The Ugandan teenager featured in a Bermuda-made documentary is a smart, well-mannered kid who dreams of one day being an engineer.

Trouble is the teenager, called simply Joseph in the movie, is an orphan living on the streets of Kampala. Instead of university entrance exams, Joseph worries about where his next meal will come from and whether he'll survive long enough to see it.

Charles Reilly of Lime Productions followed Joseph for a couple of days to make 'Walking with Joseph'. The film aired on Tuesday as part of the Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF).

"Joseph was interesting in the fact that he was too old to be in an orphanage, but he was too young to sort his life out," said Mr. Reilly.

Joseph is one of what some estimate to be six million Ugandan orphans. About half are AIDS orphans and the others are mostly war orphans.

On a recent trip to Uganda, Mr. Reilly's impression was that the local community treated orphans very poorly.

"Joseph's life is in danger every day," said Mr. Reilly. "If a business man thinks there are too many street kids outside he will literally go outside and shoot them.

"The police won't do anything about it. Not only does Joseph have to fend for himself for food and things like that, he also has to dodge bullets."

Joseph was two years old when his father died and 14-years old when his mother died from malaria. Until the death of his mother, Joseph had a relatively stable life. He went to school and learned to read and write in Luganda. He speaks English quite well although he has some trouble comprehending it.

"When his mother died, he was shunned by his local community, which is reverse to how we would look at it here," said Mr. Reilly. "Because the country is so poor they look at it like, 'your mother and father died therefore you are the problem and you caused it'. Next-door neighbours wouldn't take him in."

Mr. Reilly met several street children before picking Joseph for the film.

He said: "One of the saddest cases I met was a kid who was about six years old. He had been on the streets for two weeks. "He went home and discovered that his father hacked to death his mother.

"The police came and arrested the father, but the father gave them 20 bucks and they released him."

Unfortunately, Mr. Reilly was unable to get in touch with the child a second time. He met Joseph on his second day in Kampala.

"What is amazing about him is that when he comes on camera you see a poor African street kid, but when you get into it, he is quite a clever kid," said Mr. Reilly. "He is not stupid."

Luckily, Joseph is now being helped by both Mr. Reilly and an orphanage in Kampala, Restorers of Hope, started by Bermudian Christine Atcheson.

"One of the things I want to do with the film is get him off the street, into school, and into an apartment," said Mr. Reilly.

To do this for five years would cost $5,000. The ratio of Bermuda dollars to Ugandan shillings is 1 to 5. It would cost one dollar a day to feed Joseph three square meals.

"That would give him his life," said Mr. Reilly. "Once he is finished school he will be able to go out and get a job and fend for himself."

Mr. Reilly still keeps in contact with Joseph through the Ugandan translator he used while making the film.

Although Mr. Reilly said Ugandans are known for their friendliness, filming 'Walking with Joseph' was sometimes dangerous. At one point, Mr. Reilly was threatened by local gangsters.

"In one scene, Joseph was washing his clothes in the river," said Mr. Reilly. "It was the only day I didn't take my translator with me.

"The river was controlled by a drugs gang. These two guys came out and started demanding money off me. I was filming Joseph at the time.

"If I had tried to run I would have done myself more damage than staying and trying to negotiate.

"On my unedited tape you can hear the guys talking in Lugandan. They are saying: 'I'll just punch him, no stab him and grab the camera', or 'you hold him down'. Then you hear me go, 'excuse me, hey, hey, I'm filming here!"

Mr. Reilly was saved by a gathering crowd.

"That crowd saved my life," he said. "Out there they have a philosophy when it comes to crime. If you steal from someone you better hope that the police get there first. If they don't get there first the local crowd will stone you, beat you, set you on fire, or kill you.

"That is the local justice system. Because a crowd gathered I was able to walk away."

He said the first thing that struck him about the city of Kampala were the large number of machine guns.

"I have never seen so many machine guns in my life," he said. "The hotel we stayed at had a bomb squad checking every car that came into the hotel.

"There were guys walking around with machine guns. You go to the supermarket and there are three guys walking around the supermarket with machine guns protecting everyone. You don't go down to Lindos and see a guy walking around with a machine gun.

"It is a bit disturbing, but you realise after a while that that is the reality of the place."

He said returning to wealthy Bermuda again was a bit of a culture shock to his system.

"When I came back to Bermuda I had close to two weeks where I went very introverted," said Mr. Reilly. "That is very unusual for me.

"I am usually out there and can speak to anyone. It was not just the shock of meeting Joseph; it was the shock of going to a third world country and seeing what goes on there."

But he said he was inspired by Joseph. Despite his hardship, Joseph remained optimistic.

"Often films about Africa are depressing," he said. "When you meet someone like Joseph, he is in a bad situation, but he is not depressed about it.

"He is trying to get out of it and he is trying to do something about it. All he needs is a little help."

To make a donation to help Joseph or other orphans in Uganda go to the Restorers of Hope website at www.restorersofhope.org.

Email Christine Atcheson at godshope@therock.bm, telephone her at 297-4876, or email Mr. Reilly at getme@transact.bm or telephone him at 238-4580.

He hopes to return to Uganda next year to make another film about children there.

For more information about Mr. Reilly go to his company web page at www.lime.bm.