Gift of Advocacy (Digital Download)

How your gift has helped Laughter Africa children in the past year:

Just one example of our recent advocacy work was during the International Day for Street Children 2024. ‘Belonging’ was the theme for this years’ celebration.

On Friday 12th, to celebrate the International Day for Street Children, the street children in Bomeh performed a show for the community members. Over 200 people attended the performance. The idea behind the performance was to initiate a dialogue with the community members in order to foster a sense of belonging for the street children in their area.

The show was absolutely amazing! It was electric. The crowd was buzzing. It was over 2 hours long. The performance included acrobatics, juggling, singing, cultural dance, poetry, drama, modern dance and miming, interspersed with stories from some of the young people about their lives and what belonging means to them. To see highlights of the show, please visit here:

https://fb.watch/veh4RESBPJ/

Two of the community leaders, Mr James and Mr Kemoh also spoke during the performance about what belonging means to them. Mr James was very complimentary about Laughter Africa’s work. He thanked Laughter Africa and told the street children, “𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

Most of the street children had never performed in public before but they still had the audience enthralled. They were so proud of themselves. Amara, 13, who went on the streets after the death of his father, was one of the young people who spoke during the show. Amara talked about the death of his friend Almammy, 10, in 2020, who ended up being crushed and suffocated by the rubbish which fell on top of him when he was digging in the dump. He said, “𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨. 𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮. 𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙥𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. 𝘼𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚. 𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡. 𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙.”

During the show Musu and Ibrahim performed a poem that they had written. For 19 year old Musu, “𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙.” Musu has lived on the streets since she was 10 years old after her father died and she had no choice but to live with her aunt. Her aunt didn’t pay school for Musu and instead she was forced into child labour. Her best friend Aja died while living on the streets in 2019 after being beaten to death. She said, “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.”

Meanwhile Ibrahim, 18, who has lived on the streets for two years after the death of his father, said, ”𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑩𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚, 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕. 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.”

To see them perform the poem, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1093765608511645

Or you can read the poem below:

𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭

In the alleyways where shadows play,

I wander lost, in the light of day.

With hunger gnawing, and dreams deferred,

I navigate this world, unheard.

Through the dust and debris, I roam,

A silent witness to a broken home.

In Sierra Leone's streets, I find my stage,

A life of hardship, a silent rage.

No mother's embrace, no father's hand,

Just the harsh reality of this unforgiving land.

I dream of books, of pens, of rhyme,

But survival takes precedence, every time.

Oh, government, NGOs, can't you see?

The potential in a child like me.

With a little help, a guiding hand,

I could flourish, I could understand.

On this day, as we gather 'round,

Let my voice be heard, let hope abound.

For every child like me, with dreams so grand,

Deserves a chance to flourish, to take a stand.

Together, let's pave a brighter way,

For the street children of Sierra Leone today.

Meanwhile our main advocacy focus in 2025 and beyond will be to campaign for the Sierra Leone Government to repeal the following laws:

• Section 7 of the Public Order Act 19657;

• Section 13(1)(e) of the Criminal Procedure Act 19658; and

• Section 31 of the Summary Conviction Offences Ordinance 1906.

The ECOWAS Court ruled on 7th November 2024 that Sierra Leone must amend or repeal its loitering laws. It ruled that the law discriminates against poor vulnerable persons who may be going about their normal business at night, and that it also gives the police “excessive” power to arrest and detain, which is open to abuse.

It orders that Sierra Leone “as a matter of urgency must take steps to either repeal the law or amend it” to conform to its international obligations under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other appropriate instruments it has signed up to. It declares that the law violates the freedom of movement under international law, adding that the country should take “appropriate legislative measures to amend, modify or repeal the loitering laws.”

The case was brought by ADVOCAID with Amicus briefs submitted by the Consortium for Street Children and Amnesty International. I am very proud to say that Laughter Africa contributed a lot of research for the Amicus Brief submitted by the Consortium for Street Children so I am very proud of the small part that we played in this historic moment to deliver lasting change for children living on the streets!

Everyday I hear from the street children that they have been arrested for loitering. This ruling by ECOWAS is just the first step in making life better for them. We have a lot of work to do but we won't give up. This is just the beginning....