While he is not materially rich, he has obtained a level of education that most street kids have rarely achieved. With the death of his father when he was still a baby and scanty memories of his mother, Tembo has little knowledge of his parents. He does not even know his exact age.

Differences of opinion with his guardian, an aunty who had very little regard for education, pushed Tembo in the untamed streets when he was barely a child.

“I lived with my aunty who had a different view of life, she really wanted me to be business minded, she wanted me to be selling instead of concentrating on school, but for me education was more important so we differed, she burnt my uniforms and books, chased me from home and that’s how I stopped school in grade three and joined the streets,” Tembo remembers.

After five years of wandering the streets of Lusaka, Tembo was introduced to the Red Cross Society who had a drop in centre for the street kids in Garden compound.

The saviour

“My friends told me about Red Cross, that’s how we started going there and I joined the drama group and started attending lessons there. It was at this time that I attracted the attention of a Swedish lady who took me back to school,” says Tembo.

Coming from a background of drunkenness and rebellion, Tembo found school environment challenging. “I started school in grade five but I used to go there drunk and I later stopped school because I felt out of place. I was older than most of the kids and I felt I was too raw. Most kids came from well to-do families, had food at school and spoke good English, this put me off and I quit school for the second time and continued with my street life,” he narrates.

After leaving school for the second time, Tembo who acquired hair dressing skills through experience on the streets found a job as a barber. It was during this time that another opportunity for a better life went begging at Tembo’s door.

“The Lions Club of Munali had some money and wanted someone to sponsor, that is when one of the ladies who knew me from Red Cross came looking for me and I was re-admitted in school,” he recalls. “I received a thunderous welcome at my former school, my friends had missed me and my teacher was really nice. I was naughty but she knew how to handle me, am sure someone told her about my situation.” Although his school requirements were been taken care of, Tembo had no means of survival beyond school hours.

This forced him to find a job as barman at a night club, a combination he describes as challenging. “I needed shelter and food so my friend (also from the streets) and I decided to work at a night club and in the morning we went to school, it was not easy but what can you do?”

Despite the difficulties of surviving and fighting alcohol addiction, Tembo, who is naturally intelligent, was selected to grade eight, having passed his examinations with flying colours.

At secondary school, he was put in a music class where he later joined the drama club that help mould his life.

“I love music, theatre and art, I lost my job at the night club because I went to attend auditions for a film, I missed work and my boss fired me. I didn’t regret it because it was at the expense of something I love so much. My teacher then offered that I work at her house as a guard during the weekends,” he recalls.

High school

In 2002, Tembo made it to high school with impressive results and went to Kabulonga Boys High School. At high school, Tembo again fell prey to bad company, but this time he never dropped out of school. “I went to high school, feeling that I was the most intelligent, that I knew it all and I joined bad company. My grades went down but I managed to get out of the web and passed my grade 12 with distinctions and got a 100 percent government bursary to go to the University of Zambia,” Tembo says.


Tembo in the acting mood

Tembo who is now one of the founders of a local theatre company called Barefeet says during his school days theatre kept his spirit alive. “For me life has been a performance. Theatre, drama and music is life, I really appreciate my early encounter with theatre, and music, these things give you so much confidence and you get along, it helped me become assertive in life.”

Tembo who besides theatre, runs a tourism company called Lusaka Township Tourism, believes he has not achieved the real meaning of life despite having academic achievements.

“I think I am still struggling a lot, not in terms of food, I have my basics, but I still struggle because I never grew up in a home, I don't know how to behave appropriately, when it comes to that, all my life I work that’s all, I feel I still have a long way to go in life,” he confesses.

With his degree in psychology, coupled with his experience on the streets, Tembo through his theatre company, Barefeet, aim to empower children especially from the streets with life skills. He believes so much has to be done to help empower the youths and curb the problem of street kids.

“Kids need a place to stay, to have constant adventure. They need challenges to channel their energies to, but we don't meet their needs and their curiosity.

“There is need for a place where kids can be kids, that is why with Barefeet, we give chance to the kids to think, be creative and have something to channel their energies to. They need someone to listen to them and meet their psychosocial needs.”

Barefeet started with a few modest workshops with children living on the streets of Zambia and five years now it has grown into the most exciting and inspiring project in Zambia. It uses creative arts, theatre, dance, music and creative writing as a tool to engage and support the development of children most at risk of disengaging from their communities.