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STORY: UGANDA / ORPHANS
TRT: 2:28
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NAT
DATELINE: 27 OCTOBER 2009, KAPUAT, UGANDA
1. Med Shot, boy (John Bosco Abura) sitting on ground reading
2. Close up, face of boy sitting on ground, reading
3. Close up, hands of boy reading
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Bosco Abura, 15 years old:
"They steal cows. So that's how my father was killed. They shooted him two bullets. Here (motions to back), in the back."
5. Close up, black and white blurred footage of men standing on street corner
6. Close up, black and white footage of two men on motorcycle in traffic
7. Close up, black and white blurred footage of young boys sitting on curb next to traffic
8. Close up, black and white blurred footage of dirty canal
9. Close up, black and white blurred footage of young boys staggering toward camera
10. Med shot, young crippled boy with cane leaning against wall
11. Close up, face of boy sitting down, wrapped in black and red cloth
12. Med shot, shoulder and face of teen standing under roof, looking out toward other people gathered in field
13. Med shot, woman in blue top standing next to family of children on the dirt
14. Close up, smiling face of boy in green shirt, against green wall with black board
15. Med shot, man (Father John Bosco Ngoya) sitting on desk, telling a story
16. Med shot, boy in green shirt (John Bosco Abura) sitting at his desk in crowded classroom
17. SOUNDBITE (English) John Bosco Abura, 15 years old:
"I am studying. Everything I want, Father Bosco gives me. My life in Kampala, there was just beating me, but here, I am even sleeping in the house, I am even studying, I eat very well."
18. Med shot, arm and body of young girl in orange dress, sitting at desk
19. Wide shot, dirt road leading to school
20. Med shot, older girl sitting at desk, writing on paper
21. Close up, row of four students' heads seated at desks
22. Close up, girl wearing pink dress writing in notebook
23. Close up, UNICEF folder sitting atop desk
24. Med shot, girl in green dress turning, looking toward front of classroom
25. Wide shot, boy in green shirt walking with older man through school grounds
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Father John Bosco Ngoya:
"Oh, a life of begging is the worst you could ever entertain in your life. First, you're on the streets in the sunshine from morning until evening. You're begging, and not everybody likes beggars. So you are insulted, you are kicked, you are pushed off from the road. And your sustenance there is not assured."
27. Med shot, small girl standing next to car in traffic, begging
28. Wide shot, group of students playing football outside on school grounds
Fifteen-year-old John Bosco Abura has a tough story. Eight years ago, his father was shot and killed by cattle raiders in Karamoja in northeastern Uganda.
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SOUNDBITE (English) John Bosco Abura, 15 years old:
"They steal cows. So that's how my father was killed. They shooted him two bullets. Here (motions to back), in the back."
Destitute, he and his mother moved to the capital of Kampala, where she was struck and killed by a taxi, leaving John alone and without money, at the young age of ten.
He was forced to beg on the streets and scrounge for food. He slept in horrid conditions, and endured beatings and constant robberies at the hands of local gang members.
A government round-up of street children and beggars returned John and hundreds of others to a UNICEF-supported transit center in Karamoja.
Most of the returning adults and children are resettled in the region, but John had no family left. Enter Father John Bosco Ngoya, who helped start the Bokora Initiative for Sustainable Resettlement Programme, to help returnees like John. He took John under his care, and is providing him with an education, and food and shelter.
SOUNDBITE (English) John Bosco Abura, 15 years old:
"I am studying. Everything I want, Father Bosco gives me. My life in Kampala, there was just beating me, but here, I am even sleeping in the house, I am even studying, I eat very well."
John is one of 18 orphans who stay here. They attend class at the Kapuat Primary School, alongside nearly 900 other students.
This environment protects children like John from exploitation, abuse and violence, as well as providing them an education – all key factors in UNICEF's commitment to child survival, growth and development. It's a long way from the streets of Kampala. Father Bosco offers a stark appraisal of life on the streets,
SOUNDBITE (English) Father John Bosco Ngoya:
"Oh, a life of begging is the worst you could ever entertain in your life. First, you're on the streets in the sunshine from morning until evening. You're begging, and not everybody likes beggars. So you are insulted, you are kicked, you are pushed off from the road. And your sustenance there is not assured."
John's recovery has been remarkable. Using his newly acquired math skills, John says he wants to become a bank manager, a very different future from the one he imagined just a few short years ago.
