Ali is probably about 15 years old. He was born in a small village near the border of Uganda. He tells us that he lived in the same village, with his grandparents from age two years until twelve years.

Ali does not know his mother and does not know her name. His father lived in the same village, but in a different house with two wives. His father was an angry man and would periodically loose his temper and beat Ali if he ever misbehaved.

His grandparents sent him to school for 4 years, until one day his father decided he would stop going to school and attend to his farm (shamba)! Ali could not bare the prospect of tending to his father's farm for ever — so he ran away from home.

It was a long journey before he reached the streets of Mwanza, first he went to an orphanage, then to a convent and finally he arrived in Mwanza and our work with him began…