Burundi: Focus on street children

Ask most children who have never visited Africa about the lives of their age-mates there, chances are that they will have a mental picture of them playing outside huts or herding cattle in a spacious rural landscape. Less likely would be a picture of an African child like Canésius Ndihokubwayo eking out a living on the streets of towns and cities. As the continent marks the Day of the African Child on Wednesday, Ndihokubwayo's story illustrates his plight and that of those like him. At 13 years old, Ndihokubwayo is already a veteran of the streets. When, after his father died, he left his village in Bubanza Province in 1999, he was confident of finding a job and hopeful for a better life; but disappointment swiftly followed. Ndihokubwayo ended up living on the streets because his surrogate father, who had promised him work, failed to deliver.