HORROR stories have been told about male children living on the streets, with reports of sexual abuse and semen harvesting for business enhancement rituals.
The revelations were made recently during a media tour of homeless children, youth and various vulnerable groups’ sites and feeding points in Bulawayo organised by the Scripture Union Zimbabwe and the National Aids Council.
The visited sites in the city were a bushy area between Coghlan Primary School and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the bushy area between corner Harare Road and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street as well as the Victory Fellowship Church, where over 100 people of all age groups were being fed.
Speaking prior to the tour, Scripture Union child support officer Best Ndlovu said as sisters of the children in the streets, they faced several challenges.
“Most of the girls are not seen on the streets in the afternoon. They are hidden in lodges. The male children are being abused by individuals and also among themselves,” Ndlovu said.
“They are also sexually abused by businesspeople, who want something from them. They would want their sperms to be used for their businesses.
“They would tell us that a man would come to them saying he has his wife and wants the boys to sleep with her.
“The boys will sleep with the woman at the back of the car and what the man would only be doing is to collect used condoms and give them new condoms.
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“He would tell the boy to bring three other boys in exchange for money. The boy would look for other boys and when they sleep with the woman, the man would collect the used condoms.”
Ndlovu indicated that this was done after these men would have also fed the boys as most of them would be hungry before falling for the trap.
“They told me that they are given food and alcoholic beverages before being taken to a secluded place.”
She said it would appear that these boys were drugged before they were sexually abused.
“Some are used for rituals through sexual abuse,” Ndlovu said. “After abusing them, they even tell us that they will never report some of the men because when they report at the police station, they would be told that they are mad and sidelined.
“So these are the challenges we have and they know and mention those men and their businesses.”
She said the boys would tell her the names of the businesspeople who give them drugs and those who abuse them sexually and pay them with food.
The Scripture Union child support officer said the major challenge in the fight for children’s rights was that there was no enough support from government and other stakeholders.
Ndlovu also indicated that girls living on the streets were taking crystal meth, causing them to have bulging stomachs which makes them look like they are pregnant.
Scripture Union Bulawayo programmes co-ordinator Sikholiwe Ncube said the organisation was facing funding challenges to fully implement programmes that can save the children on the streets.
“Someone was talking about having a space where you could just get every child in that house so that we know we no longer have children on the streets,” Ncube said.
“All are being monitored from a certain space. Our issue as an organisation is also on funding.
“We have those ideas, but getting funds to do that is a challenge.
“Someone would say how are you managing since you say you have challenges, we talk of sustainability, we try to find how we become effective.”
“We are blessed to have land, though not big, where we do farming projects and we sustain some of our interventions, though not to the capacity that we want. We do a bit of farming and bring some of our produce to the market.”
Ncube said as Scripture Union, they are the arm of the church and they knock at churches’ doors to get funding from them.
“Those who live in Cowdray Park, we have a lease with the Bulawayo City Council and we have a car park there and the money that is gotten from there assists in funding the Scripture Union programmes,” she said.
Ncube lamented that there is so much to be done by the Scripture Union against limited resources.
She said currently, children are not yet brought to their facility because of inadequate ablution facilities.
