When you travel in Mogadishu, Children have
a large presence across the city. Everywhere you go, you see a child. In the
KM4 district, there are a lot of children with boxes of polish looking to shine
anybody shoes. As I was lingering around the neighborhood, I could see older
men treating the young children, some as young as 6, like they were slave for
that 4 minutes of getting their shoe cleaned. You can see the lost and
humiliation the child is feeling right across his/her eyes.
The child would often charge for
2,000Somali Shilling, which is exactly 9 cents in US dollars, for a clean
shining shoe. In those 4 minutes, it seems like the child is working as if they
would earn about $100. The way they are treated and humiliated is absolutely
disgraceful. They are sent by their parents to earn a living while the parent
is either selling pastries in a food stall or begging across the other street.
Mogadishu has changed and it seems as if
Mogadishu has forgotten its children. Things need to change and they need to
change now. A new Legitimate government is about to open its doors for the
first time in 22 years. The government must recognize there are a lot of
problems to deal with in Mogadishu. They cannot just wave their hands across
this problem.
The government must open up schools,
recreation centre’s, trauma classes and teach people about the environment and
how one can support or sponsor a child in their local community.
As the rich is getting richer, it really
does seem the poorer will only get poorer.
Mohamed Hassan (Dj)
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