Session 17/21

Different groups of street children need different programs

Not all street children need the same intervention programs. East African research finds two different groups. One street child group has some kind of contact with their family that may be re-established, the second group are in reality orphans.

1. More than seven out of ten children stay home at night, and only stay on the streets in the daytime. They are called “children on the streets”. They come to look for company with peers, perhaps to find food, or because their parents are in distress. In this group, you also find children whose parents live permanently in the streets because of poverty.

These children still have contact with their family, and rehabilitation will often focus on family re-integration in dialogues with parents or relatives. For some of these children, re-integration with relatives may be impossible for other reasons. If so, they belong to the next group.

2. The second group is much smaller, perhaps three out of ten. They are called “children of the streets”. They live without any contact to parents or relatives – their only home is in the street day and night. They seek for care and protection in the street networks.

This second group of children have in fact lost parental care and are in need of a foster family, or perhaps living in an SOS Village.

To point out those who need rehabilitation most in your local community, please discuss:

GROUP DISCUSSION