|
|
|
Background info on street children
It is estimated that there are 200,000 street children in Ethiopia out of
these 11 thousand are found in the city of Adama/ Nazareth alone. 25% or 3
thousand of them live on the street with no adult care; the other 75% or 9
thousand are children on the street who earn a living by doing some
activity on the street during the day, but |
|
|
have a home
to go to at night with their families or friends. 25% of the 11 thousand
are girls and 75% are boys. |
The increasing number of street children in Adama/ Nazareth is now a major
problem. According to the findings of one study, only 35% of the street children
in Adama/Nazareth had parents residing in the city. Around 41% of the children
had parents living in rural areas. In addition, the findings of the study show
that the most pressing needs are: food, shelter, security, medical care,
educational support,
livelihood work, etc... Furthermore, the study points out those families who
send their children from rural areas to work in the cities have negatively
influenced the growth of street life.
EACH CHILD IS UNIQUE
“DO you think every child who lives or makes a living on the street is a bad
child”
“I wish that our community and government would love us and guide us and not be
ashamed of us” [street children]
Back to top
•
Who are ‘street children’?
•
How many are there?
•
What about girls?
•
Where are their families?
•
What about the authorities?
•
Victims, villains or heroes?
•
Prevention
•
Reintegration/reconciliation
•
Rehabilitation Program
Who are ‘street children’?
The term ‘street children’ is hotly debated. Some say it is negative – that it
labels and stigmatizes children. Others say it gives them an identity and a
sense of belonging. It can include a very wide range of children who: are
homeless; work on the streets but sleep at home; either do or do not have family
contact; work in open-air markets, live on the streets with their families, live
in day or night shelters, spend a lot of time in institutions (e.g. prison). The
term ‘street children’ is used because it is short and widely understood.
However, we must acknowledge the problems and wherever possible we should ask
the children what they think themselves. In reality, street children defy such
convenient generalizations because each child is unique.
Back to top
How many are there?
Nobody knows. Street children are not easy to count because: they move around a
lot, within and between cities; they are often excluded from
‘statistic-friendly’ infrastructures (schools, households etc.); definitions of
‘street children’ are vague and differing. Numbers of 'street children' have
often been deliberately exaggerated and misquoted in order to sensationalize and
victimize these children. Street children have the right to be accurately
represented. City-level surveys conducted by local organizations and supported
by a clear definition are more reliable. In many countries, there is anecdotal
evidence that numbers are increasing, due to uncontrolled urbanization (linked
to poverty), conflict and children being orphaned by AIDS. Most statistics are
just estimates e.g. Kenya: 250,000; Ethiopia: 150,000; Zimbabwe: 12,000;
Bangladesh: 445,226; Nepal: 30,000; India: 11 million (these are based on broad
definitions of ‘street children’). Regardless of the statistics, even one child
on the streets is too many if their rights are being violated.
Back to top
What about girls?
“I have been a street girl since my father made a ‘woman’ of me. I carry on in
the world but I am really dead” (17-year-old girl). In general there are fewer
girls than boys actually living on the streets (studies indicate between 3% and
30% depending on the country). This is for several reasons. In many cultures,
there is much greater pressure for girls to stay at home than boys. Research
shows that girls will put up with abuse at home for longer than boys but that,
once girls make the decision to leave home, the rupture is more permanent than
for boys. Girls are also less visible on the streets as they are often forced or
lured into brothels. Even though there are fewer street-living girls than boys,
they are extremely vulnerable to human rights abuses both on the street and when
they are arrested. However, it is important to note that street boys are also at
risk of sexual abuse and exploitation as well as girls.
Back to top
Where are their families?
Relatively few street children are actually orphans (although these numbers are
increasing in some countries due to AIDS). The majority of street children are
still in contact with their families and/or extended families. Many of them work
on the streets in order to contribute to their family’s income. Those who run
away often do so because of physical, psychological and/or sexual violence or
abuse at home. Family breakdown is also common in the case of re-marriage and
problems with step-parents. apparently, many projects try to reunify street
children with their families. However, this is a complex and frustrating task
that requires much specialised counselling to address the root causes why the
child ran away in the first place. Unfortunately, in many cases, reunification
with the family fails, or is not in the best interests of the child. In these
cases alternatives such as fostering, group homes and residential centres are
needed. Street children are rarely alone, even if they have no family contact:
“Here we do not have any kind of blood relation with each other. But when we are
in the street with other friends, though we do not have any name for our
relation, we are like a family. We are all actually members of our street
family.” [Street Diary, Save the Children Fund -UK Nepal, 2001]
Back to top
What about the authorities?
Ironically, street children are often at greatest risk of violence from those
that are responsible to protect them – the police and other authorities. Police
often beat, harass, sexually assault and even torture street children. They may
beat children for their money or demand payment for protection, to avoid false
charges, or for release from custody. They may seek out girls to demand sex. For
many street children, assaults and thefts by the police are a routine part of
their lives. Some are even killed by police. Very rarely are those responsible
brought to justice.
Back to top
Victims, villains or heroes?
Many images and stories portray street children either as helpless victims,
dangerous criminals or heroic survivors. The reality is usually somewhere in
between. They show incredible resiliency and initiative in the face of desperate
circumstances. They have to be resourceful and strong in order to survive. But
some do not survive. Others can only do so by breaking the law. We should
respect their individual stories and characteristics. Each child is unique.
Street Children and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
* Probably no environment contributes more to potential violations of the CRC
than a childhood and youth spent outside the institutional framework of family
and school in the usually hostile environment of the streets.
Street life ministry is serving children who’re categorized as follows: those
already economically and socially engaged on the street, those economically
engaged on the street but stay at home for the night and those who’re on the
verge of coming out on to the street. Its main objective is helping such people
to be reintegrated into society and start leading a normal and peaceful life.
Back to top
There are three major activities involved in our street and vulnerable
children’s program:
* Prevention
* Reintegration/reconciliation
* Rehabilitation
Prevention: This preventive measure takes into consideration those
children who’ve recently run away from their homes and have just begun to live
on the street, or those who’re about to come out from their home environment
because of economic disadvantages, loss of one or both parents, or because of
violence of one form or another, we try to counsel them and get them reconciled
with their parents or relatives. We try to reach the parents and create a
conducive family environment. We also attempt to show them the high risks of
street life.
Those that have demonstrated dramatic change after receiving counseling service
are given material assistance and reconciled:
Illustrations of this type Actually engaged in the work The boy depicted
in the photo as counseling being offered, named Ismael Sofania, went on to save
money by doing different tasks, went on to sew seams and hem clothes like
trousers and skirts.
Back to top
Reintegration/reconciliation: These are children who have actually left
their home and have recently or for a long time been economically and socially
engaged on the street. They left home for disagreeing on different levels, some
because of drug addiction, others of violence and abuse, still others for
economic pressures. Counsel is given to them and they’re clothed and returned to
their families with gifts as a peace offering and reconciliation is made.
An Illustration: Abbu Biru was born in the small town called Alemtena
about 100 kilometers south-east of Addis Ababa, on the way to Awasa. He grew up
with his father and mother on a farmstead near the town. They owned a plot of
land where they planted and collected lots of tomatoes. One day, however, he was
persuaded by his close companion to sell crates of tomatoes and with the money
they got to run away to Mojo and then to Addis Ababa where, they thought, life
would be much more attractive than their drab country life in Alemtena . But as
soon as they reached Addis, life turned out to be awfully hard, many days
without food, no home to go to, and no future. Then they came down to Nazareth
where nothing better came to their lives. They roamed the streets of Nazareth
for several months and finally, Abbu Biru met some of the staff from “Remember
the Poorest Community” and was counsel to be reconciled with his parents. He was
convinced of the uselessness of street life and was willing to go back to
Alemtena and make peace with his father and mother. He’s back in Alemtena and
settled there.
A reconciliation ceremony after arriving at his home and after being reunified
with his parents and siblings in his village home
Back to top
Rehabilitation: This program involves those who are totally
engaged on the street economically and socially, limited to living in one place,
not migrating from town to town. They need to have a lot of counseling much work
has to be done with them so that they reform their character. They have to be
persuaded so that they begin to accept the fact that being employed in some
useful activity is the best thing for their well-being. After they get this
conviction, they are provided with the opportunity to be engaged in some form of
self-employment.
An Illustration: Natnael Girma was born in the town of Asella, about 75
kilometers south of Nazareth (Adama). When he was about fifteen years of age, he
and his buddy contrived how to leave Asella and come to Nazareth which, they
thought, was a much more pleasant place to live work and live in. So, they sold
a couple of Natnael’s parents’ sheep and with the money they came to Nazareth
and squandered it on drinking alcoholic beverages, chewing “chat” (an addictive
type of leaf), etc. Their money was gone within a few days and they found
themselves roaming the streets and begging for food. Later on, they even started
engaging in criminal activities. They were arrested and imprisoned a few times.
After coming out of prison the last time, Natnael found street life unbearably
hard. Finally, however, he met people from “Remember the Poorest Community” who
advised him to change his ways and gave him seed money to start polishing shoes
and selling a few items. He became such a hardworking young man that he became
an assistant to a truck-driver. Now he is a proud fellow, actively and gainfully
employed.
A start up micro business initiative as a peddler and as a shoe-shine boy and
engaged in different activities to get livelihood income
Back to top
|
|
