Together we can make a difference
June 4, 2011
Street Kid, Whose Child? Together we can make a Difference this was the theme for this year’s commemoration of the Day of the Street Child, hosted by Streets Ahead, an organisation assisting children living and working on the streets.
The aim was to inform the public of the plight of these children (the majority being teenagers) and how society can make a difference in the lives of these children. The event was held at Harare Gardens on May 27, with the Minister of Labour and Social Services Paurina Mpariwa as the guest of honour, and children had a chance to participate and showcase their skills.
There is often a misconception that street children to do not have families, do not care about families, or are on the street to cause trouble, when in reality, socially, certain homes may be the reason children live and work on the streets.
The programmes coordinator at Streets Ahead, Shaibu Chitsuku, expressed the concern that: “We have short-changed things in our communities especially because of what we are doing in our homes.”
Some of the reasons people come on the streets include abuse; delinquency; poverty, where children are no longer assured of the basic human rights such as food, shelter, safety; family breakdowns in its various forms (particularly the issue of step-parenting); orphanhood; urbanisation and overcrowding, as well as the lack of parental guidance.
Some children are no longer safe in their homes and as a result they choose to come onto the streets. In other cases, relating to HIV and Aids, there are deaths in families and often the extended family has their own burdens to carry and cannot look after the children left behind.
Everyone in society, child custodians, government, local authorities, and children themselves have a role to play. “It is when we do something that we correct the problem,” Chitsiku said.
The children living on the street are exposed to a lot, such as crime and HIV, while some have had no exposure to living in a home, because they have been born and raised on the street.
Streets Ahead’s duty over the years has been to persuade these children to leave the streets and live in a home environment. Because of these efforts there has evidently been a decrease in children in the streets.
The aim is not to impose, but to influence, so this way Streets Ahead has come up with a strategy to get these children in homes.
The first step is to establish relations with street children, by visiting the streets and reaching out.
The next step is to invite them to the “drop-in centre” where Streets Ahead obtains further information on the children.
The centre provides activities that rehabilitative to influence children to go home.
Once a file has been created for the child, the family is then traced and assessed to see whether it would be possible to reunite the child with the family.
If the child is willing this is when the reunification process begins and the child is left at the home.
Even then there is post-reunification support given to the child and the family.
So far 70% of the children stay in these homes permanently and this has helped contribute to the decrease of children on the streets.
However, the responsibility of this is not only with Streets Ahead but the general society, to stop abuse, avoid discriminating and stigmatising children, provide education, food and shelter and encourage strong family unions.
Together we can make a difference.
The aim was to inform the public of the plight of these children (the majority being teenagers) and how society can make a difference in the lives of these children. The event was held at Harare Gardens on May 27, with the Minister of Labour and Social Services Paurina Mpariwa as the guest of honour, and children had a chance to participate and showcase their skills.
There is often a misconception that street children to do not have families, do not care about families, or are on the street to cause trouble, when in reality, socially, certain homes may be the reason children live and work on the streets.
The programmes coordinator at Streets Ahead, Shaibu Chitsuku, expressed the concern that: “We have short-changed things in our communities especially because of what we are doing in our homes.”
Some of the reasons people come on the streets include abuse; delinquency; poverty, where children are no longer assured of the basic human rights such as food, shelter, safety; family breakdowns in its various forms (particularly the issue of step-parenting); orphanhood; urbanisation and overcrowding, as well as the lack of parental guidance.
Some children are no longer safe in their homes and as a result they choose to come onto the streets. In other cases, relating to HIV and Aids, there are deaths in families and often the extended family has their own burdens to carry and cannot look after the children left behind.
Everyone in society, child custodians, government, local authorities, and children themselves have a role to play. “It is when we do something that we correct the problem,” Chitsiku said.
The children living on the street are exposed to a lot, such as crime and HIV, while some have had no exposure to living in a home, because they have been born and raised on the street.
Streets Ahead’s duty over the years has been to persuade these children to leave the streets and live in a home environment. Because of these efforts there has evidently been a decrease in children in the streets.
The aim is not to impose, but to influence, so this way Streets Ahead has come up with a strategy to get these children in homes.
The first step is to establish relations with street children, by visiting the streets and reaching out.
The next step is to invite them to the “drop-in centre” where Streets Ahead obtains further information on the children.
The centre provides activities that rehabilitative to influence children to go home.
Once a file has been created for the child, the family is then traced and assessed to see whether it would be possible to reunite the child with the family.
If the child is willing this is when the reunification process begins and the child is left at the home.
Even then there is post-reunification support given to the child and the family.
So far 70% of the children stay in these homes permanently and this has helped contribute to the decrease of children on the streets.
However, the responsibility of this is not only with Streets Ahead but the general society, to stop abuse, avoid discriminating and stigmatising children, provide education, food and shelter and encourage strong family unions.
Together we can make a difference.
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