children researchAt the end of the study, it was extremely difficult to tell the children thatthe study was ending. This was particularly so because the children areacutely aware of what researchers do.Sarah, no more foreigners around here. Look, our faces are all over the maga-zine. We don't like it. Foreigners take us pictures and they make money inforeign countries selling the pictures. No more pictures around here.6 April 1993, Anglican CathedralR. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIEI knew it.Ł What did you know?That you wanted something from us ...It's the same with everybody.Were you making money?Ł No. It's just a project. Nobody sells it. It just counts if I have to pass at theend of the year.Are you going to pass then?12 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayThe literature is extremely helpful on how to enter the street culture(see for examples, Barker, 1993 and Dallape, 1991). It is reticent however,on our exit, and the effect of studies like this on the participants.In this study, Marima took some trouble to disengage slowly. Sheinformed the boys a few weeks in advance that she was leaving andprovided opportunities such as the one above to talk through the break intheir relationship. She also introduced other activities, going with theboys to buy food, for example, explaining where she lived at the Universityand visiting them without the tape recorder.It is possible that by telling their stories to somebody who is genuinelyinterested, that the children develop new self-esteem and a new frameworkfor relating to adults. It is equally likely however, that breaking a bond thatthey put much effort into creating is seen by them as another betrayal andmay heighten their hostility to the adult world. 'It would be a most appropriate extension of studies like these tomonitor the effect of the study on the boys who take part. Fortuitously, ayear after the study ended we received feedback from the organization,Streets Ahead. The boys remembered Marima fondly and no resentmentwas heard after she had withdrawn. Our reservations nevertheless remain,and we recommend that future studies are conducted by people with along term commitment to the children and involve the boys from theoutset in setting the parameters of the work.ConfidentialityThe boys' names have been changed to preserve confidentiality.RESULTSParticipants and the geography of the studyThe study took place in the centre of Harare, in an area bounded in thenorth by Park Lane and in the south by Robert Mugabe Road. Importantvenues are marked on the map (see Figure 1). Going from north to south,these were the Monomatapa Hotel, the cinemas along Union Avenue,Rezende Bus Station, the Anglican Cathedral, the Chicken Inn, and an areabehind the Meikles Hotel.CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREThe boys formed interlinking groups. In the north, the area outsidethe Monomatapa Hotel was worked by Willard (16), Lionel (15), Crispen(14), Calisto (8) and Welshman (16). They were also met occasionallyoutside the cinemas on Union Avenue but they did not go to the Cathedral.Working in the next block south along Julius Nyerere Way, were twosmaller boys, Wonder (10) and Pedzisayi (13). They also did not go to theCathedral.The corner of Angwa Street and Union Avenue was worked by an olderboy, who was a role model to smaller boys and an important early andarticulate informant. Mahommed (16) worked alone.The biggest group worked outside the cinemas on Union Avenue andcan be broken into three subgroups. The first group comprised sevenolder boys, five of whom were central to the study.Great (16) was one of the first boys to contribute and his friendshipwas instrumental in gaining acceptance with the other boys. He wasarrested before the end of the study. Washington (15) came onto thestreets during the study. He was the Ndebele speaker. He learnt Shona butleft the streets before the study ended. William (16) was very ill throughoutthe study and was met once several blocks south towards the Chicken Inn.Danny (16) and Samuel (16) were rather quiet members of the group. Thetwo remaining boys had the same names but the opposite fates. Eddie I(15) was arrested. His story will be told later. Eddie II (15) was a super-street kid. He was the highest earner and had a part-time job by the end ofthe study. He was seen further south at the Chicken Inn and was said towash cars at Fife Avenue shops, a suburban shopping mall, north of thecentral business district. All these boys attended the Cathedral.Three small boys, Blessings (9), Clever (10) and Tendai (10) worked inthe same area and also went to the Cathedral. Blessings was openlyidentified as a thief, and prompted an informative discussion on themorality and consequences of stealing.Two other young boys, Paul (10) and Steve (11), also worked in thisarea. Paul was often high on glue, but they otherwise figure little in theevents of the six months early in 1993.The remaining boys comprised three groups. One group of 12-yearolds were met originally at the Rezende bus terminus: Amos (12), George(12) and Lameck (12). Amos and George also attended the Cathedral.George left the streets during the study and went home.Jacob (11) and Mathew (8) worked in Robert Mugabe Road behindMeikles Hotel. They did not go to the Cathedral.David (8), Alpha (16), Memory (15), Tauya (12) and Patrick (16) weremet at the Cathedral only. On one occasion, David was beaten by olderboys and provided a situation in which to discuss the bullying of smallboys. Patrick was arrested for shop-lifting.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIELiving conditionsSleeping arrangementsThe boys were reticent about their sleeping arrangements. From theirrare comments, it seems that at least half of them were sleeping rougheven in June.Ł So how do you keep the cold out of your bodies?We have blankets.Ł Blankets?Yes.Ł Where do you keep them?We told you about our base.7 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayWillard is not here. He's gone to stay where we are going to sleep tonight. It'swarm there and he is keeping the other guys off.7 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayŁ So where are you sleeping?At Market Square.Ł What? Isn't it too cold there? .. . Can't you find some place enclosed?There is always a fire burning.11 June 1993, Robert Mugabe RoadŁ Where is your best friend?He's keeping a place for me where I sleep. I'll pay him though.11 June 1993, Robert Mugabe RoadHealthThroughout the study, William was in poor health. The other boys said hehad AIDS. William said he had been kicked in the stomach by someone. Wehad no resources to monitor the boys' health, but none of the others wereobviously ill.FoodNot surprisingly, the boys were often thinking about food. They wereeither about to have a meal or they had missed one or they were about tobuy food.I'll buy buns.Ł Where?In Mr T.1 April 1993, Rezende Bus TerminusWhen custom is poor, they are forced to scavenge in bins.On Saturdays and Sundays, we'll be looking for food in bins and from people17 April 1993, Julius Nyerere Way10 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREEating from bins however, is considered a last resort.That sadza from the bin is not healthy.19 April 1993, Anglican CathedralYes, I do that [go home]. Sometimes 1 don't. If I see that I'm hungry, 1 borrowmoney, a $1.00 from somebody, and board an E.T. [Emergency Taxi].19 April 1993, Anglican CathedralWhy didn't you give him a kick in the buttocks?19 April 1993, Anglican Cathedral,in reference to a boy seen eating sadza from a binClothes and appearanceHalf the boys in the sample were adolescents and like any other teenagers,they took some trouble over their appearance and clothes. In an earlyconversation:Ł Are you always this smart?I bought these at the OK's.8 April 1993, Anglican CathedralHaircuts were also important.I went to the barber's.Ł Who do you want to look like?Like M. C. Hammer.1 April 1993, Rezende Bus TerminusHygieneThough the boys are frequently dirty and scruffy, they are conscious ofhygiene and value cleanliness.Ł Why won't you shake my hand?They are dirty.We are dirty.Ł But I don't mind. I want to talk to you and not to the people looking at us.14 April 1994, Anglican CathedralThey buy soap to wash their clothes.my clothes Ł Ł Ł'came from home clean and thus'want to s°14 April 1993, Anglican Cathedralclothes8'681 PkCe 1S Mukuvisi raver- Everybody goes there sometimes to wash18 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayR. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 11ShoesShoes were a recurrent topic of the conversations, possibly because of theonset of winter.Ł Did everyone buy their ProSports?We are about to buy them now. It is very cold these days and we have to buythem but the prices are rising.18 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayTheir interest extended to the first author's apparel.What kind of tennis are you wearing? Are they imported?Ł No, they are from Bata.(A long and involved argument about what Bata stocks.)12 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayRelationships and recreationHierarchiesWe did not find the monyas described by Bourdillon (1994), thoughreminiscently of a school playground, the older boys did send the youngerboys on errands.Fighting is important and boys resort to threats if they are losing averbal duel. One boy, Clever, had obtained traditional medication to helphim fight better. A potion had been rubbed into an incision in his neck.Unfortunately for him, Eddie I doubted that the potion worked, challengedhim, and beat him, melodramatically hitting Clever's head to show thatthe special claims of the potion were untrue.Boys who are unable to fight well team up with boys who can.Ł Can you fight well?Not very well.Ł So how do you protect yourself?I hang around Danny and Eddie II.5 July 1993, Karigamombe CentreThe older boys also bully the small boys. On one occasion, withapparently little provocation, Danny and Washington chased and assaultedDavid. When the smaller boy surrendered and lay down on the Cathedrallawn crying, the two older boys lit cigarettes. Eddie II implied later thatthese two boys often beat up the little ones. In a later quotation, it willbecome clear that Eddie I, the conqueror of Clever and his muti, had asimilar reputation. None of the bigger boys, however, were accused ofcollecting tithes.12 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREInductionThe boys' rivalry and their attempts to establish dominance are offset bysupportive peer relationships which are characteristically strong in thisage group. As Washington joined the streets during the study, we wereable to take down his story while it was reasonably fresh in his mind.Washington was the boy who spoke Ndebele.One night I was sleeping in a corridor and Danny and others were passing byaround midnight. I had a blanket and so the boys came and took my blanket.Another one beat me and they were talking in Shona and laughing. I wanted tocry but I saw Danny looking at me and laughing like he wanted to beat me. I wasso frightened.Ł That was terrible.Yes, it was. They all started off with my blanket and I was left behind. 1 wishedI had stayed home where I have a place to sleep though I was beaten every day.Ł What did you do?I sat down and didn't know what to do. Suddenly I saw Danny coming back. Inearly ran away. But when he was near, he offered me a cigarette. I refused itbecause I did not smoke. He tried to talk to me but I was too frightened andanyway I didn't understand the language.Ł So how did you communicate?I just did what he would be doing at the moment.Ł Didn't you feel silly?No, I didn't. He actually liked it when I imitated what he was doing.Ł So you started smoking?Yes, I did and he provided the cigarettes.Ł How did you get money?I begged but he told me that I was too old to be begging. So he helped me inlearning this gambling.5 July 1993, Karigamombe CentreEddie II, the super-street kid who was a high earner and very articulate,described his entry to the streets in much the same way.When I arrived [alone from Masvingo], I was very dirty and hungry. I sawHarare as very strange and big and I got very confused. What would I do in thisstrange place, I wondered. I had no clothes and I was starving. Then I met upwith Patrick. He was older than me and soon he gave me some food. He taughtme to scavenge for food and introduced me to his friends. The friends didn'tlike me but I survived. They would beat me everytime. I would get angry but donothing. Then I met this guy who invited me to the Cathedral. He told me thatthey gave free food there and some clothes if you were a good boy. So I wentthere and found it to be true. Now I look presentable. I can buy food. I'm goingto look for a place to stay in Mbare. I'll rent it. I'm even looking smart becauseI can afford to buy my own clothes.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 13Both stories ring familiarly of joining a boarding school in the middleof a term.Relationships with their parentsStreet children have varying degrees of contact with their families. Two ofthe boys had mothers who exercised parental authority while they wereon the streets. Their relationships with their mothers were not amicable.Ł Let's go, Calisto. Are you afraid?Yes.Ł Afraid of what?Afraid of my mother.3 April 1993, Union Avenue.On being teased by other boys because his mother was looking for him:I won't do like what George did. Beating his mother with a beating stick.14 April 1993, Anglican CathedralSome boys visited home periodically and thought it sensible.[Eddie] was caught on Friday... It was a pitiful sight. I just don't know how theother guys could do that kind of thing. I used to tell Eddie to go back home tohis parents but he scolded me and I just looked at him. I told him that life onthe streets is not good. I know his mother. They stay in Mufakose. She can getangry but one has to go home. I go home for a month and then come back.12 May 1993, Julius Nyerere WayBoys from far afield dream of a triumphant return to their homes.The only thing that is left is to go and see my father. I don't think that he knowsme now.Ł He will recognise you.He wouldn't.Ł I know he would.I want to buy all the groceries I can. And then I buy nice clothes and shoes.Then I visit them.Ł They will be shocked.Sometimes I think I'm doing better than my father who is bullied by his wife.25 June 1993, Chicken InnRelationships with the policeThe boys' comments about the police were not complimentary.There is this policeman who comes every night with roses. He gives them tohim and Great sells them. He then comes early in the morning to collect hismoney.Ł How much is Great paid?Very little. I don't know how much but we fear the police and they can do with14 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREus whatever they like. This other day, we saw four policemen stealing a car butwe can't really do anything.24 May 1993, Union AvenueOther stories were about the police cancelling parking tickets, beingbribed to let suspects go and substituting street children as suspects.DrugsIt is common for street children to suppress their hunger pangs by sniffingglue (Rialp, 1991, p. 9; Bourdillon, 1994, p. 522). Bourdillon (1994) reportedthat the boys bought glue in jars. The boys in this study found glue inrubbish bins in the sanitary lanes and sniffed it from old milk packetswhich are made from white plastic sheeting.Ł What's inside [the milk packet]?Glue.Ł Why do you have to take it?I want to get drugged.Give him back the paper.ŁWhy?He will be in trouble with the owner of the glue.Ł Paul, why do you sniff it?I sniff it when I'm hungry. When I haven't got the money for food.12 May 1993, Karigamombe CentreIt is also common for the boys to smoke mbanje.Ł How much is it?One dollar.Ł How much of it?One twist.Just like a cigar. If a small piece like this beats you, you will hear Rhumbawhere there is no radio. Have you ever observed those people at [Rezende]Bus Terminus. They will just be dancing because they will have smoked it...Ł If you smoke it, you'll just be wanting to laugh and be free.Yes. You don't give a damn who is around or not. If you look at someone'shead, it will be upside down ...It's bad in one thing. Banyas in the stomach.You eat food like nobody's business. And its shameful.. .You don't get shy.And that's when you can speak English which you won't even understand onyour own.19 May 1993, Anglican CathedralIn Bourdillon (1994), Maxwell Rupondo had felt like an intruder whenhe refused to smoke mbanje with street-boys (p. 522). The boys did notput pressure on Marima to smoke with them. On the contrary, they warnedher off it.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 15That is mbanje. Don't touch it, Ritah. The police can smell it from afar. And ifthey smell it on you then know that you are going straight to jail.2 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayPaul, as we indicated before, was a prodigious glue user. Great appearedto be a heavy mbanje smoker. He was often doped. He forgot his friends'names and had major mood swings. Sometimes he was very quiet.Ł How many friends have you got?Only two.Ł What are their names?Tom and I've forgotten the other name.3 April 1994, Union Avenue.The boys know the debilitating effects of both drugs. As in Bourdillon(1994, p. 522), we came across no instance of hard drugs.RecreationThe boys had a much wider range of recreation than those described byBourdillon (1994). They are intrepid travellers ranging throughout the cityand readily taking advantage of events such as the Trade Fair in Bulawayoand visits to Mazvikadei Dam in Banket and Cleveland Dam on the MutareRoad which were organized by Streets Ahead and other philanthropists.On one day, the group outside the Monomatapa Hotel 'blew' their moneyat Greenwood Park, an amusement park with trampolines, a model trainand canoes. The children knew which films were on at cinemas and theirage limits. They played football in teams and practised at St George'sCollege, a well-to-do school in the inner suburbs.Queen's Hotel was their favourite venue. They also went to midnightmovies at the Liberty Cinema, particularly in winter, as it is warm insidethe cinema. As Bourdillon (1994) indicated, gambling is a favouriteoccupation (p. 522). The boys play a game called chabuta and seemed tolose a lot of money.A favourite pasttime is telling jokes around the fire at night. The jokeswere not particularly original, however. We passed the jokes around themale students in the Department of Psychology. Apart from one whichwas particularly obscure, the jokes seemed to be standard high schoolhumour.SexSex is frequently discussed by the boys in typically adolescent ways. Theytease each other, boast, and mercilessly mock anyone who is seen to beinfatuated or controlled by his girlfriend.16 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREŁ What about Crispen?I'll marry and have kids.Of course. We knew that you would say that. All the women at the Queen'sGarden would be yours.Don't lie! I don't do that.12 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayToday Ritah, I'll tell you a story about this man who always cried when he wasgiven something by his wife.That one is deadly. Don't say it.12 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayWe only came across evidence of homosexuality with one boy. Duringgeneral repartee in which one boy was called a beggar, and another a'smart guy', a victim retorted:Eddie, we all know you are somebody's wife.So what?14 April 1993, Anglican CathedralPeople's wives should shut up.14 April 1993, Anglican CathedralRelationship with the first authorThere is plenty of literature on how a researcher can establish a relationshipwith the street boys (e.g., Barker, 1993; Dallape, 1991). In this study, theinteraction of the boys with the first author dispelled any of our a priorinotions that they are different from other boys.They were very curious about Marima. They discussed her universitycareer, her [non-existent] car, which they claimed to have seen often, herclothes, her church and her boyfriend. Inevitably, one of the boys developeda 'crush' and wrote her a love letter which was intercepted by his friends.I once saw you driving a car.2 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayI saw you driving a metallic make.ŁMe?Yes. It was a Benz.7 June 1993, Monomatapa HotelIs this a foreign bag?Did you buy it in South Africa?This is not Zimbabwean material [The bag was from South Africa].14 April 1993, Anglican CathedralWhere is your boyfriend?2 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayR. MAR1MA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 17We indicated earlier that the boys were hospitable and offered to buyMarima cokes and hamburgers. On seeing a sheet for a sponsored walk inher handbag, they asked to sponsor her with endearing eagerness.Can we sponsor you too?Ł Yes. Anybody can do it.I'll give you fifty cents.Ł You mean it?Yes. Do I have to write anything down?Ł You just have to shade where it is written 50c.Sisy, you're very unlucky. I don't have any money on me. It's still too early andI haven't made any money.7 June 1993, Monomatapa Hotel.Work and incomeWork activities, age and incomeOne of our objectives was to describe in greater detail how the boysearned their livelihoods. The children in Harare do much the same workas children in other cities: they beg, carry luggage, mind cars, hawksweets and fruit, wash cars and sell roses. They rarely sell newspapers.Begging is the little boys' preserve. Ten of the 14 boys under the age of13 begged. Only four of the 16 boys who were 13 or older admitted todoing so. Nine of the boys who were not seen begging during the study,told us they had done so when they joined the streets. Seven boys hadnever begged. Five were aged 16; one was aged ten; and the other wasaged 15.Car minding is the ubiquitous occupation. Twenty-seven of our 30participants looked after cars. The three who did not do so had done so inthe past. Because car minding is so common, none of the boys dependedon begging only.An important extension of car minding is a system of contracts inwhich regular customers pay weekly, usually on a Friday Š hamburgerday.Those are regular customers. They park there every day and so they pay us atthe end of the week.2 June 1993, Julius Nyerere WayEleven boys had contracts. Three of these boys were only eight yearsold; the other boys were much older: one was 14, two were 15 and fivewere 16. The eight-year olds were Calisto who 'hung out' with older boysand David and Mathew who were also luggage carriers at the railwaystation.18 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREThe less common occupations were luggage carrying, vending, carwashing and selling roses. Three boys carried luggage at the railwaystation. Between train arrival times, they begged or minded cars. Two ofthese boys were eight years old and one was 11. These boys had limitedcontacts with older boys. They were sometimes seen in the company oftwelve-year olds and as we related above, David was beaten by Danny andWashington. Luggage carrying seems to be a marginal activity associatedwith younger boys.In contrast, vending, car washing and selling roses are associatedwith progressively older boys. There were four vendors in our network(aged 10, 11, 12 and 16), five car washers (aged 8, 14, 15, 15 and 16) andtwo rose sellers (aged 16 and 16). The average ages of boys in differententerprises are luggage carrying Š 9,3; vending Š 12,3; washing cars Š13,6; and selling roses Š 16,0. Comparative figures for begging and carminding are 11,5 and 13,2.Street life is surprisingly lucrative. The boys earn between $5 and$100 a day. The median earnings were $27,50. The average earningscompared favourably with the wages of manual labourers in blue chipcompanies.Earnings were associated with age. Two of the 14 boys under the ageof 13 earned more than the median. Only three of the 16 boys aged 13 ormore earned less than the median.The child who earned $5 was still dependent on begging. Washingcars is the most lucrative enterprise. Eddie II charged $20 per car. Themedian earning for children with contracts was $30 a day, slightly abovethe median for the whole group.ScriptsSeveral of the boys were very articulate. Their descriptions of their workindicate an extremely good understanding of the expectations of carowners. The first informant quoted here was intent on teaching Marima topark cars.Let me just tell you the basics. You stand in the street when you see a carapproaching. You indicate on to an empty parking space. After the car hasbeen parked, go and ask the driver whether to keep any eye on his car. Bepersuasive. That's how you do it ... Do bring an empty coke bottle ... Atlunchtime you will need it.3 April 1993, Angwa Street.. .. you keep an eye on a car. You have to see that no car is given a ticket. Itmeans me paying for the expired metres. Sometimes when the owner comeshe gives you 50 cents for all your pains in an effort to save him being given aticket.3 April 1993, Angwa Street.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 19Ł Don't you get customers who give you $5?I'll throw the money back at the person.ŁWhy?That's peanuts. I'll have worked very hard. Imagine washing the whole car andputting polish on the wheels and somebody gives you $5 only. I'll get mad.Ł You'll get beaten.That is if you look silly and afraid. White men want to be handled roughly. Ifthey tell you to f... off, you also tell them to f... off. There was this Whiteman who told me to look after his car. I did that but when he came, he told meoff his car. I went and stood behind the car. He couldn't move. If he did hewould have to run over me. So he came out and pushed me off. I told him Iwanted my money but he refused. So he took a Sunsplash container and threwit at me. I dodged it. He said, 'F . . . you nigger'. I said 'F . . . you too' andscratched his car. I got pissed off.Ł I know.So he drove away very angry and I was left very angry also.Ł I'm sorry.Sometimes you just have to be rude because some people think that theycontrol everybody. I hate that.Ł How do you get to wash somebody's car?I've got regular customers.25 June 1993, Chicken InnŁ You're looking really smart.That's how you have to do it so that people won't think you are a thief.3 April 1993, Angwa StreetSmaller boys, when pressed, were also able to recount the scripts.Stealing and scamsSome of the scripts recounted to us were for stealing and scamming.People intent on dishonesty themselves, as well as tourists, were thetargets. There was always an element of incoherency in these scripts,however, suggesting that the boys had never been involved in the tricksthey were describing. When they weren't evidently bragging about theirability to steal, they might assert that stealing was bad. These assertionsmight be within minutes of one of the bragging stories below.Ł So how do you look after cars?It is very easy.ŁHow?Most foreigners are very silly. Whilst he's looking at a side you take his purse.Those big ones.19 May 1993, Anglican Cathedral20 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREOne takes newspapers and cuts them into the size of $20 notes. He puts one$20 on top, then another in the middle, and the other at the bottom, and thenhe puts perhaps a foreign note on top. He sells it as foreign currency.19 May 1993, Anglican CathedralOther scams were to do with selling fake gold and ivory.Stealing is good because you can't get a job.Ł Stealing is one way. What's another alternative?Looking after cars.I've always told him not to steal but to do something worthwhile like workinghard for your money. But he has always said that I'm jealous. But now he hasseen it on his own. I'll never steal because it's very unprofessional.16 June 1993, Anglican CathedralThe children's reservations about stealing were sometimes tied upwith beliefs about evil spirits.If you steal the victim will be very angry and you will end up being visited byevil spirits. And for the whole of your life, you will be the unluckiest person onearth.16 June 1993, Anglican CathedralLet's say you steal from William. He will be angry and bad spirits will comeupon you.19 May 1993, Anglican CathedralScripts with marginal moralityWe were also told of two scripts, which fall between scripts of work andscripts for scamming. The first script was related to us in the early stagesof the study, before the conversations were recorded on tape. It describesthe procedure for begging. First the child must present a pitiful sight;second, the child engages eye contact with the prospect; thirdly, the childpersistently follows the prospect down the street. Finally, the child acceptswhatever money is given, however small.At the time of the study, the Zimbabwean national football team wasmaking heady progress towards the World Cup. The boys supported the'Dream Team' and would attend the World Cup matches. Before the matchthey would make contracts to look after cars, they would then enter thegrounds illicitly, returning to their cars at the end of the match to collecttheir payments. They were contemptuous of the police who never caughtthem entering the grounds without paying.ArrestsDuring the study, three boys were arrested. The arrests of two of the boysR. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 21Š Great and Eddie I Š were very much talked about. Great was arrestedin Mbare.Your friend was picked up by the police.Ł My friend! Which one?Great.Ł Oh, shame! When?On Saturday.Ł Where?In Mbare.Ł What was he doing in Mbare?Saturdays people go to Mbare because there are a lot of fish.Ł How do you mean?He stole from a certain woman.Ł What did he steal?A purse.Ł But couldn't he run away?It was a set up.Ł Shame.Actually, we told him that it was a set up. He told me that we were jealous ofhis competency and thus went for the real hook. He couldn't run away becausethe boys were everywhere.16 June 1993, Anglican CathedralŁ Great was picked up. What happened?He is silly.Ł How so?Because he trusted someone that he shouldn't have trusted.Ł They betrayed him?Yes. He was betrayed. That's the problem with friends. You never know whoreally likes you.Ł What had Great done?They broke into a warehouse and stole gas stoves. So when they were going tohire an E.T. to come and collect the goods, they were caught.Ł Were the goods recovered?No, they were not because I know Great won't say a thing.9 July 1993, Julius Nyerere WayThere were several accounts of Eddie's arrest similar in essentials butvarying in detail; there was an element of 'set up' which included unnamedboys, and the teller of the story had previously given advice which hadbeen ignored.After tea we were going out where we do our work [at the Cathedral] and all ofa sudden, Alpha and Daniel came and grabbed Eddie. Eddie struggled to befree but he couldn't. I've never seen the Probation Officer but I saw him thatday. I was scared. Everybody was scared and everybody was shaking like see-through material. He was taken by the Probation Officer and was draggedtowards the car. By this time Eddie was crying out very loudly. It was a sad22 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREsight. Everybody was very quiet. Do you know that Eddie was once in Proba-tion?Ł No, I didn't. Was he?Yes, but he ran away with seven others. Now four have been caught. But hewas sold out by Ziana.Ł You mean other boys?Yes, I mean other boys and some other people.Ł Who are these people?How could people do this to him. I get very angry.12 May 1993, Julius Nyerere WayEddie was smoking glue around Chicken Inn. And the police caught him there.Ł Oh. I'm sorry. How did the police know about Eddie?Ziana.Ł Who's Ziana.It's Ziana.12 May 1993, Union AvenueŁ I heard that Eddie was taken. Where?Behind this building. That is where we took him.Ł Why was he taken?He had run away from probation.Ł So did he cry?He cried and he beat us all. He was just too much on the streets. He used tobeat every small guy in town.19 May 1993, Anglican CathedralWe were not able to establish whether Ziana referred to the ZimbabweInter-African News Agency (ZIANA) or whether the name was being usedgenerally to apply to unidentified people who might intentionally orunintentionally bring harm to street people.DISCUSSIONThe boys present an image of themselves that runs counter to our generalpreconceptions and our day-to-day observations. They like to be clean,they like to wear smart clothes and they don't like eating from rubbishbins. They think ahead about where to sleep and they aim to rentaccommodation eventually.A great concern about the streets is that they will be taken over byFagin's or mafia type characters. We found some evidence of this,particularly with respect to the boys' accusations about some policemen.We did not find Bourdillon's monyas however, nor other characters whoexact taxes. Our notorious fighters and bullies were of the ordinary school-boy variety. Characters whom the boys fear are unseen and thus possiblymore insidious Š ZIANA and friends who betray you to the authorities.R. MARIMA, J. JORDAN AND K. CORMIE 23Harare streets are not a hot-bed of crime and the children in thisstudy have been exposed to a minimal level of criminal activity: underagedrinking and smoking glue and marihuana, commercial sex and gettinginto the football free. Two of our informants were arrested for theft duringthe study Š one for shoplifting and one for pickpocketing or breaking andentering, it wasn't clear. Harare motorists will be pleased that neither wasin connection with guarding cars. The children are religious in this respect.They regard thieving from their customers variously, as unprofessional orunwise, as retribution might arrive in the form of evil spirits.The notion of professionalism was one of our main interests and wepursued it specifically. We have already seen that the children have weeklycontracts with office workers. This is interesting. A contract implies amutual understanding of the work to be done.While a contract is between two people, the office worker and thestreet boy, the daily or hourly contracts with casual motorists indicatethat the community at large has developed an understanding of the servicesthe boys offer. The community may not yet realize the extent to which theroles have been formalised, but the boys themselves appear to be awareof the structure of their work and the experienced boys teach their skillsto newcomers.The assimilation of boys into the street culture was partially evidentin our conversations. Older boys perform the more lucrative tasks andearn more money. It is also not acceptable for them to beg. What we didnot have evidence for, was a gradual entry to the streets. Both boys whotold us about their arrivals, entered abruptly. Their experiences werefrightening and they had to make friends and learn to find food and workquickly. The Anglican Cathedral plays an important role here in amelioratingthe terrors of being without food, shelter or social support.This study has changed our attitude to street children in two importantways. Like many people, we expected the children to have a very simpleknowledge set, e.g. where to find food, and exploitative attitudes, how toget a tip without really working. The children's knowledge set goes beyondphysical things. They are planful, and they are astute observers of adultsociety. We might be threatened by both these attributes if the childrenwere dishonest. But they are not, at least not generally. They value hardwork and they understand what they do well enough for it to be considereda service.24 CONVERSATIONS WITH STREET CHILDREN IN HARAREReferencesAPTEKAR, L. (1989) 'Characteristics of the street children of Colombia',Child Abuse and Neglect, XIII, 427-437.BARKER, F. K. (1993) 'How to interview children who live or work on thestreets', First Call for Children: A UNICEF Quarterly, I, 6.BLANC, C. S. (1994) 'Some comparative urban trends: Street, work,homelessness, schooling and family survival strategies', in Blanc, C. S.(ed.), Urban Children in Distress: Global Predicaments and InnovativeStrategies (Yverdon, Gordon and Breach).BOURDILLON, M. F. C. (1992) Poor, HarrassedBut Very Much Alive (Gweru,Mambo Press).Š (1994) 'Street children in Harare', Africa, LXIV, 516-532.DALLAPE, F. (Oct.-Dec. 1991) 'Beginning with street children', Together: AJournal of World Vision International, 8-11.IRVINE, G. (Oct.-Dec. 1991) 'Abandoned children: The most marginalized',Together A Journal of World Vision International, 1-2.NYANDIYA-BUNDY, S. and MUCHINI, B. (1991) 'Struggling to Survive: AStudy of Street Children in Zimbabwe', (Harare, Department ofPsychology, University of Zimbabwe, unpubl.).RIALP, V. (March-April 1991) 'Street children', World Health, 8-10.Southern African Chronicle (20 June 1993), 10.Sunday Mail (2 April 1995), 8.VEALE, A., TAYLOR, M. and MAHOMMAD, A. H. A. (nd) 'A Psychologicaland Contextual Analysis of The Process of Becoming a Street Child',(Cork, Department of Applied Psychology, University College Cork,unpubl.).ZIMBABWE COUNCIL FOR THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN, (nd) 'Report onStreet Kids: A Preliminary Study of Street Children in Greater Harare',(Harare, unpubl.).ZIESEMER, C, MARCOUX, L. and MAXWELL, B. E. (1994) 'Homeless children:Are they different from other low-income children?' Social Work, XXXIX,658-668.