The cruel reality of “the street girls” of Congo is one known in depth by very few, if at all. A story of marginalisation and torture, For a Smile Onlus has been called upon to help eradicate it, not only by constructing the Talitha Cum Day Care Centre, but also by allowing these young girls to have their say and tell their stories. The interview was conducted by photo reporter, PIERO POMPONI.


It was a time of war and from what I’ve been told, I was still in the cradle. My parents were merchants in Kinshasa. When they came back to our village, the war was still going on, so we fled and my father was killed. My aunt told me that my parents wouldn’t listen to anyone. When they advised us against going away, they didn’t want to listen and the result is that both fell victim to the war. If their death was the will of God, or their fault, I am fine with it either way. When I was 7, I was living with my aunt who was expecting and one day she gave me two 5 litre tanks to go and fetch water from the well. On the way back the tanks slipped from my grasp and I spilt all the water. I called my aunt to tell her what had happened and she got mad; she began to say how she had welcomed me into her home, but my only answer was that I hadn’t done it on purpose. She left me with my older cousin, who beat me up and wounded me. The neighbours called the police and they arrested my aunt. I didn’t live on my own at my aunt’s; my younger sister lived there as well. I met a street boy who lived in a Care Home in the district of Bumbu. That guy accompanied me to the Care Home and I stayed there for 3 days, but then they told me to find another Care Home, where they took care of street children. God helped me and I started studying.
Have you been here long? For about two years.
Are you content with being here? Yes, I am very happy with it.
And what about studying? Yes, I study upstairs. One day we study, and another we sew. Yesterday we sewed at the nuns’ and today we studied and then my guardian left and I stayed here.
Now, being all grown up, what would you like to do? My most profound desire is to study because my sister is at the Yauma Care Home, and she is also studying. I would really like to go and live with her, but there isn’t enough room. I also want to study, and if in the future a good person wants to live me, I’ll be happy.
What would you personally like to say to all those who want to help you? I’d say that we are in need of supplies such as books, food and clothing.
Is your sister the daughter of your mother? No, she is the daughter of my stepmother, but I’ve always considered her my sister.
Why did your aunt kick you out of the house? It was said that there was too much distress in that place, that there was no need for me to stay and that actually, it would be better if I just went away. If I hadn’t met that guy, I don’t know what I would have done because it’s him who brought me to the Care Home. I stayed at the Bumbu Care Home, and then papa Jean took me to the Irebu Care Home.
How long had you been on the streets, before you arrived here? I didn’t stay on the streets. From my aunt’s house I went straight to the Bumbu Care Home where I remained for 2 days.
Have you ever been sexually abused? No.
What did you eat before arriving here? I was begging for money in order to eat. If a compassionate person passed they would give me something, otherwise I didn’t eat.



I was living with my parents in the district of Kingabwa , before they kicked us out.
We looked for a place to live with our father and we were received by the nuns of Liere Rue di Limete. Frequently I would go out to get medicine for my father, who was ill. The very same nuns told me to go in a Care Home and I left my father with two of my sisters. After a while, I met a gentleman who knew the Care Home, where I presently reside.
There are five of us sisters; the youngest has gone to another Care Home.
Are you the only one who is here? Yes.
And the youngest, is she in another Care Home? Yes.
The others are at home? No, two of them stay at their aunt and uncle’s on our father’s side, and we used to live with our father at the marketplace of the Care Home. That’s why I was brought to the Care Home. When I left the first one, I went back to the marketplace to look for my father and sisters, but he was already dead. I asked my sisters why they didn’t tell me that our father had died. They treated me badly and so I went away. I met a friend of my father who worked in the district of Beaux Marché. When I mentioned the Care Home of Irebu, he accompanied me there.
How long did you live with your father’s friends? I stayed there for a while but as soon as I saw that they treated me bad as well, I asked for my clothes to pack and go. One of them saw me and asked me where I was going. I answered that I couldn’t handle the insults and the physical abuse anymore, so he took me under his wing. I stayed over at his place with him and his wife and they treated me well, then she suggested that I go to the Care Home. So, afterwards, we went to the previous Care Home where they recommended this one here. That’s how I arrived.
How long did you stay at the market? Just a little while…..
While you were on the street what happened? Did they hit you? What did you eat? At the market I was with my brother, but the other boys who were older hit him and I couldn’t defend him. I would go and call the police but they would just ask ‘Don’t you have a family you can go and live with?’. So, the boys abused me sexually and continued hitting my brother. Before going to live at the Care Home, I used to live with my father’s family, but they hit me. My aunt Filma would say that she didn’t want to go back to Kisangani; therefore, she too lived at the marketplace with us.
My mother and father are from Kisangani. My brother used to live with my father’s family, but when he got sick of appendicitis, nobody cared enough to take him to the hospital. So he went to live with his mother’s family. There are three of us sisters on my mother’s side but we also have two half-brothers on my father’s side.
I accept living like this, without doing anything.
I advise you not to go out, because the street is not a suitable place for you.
I’d like to go out and trade and sell, so as to gain the money to buy myself clothes and linen .That is why I go out. Today I didn’t go out because I had a headache and I’ve been sleeping all day.
Stay here with the rest of the girls. In the outside world there’s always the risk of being raped and what is more you may contract a disease like AIDS.
My sister, who lives in the other Care Home, doesn’t want to stay there because the other children beat her up.
We suffered alongside my father, as we were the ones who had to find a way to get him his medicine. My uncles never got worried about his health. It was me who had to go out and ask for food and find the medicine for my father. I’ve never seen one of his brothers interested in his health. That is the reason why I hate them.
You, the people of For A Smile Onlus, help us by any means you have at your disposal so that we can study and become good people, and so that we may become responsible women who can integrate into society.