World Street Children News

Letter:

Street children

Sir,

In an article published in ‘The Independent’ on Friday, January 27, 2006, on page12 the top left corner, the following statements were made seemingly quoting a Bangladeshi lady referring to unwed mothers, ‘That is where all the street children come from,’ she said. ‘They are illegitimate boys and girls. They will never have a life.’ This is a misconception.

Many persons and agencies are interested in improving the condition of street children. For some time now APON has been blessed to serve street children drug addicts between the ages of 10 and 16. While some street children may come from unwed mothers, many come from what may more correctly be termed dysfunctional families. I believe it is a grave injustice to claim that ‘all the street children are illegitimate boys and girls’. In fact this not only falsely stigmatises street children, but also make the already very difficult life that most street children are living much, more difficult as it plants a pre-conceived notion among those involved with such children that these children have a socially demeaning status.

My observation is that most of the drug-addicted street children who come to APON are wearing everything they own… a filthy, dirty shirt and pants or lungis, but inside those clothes are wonderful youngsters, intelligent, alert and eager to learn and return to school and/or learn a skill in our small workshop. These youngsters are Bangladeshi assets that should not be wasted.

‘They will never have a life.’ I strongly disagree with that, because given the chance, some of the street children have and others will develop to live a good life. Surely more needs to be done for them. I think that more Bangladeshis should come forward not only with financial assistance but also to help street children with the opportunity to study and to learn a skill in order to be prepared to find suitable employment. Besides this, people should volunteer to give something that costs nothing but can fulfil one of the deepest needs of many street children, TLC, that is, Tender Loving Care.

Brother Ronald Drahozal, CSC

Director, APON

Mohammadpur, Dhaka"

Lima’s street boys learn to work:

Pablo Lavado is director of Centro Girasoles (Sunflower Center) for street boys in Lima, Peru. He shares that since the 1950s whenever Scripture Union Peru initiates a new program their policy is to make it self-sustainable through some form of income-generation project. A variety of such micro-enterprises has been used; sometimes totally unrelated to the ministry activity.

For example they have a car park on the first floor of their center for street children in Lima, a bakery and a building with offices and storefronts that are rented out. There is also a campsite whose facilities are rented to outside groups. A taxi company is now planned. The income from this would sustain a house for the younger children in their program. An added benefit of these programs is that they actively involve the street kids. For example, the boys of Girasoles wash the vehicles parked in the car park, thereby earning a small extra income.

Scripture Union’s policy has proven successful. Today the majority of the income for their programs comes from these micro-enterprises and only a minimum percentage is made up by donations. The most lucrative programs are the car park, the campsite and the office/storefront rental. The viability of these plans means each ministry program can be planned into the future without fear of unexpected closure. The security this gives the program is important because consistency is crucial for the full rehabilitation of street boys. It is disastrous when they are left mid-way through the process."

Street girls in Bolivia break the poverty cycle:

Mosoj Yan (Quechua meaning ‘New Way’) is a 7-year-old Evangelical ministry that works with about 100 adolescent street children in Cochabamba, Bolivia. These are girls with broken family ties, who live and sleep on the street, who will prostitute themselves and who regularly rob to survive and support their addiction to drugs.

There are three programs, two rehabilitative and one preventative. The latter is all about empowering girls so that they will not end up living on the street. It is a day center, open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with three training workshops: one for card making, one for making pastry and confectionery and the other for paper recycling. The principle aims of these workshops are training, income generation and occupational therapy. Here the girls learn a skill while producing things that they can sell. This enables them to take care of themselves and provide for their children. This type of empowerment breaks the poverty cycle."

Blue Dragon’s street kids get stylish new haircuts for Tet

(29-01-2006)
by Thuy Ha

Three kids from a charity foundation for underprivileged children, Blue Dragon, sit on tiger skin-covered chairs, living it up as they are tended to by three girls at a luxury hair salon on Cao Ba Quat Street in Ha Noi.

After the hairwash, the three kids go into the next room to have their hair styled by hairdressers from Vu Doo Saloon, a favourite of the stylish set in Ha Noi.

One of the girls, lucky enough to be under the care of Vu, the owner of the salon, looked excited at the prospect of a new look.

"I’ve been really looking forward to getting a haircut at such a luxurious salon and giving myself a new look for the new year," said 12-year-old Luong Ngoc Khanh who joined Blue Dragon more than two years ago. "I told my parents and they also really wanted to see me with a new haircut from such a popular hair stylist. I would never have dreamed I could come here."

Blue Dragon was set up almost three years ago by two foreigners, Australian Michael Brosowski and Spaniard Gonzalo Serrano, who both wanted to help street kids and children lacking parental guidance to get a proper education and make a life for themselves. The foundation, which now has more than 50 children and about 20 regular visitors, has been providing classes in computer science, English, Spanish, arts and music, as well as regular counseling sessions and activities like soccer.

"We want to do something for the kids for Tet (lunar new year) and I thought giving them a new haircut would be good thing for a new year," said Blue Dragon’s director Brosowski who received total support from Vu.

"A lot of Vietnamese people have volunteered to do things for the kids and this is a practical opportunity to do something good for them," Brosowski added.

Twice a week, eight kids in two groups are brought to Vu’s salon to get their hair cut in the three weeks before Tet.

"When Michael told me about this I really liked his idea because I have been wanting to do something good for kids who are less fortunate," said Vu, as he trimmed Khanh’s hair.

"My customers are rarely kids so it’s also a chance for me to be creative and create cute hairstyles for them."

Vu then gave Khanh a blow dry, while carefully combing her hair to shape the new cut.

Khanh, who is in the fourth grade at Ha Noi’s May 19 primary school, kept looking at herself in the mirror in disbelief as Vu cut her hair.

Khanh’s family moved from Hung Yen Province, about 70km from Ha Noi, to live on the Hong (Red) River.

"My parents earn a living by collecting paper around the city so joining the group (Blue Dragon) helps me stay educated and provides some of the things my parents cannot give me," Khanh said as she told Vu how much she liked the haircut.

"I don’t really remember the last time I had my hair cut so I’m excited about the new style."

Khanh normally has her hair cut by volunteers at her school.

"My parents are busy going around the city all day to earn money and they do not have much time to take care of me," said Khanh. "But being with Michael’s group (Blue Dragon) helps me keep up academically and teaches me a lot about social things as well."

Worthy cause

"Blue Dragon is a foundation that helps street children and those who drop out of school due to poverty," said Brosowski who initially came to Viet Nam to teach English at the National Economics University in Ha Noi four years ago.

Brosowski, along with Serrano who runs the sport activities, has been teaching English to kids from the ages of 10 to 18. He, with the volunteer support of other foreigners and Vietnamese, has extended Blue Dragon’s run for more than three years since its initial setup.

"Blue Dragon’s project in Ha Noi is called Step Ahead, and it assists disabled and street children, mainly by sending them to school."

Blue Dragon, which is run with the volunteer assistance of six social workers and psychologists, has a local partner, the Ha Noi Association for the Relief of Handicapped Children, that helps them choose kids for the programme.

Apart from providing the children with language, computer, arts and music classes, Blue Dragon also helps them with mental and psychological problems through their ‘living value’ class, said Brosowski.

"We help them deal with problems and pain through sharing it with other people."

Blue Dragon has been running another programme to help children who are at high risk of quitting school in Bac Ninh.

"The programme has been running for 18 months, helping keep about 250 kids in school," said Brosowski.

In addition to helping children stay in school, the project aims to create job opportunities for them after they graduate.

"We focus on services for children, instead of giving them charity. We prefer to help them make a better future for themselves."

"We chose Bac Ninh as it is close to Ha Noi, so the children who finish school will be able to attend a university in Ha Noi where they will have more opportunities to find jobs than in other provinces."

Blue Dragon operates on support from many sources, including charitable donations from overseas.

"We sent newsletters to people around the world saying we need money to buy clothes for street kids and people responded positively and sent us money," said the Australian.

"Last year, our Step Ahead programme was sponsored by a Spanish organisation, AIDA, but it was a grant for one year so we continue to look for support."

"We are doing all of this for children who were born into unfortunate circumstances. I have found them all to be incredibly friendly, hardworking and polite," said Brosowski while he talked to a boy about his new spiky hairstyle.

"They came from very difficult circumstances but all have a good spirit."

Brosowski said while some kids will go home to the countryside for Tet, he was trying to arrange something here in Ha Noi to make those who stay feel welcome. — VNS

Yana visits street children - Sify.com:

By IndiaFM | Saturday, 28 January , 2006, 18:03

Actress turned model Yana Gupta along with hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani visited a group of less fortunate street children on 22nd January. The meeting was arranged by Project Crayons (Child Rehabilitation and Youth Oriented Nationwide Services). They visited the shelter home in Mumbai’s Malad area. The duo distributed sweets amongst the kids. While Yana promised to teach them some dance steps soon, Sapna assured them that she would come back to style their hair. Project Crayons works for the development of street kids from the urban as well as the rural areas."

Street children policy almost ready, says Clarke
TANEISHA DAVIDSON, Observer staff reporter
Thursday, January 26, 2006

Children’s Advocate Mary Clarke receives a certificate of appreciation from Laban Roomes, president of the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, at their monthly meeting at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Monday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

RECENTLY appointed children’s advocate Mary Clarke says an inter-sectoral committee is in the final stage of putting together a policy for street children policy, which it hopes the government will endorse by the end of the year.

Speaking on Monday at the weekly luncheon of the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, Clarke said the policy, which is currently in its draft stage, will guide government ministries and agencies as to how to deal with matters pertaining to street children.

"It will also have a proposal for the constitutional mechanism for overall responsibility for street children and children in child labour," she told the gathering at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. "It is very broad-based and deals with issues of prevention, intervention, rehabilitation and re-integration, whether it is in the school system or wherever."

Among the organisations that have been working on the policy is the Child Development Agency (CDA), the ministry of labour as well as several non-governmental organisations such as Children First.

Meanwhile, Clarke emphasised that the Child Care and Protection Act stipulates that it is illegal for any parent or guardian to allow their child to beg or work on the street, and if found guilty the penalty is a fine of up to $250,000 or a maximum of three months at hard labour in prison.
In the meantime, the new children’s advocate said she would have to relinquish her position as member of the intersectoral committee that is currently working on the policy.

Clarke was appointed children’s advocate at the beginning of the year. She is responsible for investigating and representing cases of violation of children’s rights and various forms of crimes and abuses against the nation’s children. She will also serve as the watchdog for agencies and organisations which are responsible for the island’s children.

"As a watchdog for the children, I will have to be able to identify areas where the rights of children are being infringed on," she said, adding that her immediate objective would be to disseminate information about the role, functions and responsibility of the children’s advocate and the office of the children’s advocate. "I will be ensuring that the voices of the children are heard at all times."

In addition, Clarke said she is also currently working to facilitate public access to the office of the children’s advocate, which is temporarily located at the ministry of health, as well as establishing a system of protocol for dealing with complaints.

Her appointment is in accordance with the stipulations of the Child Care and Protection Act, which came into effect March 2004.

Among her other responsibilities are:

. Receiving and conducting investigations into complaints made by or on behalf of a child whose rights have been infringed by authorities, including those who are inmates and detainees of government institutions.

. Representing the children in court and bringing non-criminal court proceedings concerning the right or the best interest of the child.

.Reviewing laws relating to the rights of the child as well as service provided for children by the relevant authority.

. Giving advice and making recommendations to Parliament, ministries and the relevant authorities relating to the rights and best interest of the child.

On the Street: Kids Struggle to Survive in Russia
By Charlene Israel
CWNews

CWNews.com –In Russia dysfunctional families and the lack of a social safety net has put thousands of children on the street.

In the city of Perm there are street kids everywhere. They’re on the streets because they are trying to escape physical abuse at home or an orphanage.

But even on the streets they have plenty of problems. Their parents were violent, and so are they. Their parents get drunk, the children sniff glue.

In winter the children live in sewers and basements, and in summer under bushes and on store roofs. Their families don’t care, and the government is too poor to help.

With no one to help them, these children have no hope for a future.

But in 1996, Christina and Jared Markoff, the daughter and son of a Christian missionary, moved to Perm and decided to help.

Christina and Jared call their operation Love’s Bridge. They do street outreach, such as giving away food and clothing to these children. They’ve opened two shelters-one for kids to live in fulltime, and a ‘day shelter’ for kids still on the streets.

At the day shelter the street kids can clean up, get a meal, and play games.

Jared remembered, "When I was little, 4 or 5 years old, my dad used to read us Bible stories as we went to sleep. He mostly read to us from the Gospels, the things Jesus did and His works. Those things stick with me and I remember them a lot when I do this work."

The children tell horrific stories of living on the streets. They’ve been beaten, raped, and kidnapped.

Many have resorted to prostitution to survive. They’ve experienced more evil and hatred than most people can imagine.

Slava lived on the streets for five years; he was kidnapped by some men for a week and forced to perform sex acts, which the men photographed and sold to the porn industry. Today, he can talk about it, but barely. Instead, he prefers to talk of his future. Now he lives at the fulltime shelter and goes to school. Considering what’s he’s been through, he appears to be doing well.

But Sasha isn’t doing as well. He’s addicted to sniffing glue, and he’s currently at a psychiatric hospital, where’s he’s undergoing treatment for his addiction.

Christina goes to visit him, and give him food. After two tries she’s finally allowed to see him, but only under the watchful eye of the head doctor.

Sasha tries to be tough, but breaks down in tears, and begs Christina to take him away from the hospital. Russians consider addiction a mental illness, and treatment includes incarceration and heavy doses of drugs.

Christina told us, "If they act up, sometimes they’re tied to their bed for up to three days at a time. When we talked to the nurse, she said that they’re given shots up to three times a day. And she said, if they ever act up or do what they’re not supposed to do, they’re given even stronger shots."

She added, "We’ve met children who’ve been here up to 11 times, so that shows the treatment does not work, like the doctors here would hope."

There are homeless children everywhere, but the problem has been especially severe in Russia over the past 15 years. Communism’s collapse led to chaos, but there are other explanations as well.

Christina explained, "We know that more alcohol is drunk per head in Russia than in any other country in the world. So the uniqueness [of the problem here] is that the amount of strong alcohol drunk does contribute to the break down of the family structure, more so than in other countries." She added, "So you have more families breaking up. And, I think it’s more in the culture [here] to hit your children when they’re errant."

Christina and Jared’s work is difficult and demands patience, love and courage. It’s not work for the squeamish. On a regular basis they deal with violence and suicide.

And they deal with the heartbreak of seeing kids end up buried in Perm’s enormous cemetery.

Today, some former street kids are looking for the grave of an old friend named Masha who was barely 12 when she was found dead in a sewer five years ago.

She may have been murdered. After hours of searching, her old friends find her grave.

Jared told us, "Masha was found dead by the police when she was 11 years old. She was in one of Perm’s sewers. They just took her out of the sewer and threw her to the side, and her body lay there all night. And when her mother heard about it, she said, ‘Thank God that girl is dead’."

Jared said further, "We’ve been able to save several hundred kids from the streets, but I would say about 8 of the children I know personally have died."

Jared and Christina are Christians. They do introduce the street kids to Jesus Christ, but they don’t proselytize. So, the kids don’t have to become Christians to receive help from Love’s Bridge.

Both Christina and Jared say their mission is love, service, and prayer, and they know that God is with them.

Jared said, "I’ve experienced many of ‘the little miracles’. He added, "The main miracle is that God has never let us down, we’ve never come to the point where we’ve had to turn a child away, close a center, or give up our work and leave."

Go to the Love’s Bridge Web site.

Volunteers devote time to teaching street children in Dalat:

"Six young teachers from Dalat city have helped bring hope to poor children in Dalat city by offering free classes to teach them how to read and write.

Volunteer Dong Suong set up the first classroom with more than 10 students, said another teacher Tran Tien Thinh, and now there are classes from grade one to six for children of all ages.

Although only two of the volunteers have professional teacher’s training, all of the teachers are dedicated to giving their time and energy to help the children, who are mostly from the streets, shoeshine boys and newspaper peddlers.

There are some children, ages 11 and 12, just learning their alphabets in the classes, said Mr. Thinh, and there are others who still have to go out and earn money for their families after classes, he added.

But, despite the difficulties that come with teaching the students, volunteer Nguyen Ngoc Thien said witnessing students improve was worth it.

“When I see a child make progess in his or her studies or see changes in their attitudes about life, I immediately forget how tired I am,” said Mr. Thien.

Two years ago, the city’s Department of Education and Training also permitted some “graduates” of the charity classes to continue their studies at public schools.

Reported by Lam Vien – Translated by Quynh Nhu."

Jamaica Gleaner News - ‘Policy for street children to come soon’ - Tuesday | January 24, 2006:
"Tuesday | January 24, 2006

Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

A NATIONAL policy for street children is soon to be developed, according to newly-appointed Children’s Advocate Mary Clarke.

Mrs. Clarke said yesterday that the policy is aimed at guiding Government on how to address the issues that are affecting street children and ultimately remove them from the streets.

‘This is in a draft policy which has to be finalised and taken to the Government for endorsement,’ she told The Gleaner yesterday.

She added: ‘We presented the draft to various ministries and got their suggestions and it’s just to finalise it now.’

MANDATORY ACTION PLAN

Mrs. Clarke said that once Government endorses the policy, it will become mandatory for each ministry - namely Education, National Security and Health - to develop an action plan to address the plight of these children.

Speaking at the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston’s weekly luncheon, held yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, Mrs. Clarke said that under the Child Care and Protection Act, every citizen has the responsibility to report children who are involved in child labour.

She told The Gleaner that though scores of street children can be seen at major traffic lights each day, much is being done to help them.

CLAMPDOWN ON STREET CHILDREN

She said various children’s organisations are not only taking children off the streets, but are also equipping parents so they can be better able to provide for their children.

Last November, Superintendent Newton Amos announced that he would be clamping down on street children. At least eight parents were placed before the courts last year for neglecting their children.

As Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Clarke is responsible for investigating and representing cases of violation of children’s rights and various forms of crimes and abuses against the nation’s children. She will also serve as the watchdog for agencies and organisations which are responsible for the island’s children.

Apart from increasing the awareness of the role of her office, Mrs. Clarke said she would ensure that the voices of the children are heard at all times."

New measures help street kids find homes:

"By Yuan Wu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-24 06:01

Nineteen central government departments are joining forces to help homeless children, the Legal Daily reported yesterday.

The government’s focus is to prevent children from living on the streets, and to help those who are already there.

Children will be provided with the basic means of living as well as some psychological guidance. The departments also plan to crack down on groups of teenage criminals.

Increased funds will be used to improve the drop-in centres for street children, said Dou Yupei, vice-minister of civil affairs, according to the Legal Daily.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs is raising its standards for the drop-in centres, Dou said. New specifications will be set for equipment, services, management and staff qualifications.

The 130 nationwide drop-in centres will employ full-time personnel, with training in psychology, moral, cultural and legal education and professional skill training, the newspaper reported.

The conference was held Friday in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and included the ministries of civil affairs, education and public security.

This is China’s first comprehensive document dedicated to the protection and management of homeless kids. The document clearly defines the respective duties for each department.

For example, local educational departments are charged with helping homeless kids return home, and will also provide financial support and special educational care. The local departments of labour and social security will offer free introduction and training programmes of employment to homeless kids above the age of 16.

Officials will be evaluated based on their ability to fulfil the new requirements of helping to protect and manage street kids. Officials proved incompetent will be punished.

In 2005, China had about 150,000 homeless children, according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The figure has remained steady throughout the past few years. Currently, there are 130 drop-in centres and more than 1,000 rescuing and management stations in China.

Among all drop-in centres, about 80 need urgent facility and personnel upgrades."