STONYHURST - 9 January 2007 - 537 words
Former street boy tells his story at Stonyhurst
It's a long way from the mean streets
of Dar es Salaam to one of Britain's top independent schools,
but if anyone deserves to make the journey it is Sospeter Vincent.
Orphaned at 10 in one of the poorest backwaters of Tanzania
which is, itself, the fourth poorest nation in the world
Sospeter was tempted to travel to the capital where he had to
fight to survive as a street boy.
But he had a burning desire to be educated and by strength of
will, commitment, integrity and honesty he won the hearts of charity
workers in Dar es Salaam and is now taking 'A' levels thanks to
support from East Anglia-based Child Street Rescue - Tanzania.
He has done so well that the charity brought him to this country
to attend a two-week British Council-approved English scholarship
in Norwich.
Simon Andrews, the Director of Studies at Stonyhurst College,
has supported the cause of street children in Tanzania for several
years and, when he heard about Sospeter, he volunteered to look
after him for a few days.
Part of that visit included a day at the College where he met
pupils and talked to them about his life of poverty as a street
boy. He told them how lucky they were and explained that he quickly
recognised that education was a better way out of his predicament
than following his fellow street boys who had to turn to crime
to survive.
"Having passed through numerous charities the length and
breadth of Tanzania, where he suffered various forms of abuse,
he came up against a brick wall, aged 16," said Vicky Robertson,
the chair of the charity's board of trustees.
"All he wanted was education so that he could better himself
for the benefit of his elderly grandmother and younger sister,
who he left behind in the remote region of Kigoma on the edge
of Lake Tanganyika."
Charities in Tanzania only help children up to the end of primary
school, aged 16, because secondary education is only available
in fee-paying schools. In addition children need to house and
feed themselves.
Street Child Rescue Tanzania heard about Sospeter and took
him on. Now aged 19 he lives in Dar es Salaam with nine other
boys. He is in charge of the house and its funds provided by the
charity and its workers are amazed at his integrity and honesty.
"There are huge temptations in the city but the boys are
doing well and Sospeter's example means it is the group where
we have the least problems, if any at all," said Vicky.
A devout Catholic, Sospeter's ambition is to study law in this
country and return to Tanzania to be a politician because, he
says, "there is much to do in my country."
Jonathan Hewat, the Admissions and Marketing Manager at Stonyhurst,
said: "Meeting Sospeter was a humbling experience. I gave
him a Stonyhurst prayer book and his reaction was touching. I
asked if we could send him anything to help him in Tanzania and
he just said 'send your love'.
"He is a wonderful young man and I know the Year 10 pupils
he met were similarly impressed by him."
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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