Evening falls in Paris Congo, one of the popular neighborhoods of N'Djamena, capital of the Republic of Chad.
A crowd gathers at the intersection of Ave Mobutu Avenue and the dry canal-turned-dump that runs through the neighborhood.
A moment ago, a boy was pushing a two-wheeled cart with which he was transporting an old computer with his screen.
He is now connecting the sound cables to it.
Two strategically placed rickety speakers line the dance floor as African hip-hop spits out at full volume.
The adrenaline of the dancers betrays their origin.
Between each song, A defiantly approaches B and hits him on the head with his open hand.
B turns and lunges back at C's head, continuing a wheel that only stops at the start of the next song.
Aleva Ndavogo Jude does not intervene, he knows how it works because he has been one of them.
It is the fight for status, the law of the street, recognizable by someone who has grown up among boys in a neighborhood or a town anywhere in the world.
The difference is that for these guys the challenge doesn't end when they get home, because they don't have it.
It is estimated that there are more than 100 million minors living on the streets in the world.
The real number is difficult to calculate.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) attributes it to the methodological difficulties derived from the mobility of children and the lack of updating in the data handled by the States, mainly due to the lack of agreement on the definitions.
The UN uses the terms “children who work and/or live on the street”, “street children” and “children who have street connections”.
Since 2016, Ndavogo has worked with more than 1,200 street children.
In this time they have managed to get 444 of them to return to live with their biological families.Antonio López Díaz
Aleva Ndavogo Jude fell in love with dance.
She loved to dance and her obsession led him to drop out of school and be disowned by his family.
After living homeless for two years, and after much effort, he became a successful dancer and choreographer, creating his own group with which he won different awards that opened the door to the international circuit.
He toured different parts of the world showing a fusion between modern and traditional Chadian dance.
Ndavogo understood that dance is a therapy that can change mentalities and turned his group, Tchado Star, into the tool to motivate children living on the streets and reintegrate them into society, founding the organization from which he works with them.
They thought it would be useful to have a center to welcome them.
In December 2016 they rented premises and founded the Dakouna Espoir space, from where they work to improve living conditions, socio-educational, socio-professional and socio-economic reintegration of minors living on the sidewalks of N'Djamena.
“The kids steal, they smoke drugs, they suffer sexual abuse.
We use dance to attract them, to create a bond of trust,” says Ndavogo.
The artist organizes dance performances almost daily, in different parts of the city.
In Chad there are no dance schools, so this man is helping prepare ten young people who have decided to be professional dancers.
Some accompany him on street performances, others are regulars, and still others join in as the session progresses.
Stephan is also a dancer and Aleva's right-hand man.
He accompanies him in the performances. Antonio López Díaz
During these performances, they look at the attitude of the little ones to see if they are ready to take the next step and start working with them.
“Dancing, they feel free;
the public applauds them and that motivates them”, assures Ndavogo.
Interestingly, the street gives back to the organization for what it does for the children.
After the performance, Ndavogo himself passes the cap around the audience to cover the costs of the project.
At this moment they are working with 67 boys who are housed in their hostel, which means about a thousand euros a month in health care and food expenses.
You also have to deal with the rent of the premises.
In October they came to spend six days without being able to enter, until they paid the arrears.
In addition to the income from the performances, they receive donations and occasional help from the Ministry of Social Action.
Ndavogo explains that the next step is to talk to the child and find out his commitment.
“We take them to our center and start with psychosocial work.
They tell why they left home and how long they have been on the streets.
Poverty and separation from parents affect personality.
There are some who prefer to start over in a place where they are unknown.
Since they started, they have found several from the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Many of them have landed in Chad fleeing attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
In the organization they take care that the boys learn a trade by organizing different professional workshops.
“Now there are 50 enrolled in the school from primary to the last year.
15 in professional training in mechanics, welding and carpentry”,
During these performances, they look at the attitude of the children and see if they are ready to take the next step and start working with them.Antonio López Díaz
Once they are off the street, if the child has a family, the organization tries to contact them and introduce them to the new situation.
Some parents thank the organization for their effort and welcome the child back into the family, but many give up on them.
Then the foster families enter the scene.
At Dakouna Espoir they also take care of the health of the little ones.
In February they got a group of Chadian doctors to give them a complete check-up.
Recently, they have carried out the first phase of awareness and voluntary detection of HIV/AIDS for the young people of the center.
On their Facebook page they recount the progress of the workshops they teach and share anecdotes, such as the one about the boy who was fully dressed by the owner of a clothing store that she saw him living on the street.
In December 2021 they achieved the official recognition of Dakouna Espoir as an association for the protection of children.
They hope that this will help them to make the future of the organization better.
Since 2016 they have worked with more than 1,200 street children and in this time they have managed to get 444 of them to return to live with their biological families.
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