04/05/2026
My name is Mrs. Chama, and I live in Ibex Hill.
I met Joshua at Hungry Lion on Cairo Road on 02 April, 2026.
Joshua Mapiki is 12 years old. He was born into a rich family. They lived in Rockfield, Chalala, with his parents. Life was good. There was always food in the house. He had nice clothes and video games. He went to school without worrying about anything.
Joshua was not alone. He had a twin sister named Jamar. He also had two older sisters. One of them was Josephine; in the picture attached, she is dressed in a green top. The other was Stephanie.
They were a complete and happy family.
Then everything started to fall apart.
His parents died, one after the other, in quick succession. It happened so fast that the children did not even have time to understand it. One moment they had everything; the next moment they were alone.
After the death of their parents, the siblings moved in with their aunt in Lilayi Residential Area.
But things were not the same.
Instead of comfort, they faced coldness. Instead of love, they faced blame. Relatives spoke badly about their family. They said their parents had gotten their wealth from satanism. They said the family was cursed. No one wanted to be close to them.
The children felt unwanted.
Then Jamar, Joshua’s twin sister, got sick. It was sudden. Within a few days, she died.
Joshua lost the one person who understood him the most.
Josephine could not take Jamar’s death. She became quiet. She stopped eating well and stopped talking to people. The pain became too much for her.
Not long after, Josephine took her own life.
Now two sisters were gone.
Life became even harder. The home in Lilayi no longer felt like a home. There was too much pain and too much rejection.
Joshua and his sister Stephanie could not stay anymore. They left and started living on the streets.
Street life was hard. They begged for food. They slept outside. They tried to survive each day.
Stephanie tried to help. She began selling plastic packaged water, known as “drip,” to motorists along Lumumba Road.
One day, while she was selling, a drunk minibus driver hit her.
She died there.
Joshua watched his sister die.
He was now the only one left.
Later, an aunt picked him up and took him to Kalikiliki Compound. He stayed there for a short time, but life was still difficult. There was not enough food. He was always hungry.
Joshua made a hard choice.
He left and went back to the streets.
At least there, he could beg and find something to eat.
The boy who once lived a comfortable life was now surviving on the streets.
The only thing that reminds him of his family is a picture of his siblings, which he always carries with him.
After Joshua shared his story with me, I felt sorry for him and wanted to help. I told him to meet me the next day at Hungry Lion along Cairo Road at exactly 10:00 hours so I could take him to Soweto Market to buy clothes for him. I also wanted to first talk to my husband and see how best we could help.
My plan was to discuss with my husband whether we could take Joshua to a private boarding school, where he could stay and only come to our home during school holidays.
Fortunately, my husband agreed.
The next day, I went and waited.
Joshua never came.
I went back again the next day and the next.
It has now been a month.
Joshua has not shown up.
