Every morning before he was allowed to go to school, she would put Robert to work digging the garden and carrying water for her, meaning that he often arrived late at school, too exhausted to study. Robert is a very honest boy, so when asked why he was not on time he would tell the teachers it was because he had been doing work for his grandmother. This angered her, so she would abuse him all the more and accuse him of crimes he hadn’t committed, such as stealing her money, in order to stop others in the area thinking badly of her.

In 2004, when he was just 11 years old, Robert took to the streets because the relationship with his grandmother had become so bad. However, life on the streets was so hard that after just one month he returned to his mother’s house looking for love and support. But Robert was rejected once again and his mother sent him back to his miserable life at his grandmother’s.

Robert had an older friend who advised him to go to the police about his grandmother’s treatment of him. Robert thought this was good advice and set off to the police station, only to change his mind along the way out of fear of his grandmother’s reprisal. Meanwhile, his so-called friend had visited his grandmother and told her that Robert was going to the police about her. She was furious and beat him severely when he came home, despite the fact that he’d never made it to the police station. She also stopped sending him to school, leaving him with the only option he had to get by; to become a sugarcane cutter. By September he had had enough. He had continued to stay there, despite the abuse, whilst he had received an education. But without this education there seemed to be little point in staying. So, in September 2007 he was once again forced to take to the streets of Jinja.

Education: Robert had completed two terms of Primary Four before his grandmother stopped him from going to school. He was last in school in August 2007. He desperately wants to return to school and is a dedicated student, as shown by the fact he stayed at his grandmother’s, despite the abuse he received, so that he could get an education. His favourite subjects at school are Maths and English. He also loves to play football and supports Liverpool FC.

Life on the street: Life on the streets is hard for Robert. He sleeps in the flower beds on Main Street with lots of other street children, as he doesn’t want to sleep in places with open sewage. Every morning, as soon as he gets up, he starts searching for bottles or scrap metal to sell for a pittance. Often he cannot find much of this as there are many street children trying to make ends meet in the same way. So Robert also carries heavy metal or dustbins for people in exchange for tiny amounts of money or a small plate of food. The strain of carrying such heavy loads often leaves him with pain in his chest, as his young body is not meant for such heavy weights. However, he has to eat and hates the constant feeling of hunger that he has to endure, day in day out.

Robert is a very sensible boy and shortly after coming to the street he was educated about the negative effects of drugs. He knows that they ‘spoil your brain,’ as he has sadly been able to witness in many of the street children around him. These sights mean that Robert now stands out as one of the few children on the street who has never taken drugs.