TEARS OF STREET CHILDREN

Street children A street child may be: a ‘child of the streets’, having no home but the streets. The family may have abandoned him or her or may have no family members left alive. Such a child has to struggle for survival and might move from friend to friend, or live in shelters such as abandoned buildings. a child ‘on the street’, visiting his or her family regularly. The child might even return every night to sleep at home, but spends most days and some nights on the street because of poverty, overcrowding, sexual or physical abuse at home. a part of a street family. Some children live on the sidewalks or city squares with the rest of their families. Families displaced due to poverty, natural disasters, or wars may be forced to live on the streets. They move their possessions from place to place when necessary. Often the children in these ‘street families’ work on the streets with other members of their families. in institutionalized care, having come from a situation of homelessness and at risk of returning to a homeless existence. The typical age and gender of a street child. The typical age of a street child varies from place to place. In developing countries children as young as eight live completely on their own. In developed countries, street children are usually over the age of twelve. The proportion of girls among street children is reported to be less than 30% in developing countries and about 50% in many developed countries. There are a number of reasons why there are fewer street girls: Fewer girls may be abandoned by their families. Girls are often socialized (taught by their families and culture) to be submissive and caring and therefore they tend to have fewer behavioural problems as compared to boys. Since girls have fewer behavioural problems, they have less conflict with their families and do not need to leave their home. Families might get rid of girls by other means, e.g. ‘marrying them off ’ when they are as young as 13. The girl would then have another family. The authorities or individual members of the community may pick up girls on the street more quickly. For example, girls may be recruited to do domestic work in private households or to work in the commercial sex industry. Street girls may be less ‘visible’ to researchers or educators. Some street girls disguise themselves as boys to protect themselves from harassment by the police, welfare workers, employers and other street children and others may only appear on the streets at night. The importance of identifying street girls. Girls on the street have more difficulties and are often overlooked by street educators. Street girls are looked down upon in many societies and are easily exploited. They usually have less economic opportunities than boys and are given less money than boys for similar activities. Educational opportunities are denied to them and street educators usually engage street boys in various activities while paying little attention to girls. It is important to seek and work to improve the situation of street girls because by doing so, you would be: Ensuring that young girls and boys have equal opportunities. Boosting their low self-esteem. They may then participate in income generating activities and thus break the pattern of vulnerability. Ensuring that street girls have improved nutritional status. Helping minimize the possibility of early unwanted and high-risk pregnancies by providing them with information about sexual and reproductive health. Ensuring the return in investment into future generations, as young women with some education tend to ensure that their own children are educated. Causes related to the child or the family. Poor, uneducated and large families. Lack of knowledge and skills needed for parenting. Lack of responsibility on the part of parents, family conflicts and parental behavioural problems e.g. giving priority to material gains, substance use, gambling. Physical abuse of the child. Rebellious behaviour and attitudes of the child. Causes in the local community Inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities in the community, e.g. lack of adequate employment opportunities, problems in working conditions, lack of recreational activities. Congestion in slum areas, and inadequate/poor housing facilities. Restrictive and inflexible educational system. Poor law enforcement and exploitation by law enforcers. Causes in the general society Political and economic conditions, e.g. poverty and underdevelopment of resources. A STREET KID NARRATES---When my father was alive, I went to school with well-to-do children. I used to go to school in our private car. I never thought of walking in my life and I never even thought of being a street child. I thought the life I was leading was going to last forever. When my father died in 1988, his relatives shared all his belongings and left us with nothing and no one was prepared to look after us. When the situation worsened, I thought of coming to Lusaka (Capital City) to look for work. In Lusaka, I lived at the Inter-city bus terminal with some friends. We used to do ‘piecework’ (temporary job) to earn our living. We never used to steal, but what surprised us was that the police would pounce on us for no reason at all. The only crime we committed was that of looking scruffy and dirty. We would ask ourselves, why are policemen treating us like this? We are all Zambians, and we are not thieves, we are people like them. Now if the police who are supposed to help and protect us chase us, what will happen if I come to you Mr. Vice-president, how are you going to treat me? My appeal to the government is that ‘we street kids’ need help, we need protection, we need work for us to live like other Zambian children. Please do not ignore us, as we are still suffering. We are not thieves, and we are not vagabonds. The problems we are facing are too numerous but these are the main ones. We need a shelter to lay our heads, food, and clinics that we can attend when we are ill”.