World Street Children News

 Omar Saadou of “Bayti”:
“A well planned strategy is needed to reintegrate street children in Morocco”
By Karima Rhanem     5/20/2005 | 5:29 pm GMT
    
    
The phenomenon of street children in Morocco is becoming critical. NGOs are trying hard to find solutions to the problem. Omar Saadou of the “Bayti” Association, an NGO with a long experience in the field, describes the circumstances that lead these children to be on the street.

	Omar Saadou of the “Bayti” Association

As the person responsible for the street programme in Bayti, could you describe to us the situation of street children in Morocco?

The phenomenon of street children has become more common in Morocco. There are thousands if not millions of street children around the country. Personally, I don’t like the idea of examining the phenomenon in terms of quantity. By doing that, we are only trying to reduce the number of these street children. What we should do instead, is to admit that this phenomenon exists in our society, at the same time trying to find possible ways to deal with it. I can give you an imaginary number of these children, but we shouldn’t look at the problem in terms of numbers.

Who are the street children?

The general definition of street children is: “Children under the age of 18 years who spend most of their time on the streets. Street children is a term often used to describe both “market children” (children who work in the streets and markets of cities, selling or begging, and live with their families), and “homeless children” (children who live and sleep in the streets, lacking any contact with their families.

What are the main reasons why these children are on the streets?

While some children are lured by the promise of excitement and freedom, the majority are pushed onto the street by desperation and a realization that they have nowhere to go. Most children go onto the street to look for a better way of life, to earn more money and to support their families. Some of them have dropped out of school, while others didn’t even have the chance to go to school. Others go onto the street because they have no shelter, or to escape from family difficulties.

The major problems that lead them onto the street are the following:
* Poor, uneducated, and large families
* Parents’ lack of knowledge and skills
* Lack of responsibility on the part of the parents and the family
* Physical abuse
* Rebellious behaviour and attitude of the children
* Unfair distribution of resources and opportunities in the community, such as lack of adequate employment opportunities, problems in working conditions
* Inadequate and poor housing facilities (many of them live in shantytowns)
* Political and economic conditions
* Poor law enforcement
* Inflexible educational system

These causes are interrelated, and it is very difficult to talk about one and ignore the others. I will say again that the main problem is that we don’t admit the existence of this phenomenon in Morocco. We should make a greater effort to face it, and work on a strategy to achieve the goals mentioned before and particularly to reintegrate these children into society.

How do these children earn their money for their daily survival and where do they gather?

They can earn money through begging, car washing, shoe shining, vending, drug trafficking, or sex work. Normally, these children choose their own places. They usually hang around next to railway stations and ports, and in urban woods. However, you can find them everywhere.

It is clear that these children have a heavy burden. What are the major threats they face?

These children lack basic resources to sustain a healthy living. They usually have no money to buy decent clothes or food. They rarely have access to the facilities they need for their daily hygiene and sanitation, such as toilets and a clean, safe water supply. They also lack adequate nutrition. Beside this, the street, as you know, is an unprotected environment, and street children are frequently exploited. They may face physical injury or death from violence.

This violence might come from gangs, drug dealers, commercial sex workers, or even from the police. What is very dangerous and more serious is that they are vulnerable to sexual abuse. Common sexual and reproductive health problems include sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

That is why we are working with AIDS control associations to make these children aware of such diseases.

As far as HIV/AIDS is concerned, do these children understand its real meaning?

These children are not usually aware of the real meaning of AIDS. Some think it is a city; others think it is an object. Some have heard about it, but they don’t care, because their top priorities are food, clothes, and shelter. We have worked closely with the Association Marocaine des Jeunes Contre le Sida (AMJCS) in one of their programmes designed for street children.

We have jointly looked for new communication methods to get our messages over to this target group. We use educational activities to help them understand the real danger that surrounds them, and make then aware of all kinds of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD). However, to do that, we have first to gain their trust and confidence. Only then can we communicate with them.

What are the implications of the street life on their psychological and mental health?

Street life may have a lasting impact on their well-being. They lack parental affection. They are always under stress, leading a transitory lifestyle. Street children move frequently from place to place. Sometimes, they do it by choice. However, they are more often forced to move to hide from the police, gangs, or drug dealers.

This type of lifestyle leads to problems of social isolation and loneliness, and difficulties in developing emotional attachments. As I mentioned earlier, the stress they face makes them vulnerable to emotional problems, psychiatric disorder, and learning difficulties. Another big problem they face is the use of drugs, often to escape reality.

This may lead them to overdose, or increase their chance of accidents, violence, and unprotected sex and so on. Moreover, the excessive use of drugs may lead to brain damage over time.

How do you integrate these children, and is there a real reintegration?

We have to speak clearly here, and admit that it is very difficult to talk about the reintegration of these children. The most crucial question we should ask is where and how? Are we going to make them go back to the same circumstances, and eventually to the same family? Maybe it is better to reintegrate them with themselves and work to enhance their self-confidence and self-esteem, and try to change their perception of life and view of the world. That is why I mentioned that we need a well planned strategy in order to talk about reintegration.

What is the future of this phenomenon in Morocco?

To be honest, with such little effective coordination between those who are responsible in both government and non-government organizations, things will not change for the better. Because of the complexity of the phenomenon, prospects for improvement are doubtful and not encouraging.