Shikella: business boys and girls in the context of begging and street work in Addis Ababa

This paper explores the work experiences of boys and girls on streets in Addis Ababa. Based on seven months of child-focused research methods, it discusses children’s livelihoods trajectories, focusing on begging as an often overlooked but crucial aspect of daily and generational reproduction. Begging is constructed within the wider context of work in which children earn resources in order to contribute towards vulnerable family livelihoods. The interpretation of the data draws much insight from recent concepts and theories in childhood studies. It is argued that children who beg on streets are not passive victims of their circumstances, but are aware of the fact that begging is not a perpetual predicament in their lives. The activity of begging is complex and fluid, and is based on the shifting nature of the children’s livelihoods, geographies and socio-economic conditions. Age, gender, ethnicity, class (intra-group) and social maturity are useful variables shaping both their spatio-temporal participation in and withdrawal from the activity. The perception of the public towards the children’s involvement in begging and the children’s own perceptions and reactions to it differ. The findings suggest that, as opposed to the children who construct their engagement as shikella, or simply business, the public has an ambivalent attitude, associating them with aspects of the culture of poverty, and viewing them either ‘at’ risk or ‘as’ risks. The study concludes that interventions to improve the children’s lives need to take more seriously their transient experiences, resources and social skills.