Uganda's 'street uncles' transform young lives in the slum - a photo essay

In an area that is infamous for high drug use, a group of men use their own experience of addiction to help children strive for new goals

• Photography by Katumba Badru Sultan

It was as a child in 1983 that Mark Owori first began using drugs. He started by supplying them to his sister, Lucky, who was a soldier in Uganda’s bush war. Eventually he also became both involved in the war and an addict.

This was under the rule of Ugandan independence leader Milton Obote and during a conflict in which Owori says that everyone had a role – from spying to looking for food. His was to keep soldiers supplied with drugs.

Kisenyi slum, which is infamous for its high levels of drug use

Homeless children in Kisenyi wait for clothes to be distributed

Musa Ssebagala and helpers prepare lunch for street children

A child packages homemade marijuana icigarettes inside a kiosk in Kisenyi

Jet fuel, shown in the bottle in the left-hand picture, is a cheap and readily available drug in Kisenyi

The street uncles want to help encourage those with addiction problems to find other avenues of self-expression beyond cheap and toxic drugs

Homeless children in Kisenyi

Left to right: Sam Mugadi, Musa Ssebagala, Mark Owori, Matua Francis and David Kyikabi

Related: ‘Money makes money’: Uganda’s Tarantino raises funds with rap

Musa Ssebagala serves lunch to children living on the streets of Kisenyi

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/32bnAB0