The big moment

BY ANNA REED

It was the fourth restaurant he had been to that night. The thirteen-year-old stood in the doorway with his hands to his mouth asking for any scraps of food the business could offer him. Finally, he was handed a striped trash bag of leftover injera bread and sauce that was left on the plates of customers who didn’t finish. He smiled as he walked out.

Looking around, he tried to hide the bag while he stood in a corner on the street. He snuck his hand in the bag quickly to grad a bite. Looking around again, he quickly started off toward a hill, his broken sandals slapping the broken streets.

He walked along the side of the street, still trying to hide the sack among his baggy clothing. His only good eye was darting around, looking for someone, trying to avoid someone.

But he was caught. A group of about five older teenagers, much bigger and stronger than he, crowded around him.

He reluctantly handed over his bag of leftovers. His food for the night had been taken from him. If he hadn’t handed it over, he would have been beat, he said. The older street kids had power over him.

After the older kids teased him for awhile and walked away laughing with the food, he was forced to go out again to several more restaurants and ask for more food.

In the hierarchy of street kids in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Temesgen is on the low end.

This is a story about what one kid has to do everyday to survive on the streets in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.