Living down and out
Living down and out Keeping warm by a fire. Pictures by JACK ZIMBA. Beauty says she wants to own her own shop. A boy displays a V symbol. Still can smile. The kids play soccer. JACK ZIMBA THE morning rush-hour traffic is heavy and slow on the fly-over on Church Road, Lusaka, as people get to their daily work. But under this same bridge, it is a different day for homeless children who have made this sordid place, reeking with urine, their home. I find about 25 kids, some as young as 10-years-old, including girls, huddled together under the bridge. Almost everyone has a small bottle of bostik held to their mouth or concealed under their clothing. They sniff on the clear liquid for a kick. The feeling is like sniffing petrol. When they are high, the kids become zombies. Their speech becomes slurred, their eyes squint and lips become dry and parched. Others seem completely out of sync with life itself, whether due to substance abu...