What's this young guy looking for? The secrets in the water...
In Namatala slum, children earn themselves some pocket money by searching rubbish pits and motor vehicle garages for scrap metals and plastic they can sell to local dealers. They can earn between 1,200 and 1,500 Ugandan shillings (24p–31p) per kilogram of these scrap items. In the main they use this pocket money to buy snacks that most of their parents cannot afford to buy for them. Occasionally they may buy soap or clothing.
So, when the rains come, the children gather around running water and shallow streams to search for this ‘treasure’ because they know it is often washed down from higher ground or rises through the mud in wet weather. This is one relatively safe way for them to earn themselves small amounts of money without being drawn into gambling or theft and the negative effects these would have on their young lives.