Friday, March 29, 2024

15 year old boy endures 8 hour bus ride underneath a bus in quest to find his mother

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A 15-year old boy shocked people when he was discovered to have travelled from Lundazi to Lusaka on a bus chassis.
The visibly distressed, soiled and hungry Frederick Mbewe was discovered by taxi drivers who were offloading luggage from the bus at Juldan Mortars bus stop along Lusaka’s Freedom Way.

Mbewe from Chief Magodi’s area said he decided to take the highly risky initiative of hiding and travelling under a bus because he had no money for a bus fair.

The teenager was headed for Solowezi to find his mother a Ms Charity Ngulube whom he said was married to a Mr Misheck Chinyundu a worker at Kalumbila mines.Mbewe said his decision to take such a risky venture was arrived at
after he was encircled in abject poverty and hunger after the demise of his only guardian- the grandmother.

The boy narrated that he started off from his village around 03:00 hours to take a brave 13-hour-walk to the bus station in Lundazi town.

“I had to wait at the station for the 01: 00 hours bus to Lusaka, so around 23 hours, I managed to sneak under the bus and found some space between the rear wheels, the journey was painful but what could I have
done? ” he said.

Driver of the bus Shadreck Musatwe said he could not believe that the boy arrived alive in Lusaka bearing in mind the dusty condition under a high-speed bus and in mostly bumpy areas.

“I thank God that this boy is alive because had he died, it would have been a very big issue where we could have even been linked to rituals,” he said.

Mr Musatwe said there was need for the boy to undergo a thorough medical checkup as he might have gotten mentally disturbed through head knocks and that heavy dust night have infected his chest.

The teenager was by press time taken to Millennium Police Post for questioning although the move was opposed by many suggesting that he had not committed a crime but that was under undue pressure.

57 COMMENTS

  1. oh no!!! Please whoever is in contact with this boy please help him.My heart cries out and I wish I could help him.Please can someone provide information as to how we can reach this boy.He is a risk taker and people with such attitudes are world changers.These are the kind of men Zambia needs but alas they are tossed by society.How can the police even arrest him!

    • Well said, he is indeed a brave boy , police should just help him find his family, and for mum most women stay by their children hope u did not lie u had no kids to marry ur husband.

    • Lusakatimes am so touched by this story please give us contact details of this boy.I am so moved and I want to help in any way I can.

    • mwanawakiwitu, wasuzizka chomene!! mbwenu, a dada na a mama ali makola? okulekezgya mwana pa ntowa!! ichi ni chi heni chomene!!! na dangwaniska chomene!!
      Zani kuno, timipenge makopara!! mwapulika a mbe’be!!!

    • I have been touched by the story. The boy is brave. He has a lot of determination. He has the X factor. Let’s help him. I have spoken to a friend at znbc about it. He says they will take up the story. Let’s put our ideas together of how we can help the boy. My email, [email protected]

  2. Miracles still happen and if this story has been acurately recorded, then this is a miracle. I cant believe a person can survive under such conditions- may be in a tarmac road.

  3. an amazing story indeed, lusakatimes please provide details of how wellwishers can assist this boy don’t let this story die out I beg of you, the youngman need assistance and this site and its readers could be an avenue to help him..thanks for sharing this remarkable story

  4. Thats a hero right there. We only see such in movies. Well done young man if i was in Zambia i could have had adopted you like what Sunny Chitombwa did with that baby in Zambezi.

    • Saulosi, it is comments like this when I am reminded you are human and just politically confused. Indeed that was heroic from the young man seeking to be reunited with his mother.

  5. Umwaiche ni daredevil!!Wow am extremely amused but my heart can’t help but feel for him.Even though his tracing his mum,i think she doesn’t give a rats ass about him.Let us know on how we can extend a helping hand pantu nyina lishilu.

  6. It should go in the guiness or whatever book of records for no other person will go and perform that fit under those conditions anywhere in the world. Just assist the boy to get to his mother.

    • @ Jah relief,kikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikiki wandepaula imbafu makaka kikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikikiki efwe ni MTN where ever u go kunsanga fumbafu iwe kikikikikikikikikikikikikikiki,i’ll b yo worst nightmare konse konse kikikikikikikikikikikikikiki…….

  7. Can police command immediately employ such gallant son of the soil or else take him to mushili commando. On our 50 years celebration let him b honored.

  8. This boy needs help these are the people who will should be helping…such adversity this boy has gone through at a young age; I see a warrior in this boy who should tell his story to his children and would gladly offer him employment and pay for his education if I was in Lusaka so his dream can come true.

    • Jay Jay noble sentiments but he is 15, employment would be child labour and therefore exploitative. But I agreed would also contribute to an education fund for this boy

  9. I am really surprised that the bus driver has more professional sense than the police officers.

    The boy needed to be taken to hospital for medical check up to ascertain his health condition following the ordeal. He does not need to be taken for question. This can be done after his visit to hospital.

  10. I just shed a tear after reading the story. If you have never been in a poverty stricken home you wouldn’t understand what was going on in his mind when he took the risk…well done young boy you are now one step away from reaching home. God bless your journey.

  11. Wow! Thank God for protecting him along the way. He is indeed a hero. Please send us contact info on where to reach him once he finds the mother so that they can be assisted in any way people can.

    • Yes, I agree with that. Religious organisations in Africa can be dubious, they really don’t understand Christ at all. They like to force things when in fact they should allow people to be at one with Christ naturally.

      Please let Social services child care, arrange a foster family to take care of him(they should give the family money grants for his upkeep).

      Meanwhile police should trace the deranged mother and step parent, arrest them! We want to look after our young in Zambia.

      Maybe we can start a contribution for him on LT??

  12. I cannot imagine the trauma this chap has gone through:
    absent parents:
    death of a guardian,
    13 hour walk from Chief Magodi to the Lundazi Bus Station,
    hunger, distress:
    yet brilliant and strong enough to get on the right bus, ‘Juldan’ which normally goes to Solwezi.

    Such resilience and determination is rare. Hope the Police will ensure his health and safety first.

    Ba Driver, I should commend you on your good driving.
    As for Juldan Motors Owner, do the honourable thing and see this boy through life. Keep an eye on this boy. You do not know why God brought him into your life. Blessings come in different shades.

    Such a determined boy needs to be taken to a home like ‘Twapia Boys Transient Home’ where he can find company and education while the government traces…

  13. I remember another boy younger than this one travelled in a similar way from mongu to inter city in Lusaka . he was going to kabwe to look for his father

  14. WERE IS MUSHOTA?

    COME AND TAKE THIS BOY TO SCOTLAND, HE NEEDS YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER OR MAY BE YOU ARE THE MS CHARITY NGULUBE (MOTHER) MASCAREDING AS MUSHOTA

  15. Am very much touched with this story,indeed this young man
    Deserves to be recorded in th Guinness book of records. Just like one blogger had put it,ba juldan motors pls don’t let that boy go off ur mind like that,consider him in any way u can,he might be
    Carrying a blessing 4 you to take u to higher levels.

    Please L t we need contacts so that we can make contributions
    To our hero in any way we,I salute him because he has proven him self that he is a risk taker.

  16. can some one please give me the details who i can contact to contribute in a small way for his up keep and possibly to locate the mother, am a parent and am so touched am currently in lumwana about 90km from solwezi. my fon numbers are 0966924201 or 0977670963.

  17. I can’t believe the pour of sentiments on this boy!
    It is like people have just come to realize that there are suffering children all over Zambia.

    People open your eyes, they are all around you. Could you have helped him if he approached you on the street and asked you for fare money so he could go find his mother in Solwezi? Most of you would have ignored him. You only sympathize with his situation because he took a risk. Common people be real!

    I volunteer with an NGO that takes care of such issues, I know what I am talking about. You want to help? There is plenty where that chap came from!

  18. now instead of taking him to the hospital you are busy taking him to the police, what is wrong with you fellow zambians, are your thinking capillaries blocked and you cant reason at all or simply you dont want to think and reflect on this sad development, lets be serious.

  19. LT please help us make a difference in this young man’s life. initiate fundraisers for him to go back to school. his mom is possibly tied up and unable to assist him.

  20. Oh GOD OF HOST, THANK YOU THAT THE BOY HAS BEEN SAVED FROM DYING. I CAN IMAGINE THE PUMPY, ROUGH ROAD AND COLD AIR PRESSURE DURING NIGHT TIME, THE DUSTY ROAD.
    WHERE IS CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI AND HIS CHILDREN SKILL COMP WHICH HE BOAST ABOUT? THESE CHILDREN NEED HELP UNLIKE WE HEAR OF STREET KIDS. THEY ARE FLOATING IN TOWNS EVERYDAY BECAUSE WE HAVE SELFISH LEADERS WHO ARE FOND OF TALKING RUBBISH.

  21. May he never experience poverty again. May the Lord God who kept his life throughout. his life and journey raise an army of helpers for him and his family. i speak divine help in all his life. I speak the favor of God upon him. The spirit of poverty will not torment his life and family any longer

  22. parents of this boy may not have the compassion most pipo have, why not create a fund to send this boy to a boarding school or such wouldn’t mind being a part of life of a hero in the making. I drove from Lusaka to chipata two weeks ago, the road in most places is under construction and detours are the main thing, these are so dusty I don’t know how the boy survived. THE

  23. Please mothers don’t abandon your children for a man. Maybe she’s dead or engaged in the Oldest Profession. How do you forget a child of your own belly? How come she never heard of the death of the grand ma?

  24. What are the police interrogating him for? They want to charge him for hitching an unauthorised hike? Leave him alone, the boy is a hero. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. Hadn’t he been creative which driver would have given him a ride without paying for it? They certainly wouldn’t have listened to his story. With a little help this little man can get himself out of his current desperate situation.

  25. Brave boy indeed, as i read, there is mention that “the teenager was headed for Solwezi to find his mother a Ms Charity Ngulube whom he said was married to a Mr Misheck Chinyundu a worker at Kalumbila mines”. The boy must be taken to First quantum Minerals offices (owners of Kalumbila mine) there in Lusaka and a Mr Chinyundu & his mother Charity, can then be identified and summoned through FQM Lusaka offices. The parent of this boy must be punished for abandoning their child. This must be a lesson to all parents that leave their children under the custody of other people.

  26. Touching story!! Just imagining how rough the journey was. The boy didnt eat anything i presume & he couldn’t sleep in the night lest he fell. Kindly provide details for us to help.
    And if the mother has read this story, U are such a disgrace!! How do U forget your own child??

  27. Wow! I have no words. Lord I thank you for preserving this boy’s life. You have a higher purpose for serving him. Give me a spirit of discernment of how I can play a role in helping this young man. May your will be done.

  28. Let’s concentrate on the way how we can help the young boy not condemn his mother. The story is very touching these are results of men who fathers and refuse the responsibility. Ant at the end a beautiful woman represent solo to the new man without disclose that in chief Mugodi left a creature . If we are ready to help these type of young people let us put our heads together and we form an association . For me it’s not a new story my nephew travelled from Mutendere compound to Chipata compound at the age of 4/5 but he asked the driver for a help he was staying with his aunt after his father passed way .

  29. Like mother like son!

    I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the boy’s mother was the first one to pull this stunt. Us females are slightly lucky, with a behind like mine it would not be hard for a woman running away from hunger to find her way in Solwezi. My take on this is that the mother had been dependent on her own mother for survival for too long. There is no mention of the boy’s father here, suggesting the boy was born outside wedlock. The fact that the mother’s savior is known to the boy suggest she never forgot her son but is probably scared of what the extra baggage would do to her life saving relationship. It is unAfrican to fail to support a genuine destitute in an African village. Is this an indication of how bad life has become kumawa????

  30. Maweeeeeeeeee! where is the Child & social welfare department? these are the issues they should jump to and assist in resolving them. The chaps are only present at courts looking for defilement, drug related & small child abuse cases. Ba LT naimwe in this era and age (of smart phones) you cant even provide a picture? Help to set up an account, where people can deposit some money to help this boy. My heart bleeds. I can’t imagine my children enduring this ordeal.

  31. Imagine two days of hunger besides the ordeal of walking on foot from Magodi sub-boma to Lundazi, not less than 40Km. He pitched himself to the hard chassis without dosing for about 15hrs. He is indeed strong spiritd and full of endurance par exellence. He believes in never say never! He needs care and good education so that what is hidden in him might come for many to benefit. Someone initiate a move.

  32. Ni tandizine ndi one kwacha nika guleko sapato nika guleko ka shirt.
    Late Paul Ngozi Sang such song.you might think it was just a mere song but it really happens.
    This life?

  33. This is a second story I have heard about boys travelling under the bus from the Eastern Province. The other was early this year. The boy did not make it – he was discovered before reaching petauke from Chipata. The boy got tired and was falling on some suspension, which caused mechanical problems to the bus.

  34. please can someone who knows the were about the boy contact me, I would like to help him. please contact me through my email. please please the boy needs support the little I have I want to help.

  35. Can someone with details of whereFrederick Mbewe is, contact Mildred Muleya on 0963 474086. Mildren Muleya is HR officer at Kalumbila Minerals and she has been communicating with the parents over the boy. The parents wants to make arrangements to take the boy to Kalumbila once they know where he is being held currently. you can also contact Charles Mulenga on 0963473663

  36. Give me this boy and I’ll eduacte him. Having survived such an ordeal, he can scale any height. He can do far better than my two naughty nephews who have failed to value my kindness. Please give me the boy and let me make steel out of his fire. I take pleasure in helping those who stand ready to help themselves – and the boy has it.

  37. Does it make sense to take the boy to the police station when what he needs most is medical attention considering the conditions under which he traveled? Why didn’t Mr. Musatwe who seemed to have been the reasonable person present take charge of the situation?

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