A Guardian Angel for Africa’s Slums
In 2015, while working in the slums of Kanyanya, Uganda, Peter Lukaga met a young man called Seru. Like most young people in the slums, Seru was born in poverty and had dropped out of school in his early years. Without an education, and access to a job or other opportunities, Seru took the path of violence and crime. This scenario is typical for many young people born in the slums.
That year in 2015, Peter Lukaga took a keen interest in Seru – but this wasn’t unusual for Peter.
With only a degree in business and commerce and absolutely no social work experience, Peter understood that many young people in the slums take the path of crime as the path of least resistance. Armed with the conviction, if only he could support one young person to make it out of the slums, that person might have a chance at a better and more productive life.
Giving no thought to the fact that he was not gainfully employed and he did not have the funding of a big foundation behind him, Peter set out into the slums of Kampala to extend opportunities there.
He worked with many young people, using his personal resources to rehabilitate and support them out of the slums. Seru was only one of the many he worked with. Months later, Seru was involved in a violent incident. Peter nursed him for two months while paying his medical bills with the support of his (Peter) friends. All of whom gave, for Peter to continue doing the work he had started to extend opportunities into the slums. When Seru got better, he made his way back into the slums. Months later he was shot by the police in an incident that involved aggravated robbery with him as one of the robbers.
But this story represents the minority of cases Peter has worked with. For 14 years now, Peter Lukaga has traveled to slums in Uganda, Kenya and others in Malawi. His mission has been to rehabilitate young people and to extend opportunities. He has done this with his limited resources and the support of a few friends known to him. Some of the young people he has supported have found steady jobs doing casual labour. Their lack of education might prevent them from making bigger career shifts but they now live outside the web of crime and its trappings.