Namanya Frank

Namanya Frank is a nine (9) year boy who was raised by a single parent (Mother). He hails from Bwaise a Kampala suburb. His mother is Mrs. Nalubega Allen who works in a stone quarry in Kazo a Kampala suburb as well. Franks father is a convict in Luzira prison (Uganda’s oldest and biggest prison) who was convicted and detained on charges of murder in 2011shortly after the birth of Frank (According to the Mother):

Franks Mother had two children in total and Frank was the youngest. Shortly after the imprisonment of the father, the mother decided to take care of the two children. In her bid, she had to make sure that she avails food, water and shelter to the tender boys (Frank and the elder brother): Above all, she had to provide school fees to Franks brother who was already in primary three (P.3): Its from this point that looking after the two children plus her became a problem since the stone quarrying business does not pay a lot. The mother predicted suffering in the near future since the bread winner of the family was not free anymore (Father): This was the beginning of the long-awaited suffering since the father left them in a small rented house without any investment or savings.

To make the matters worse, the mother did not know any close relative of her husband. This is because they started cohabiting without knowing each other’s relatives (It’s a common practice in Uganda):

However, being a single mother did not deter Franks mum from taking up her responsibilities of educating her children, feeding them as well as providing other basic necessities. After doing it for some years (Three Years According to her) she came to know that she can not win the battle alone (Looking after the children): The only available solution was to look for a man who could give her a helping hand.

In 2014 she willingly decided to cohabite with another man whom she was working with in the stone quarrying center. As if that was not enough, she gave birth to Franks half-brother a year after (2015): The mum was happy because she was sharing the responsibilities with another man whom she claimed to love.

After many countless times of providing to this family, Franks step dad was fade up since he had other kids from another woman. It’s from this point that he abandoned the family and the mother was left to struggle with three kids now. In order to give the best care to the newly born baby, Franks oldest brother stopped schooling (The mother never had money): Him and Frank were forced to escort their mum to the stone quarrying center every day.

In order to look for a supplementary financial activity, Frank and his older brother started looking for abandoned metals and plastics (Scrap) within the out shirts Kampala. They collectively walked together in the areas of Kawempe, Mulago and Wandegeya looking for metals and displaced water bottles.

It’s through this kind of work that they got engaged with the street life and street kids in those areas. They would sometimes sleep out and sometimes sleep home. The mother could not give them proper guidance since they would bring money whenever they came back.

For this reason, they decided to spend most of their times on the streets but also not forgetting the mother. Up to the time of recruiting Frank, he was still in a good relationship with his mother at home.