Hitting Hillbrow's streets

This is what I was told tonight...
"I ended up on the streets again at the age of 14. It was the last time I run away from home, which I had been doing since the age of 6. It wasn't a free choice. It was not where I wanted to live. I tried talking with my teachers they didn't believe what I told them about my home situation - the violence and fighting between my parents, the alcohol (I started to drive at the age of 10 when my parents where too drunk to drive home after being in the pub or at other events), the physical and sexual abuse, and often there wasn't food in the house. I went to a social worker and asked her to put me into a kid's home. She said that she would need to talk to my parents.
I knew they would go berserk if they found out I had even talked to her. It was "house rules" - family business is private and not to be talked about anywhere. I ran away again to escape the violence. The police found me and took me back home and I suffered another round of beatings and worse. At the time I couldn't talk about the sexual abuse, I was so ashamed and humiliated by my experiences, even now it is difficult."


By Tyrone Confidence Moyo
Volunteer November 2012