World Street Children News

The condition of Somaliland street children needs help!

29 March, 2006 by adnan abdi from Somaliland

Although, the country is in a winter season with strong cold winds blowing mainly in the afternoon, you might also see a young children aged b/w 8 to 17 laying along the walls of Hargeisa down town.

With a condition that isn’t completely suitable for human being. There is not single thing in between them and the ground on that they are sleeping on. Furthermore, the vicinity isn’t healthy. Where they live is used a dual purpose shelter, a place for sleeping and toilet. A part from that, what is far worse than this unhealthy condition in their environment is the use of drugs. They have accustomed to chewing khat, sniffing drugs and smoking cigarettes that are hazard to their health condition.
Some times, these children sniff alcohol from a single tan and this might at ease to transmit diseases easily.  

These children known as street children are growing in number day after day in Hargeisa, capital city of Somaliland.
A survey conducted by UNICEF in 2003 estimated that the number of street children have reached up 974 in Somaliland with 400 of these kids live in Hargeisa alone.
As the study shown, these kids are divided into these following categories;

1. Children living at home and working on the street.
2. Children working and living on the street.
3. Children not working but living on the street and abusing drugs.
4. Children roaming the street and usually not working or abusing drugs. (the minority)

A. Children living at home and working on the street

The majority of children on the street go to work each day and return home at night to give their earnings to their families. These children are generally well behaved, not part of a gang, not involved in criminal or immoral activities and not drug users. Consequently, they are also in better physical and psychological condition than those children living and working on the street. As the study states, the earning of these type of street children were essential on the survival of them and their families.

B. Children living and working on the street

The majority of children living and working on the street say they struggle each day to survive. They report not being involved in criminal activities and not using drugs. They usually do some jobs and have the same working conditions as the children we stated earlier. The major difference is that these children lack the stability and emotional support that come from having a home.
The condition of most of these children is desperate. They struggle to find enough food for one meal a day, often buying leftovers from vendors or restaurants. They often live with out shelter in the markets or on the streets and use the Sea for bathing and public areas for toileting. Unsurprisingly, most appear dirty and malnourished.

C. Children not working but living on the street and abusing drugs

This group is small and seems to include many of the self proclaimed ‘dangerous’ and emotionally disturbed children. Many say they ran away from their homes and came to the street to work, but over time lost hope and were coerced to join drug-using gangs. They report the habitual use of drugs: most commonly sniffing glue, but also chewing qat, smoking hashish and using various pills from pharmacies.

D. Children roaming the street

Although many children play on the streets, only a few were found actually roaming the streets. Some of these said they lived at home, others on the street. They usually neither worked nor used drugs, and most appeared to be lost and vulnerable.

However, there are some local organizations who take responsibility of collecting some of these young street children from the market. Among them is HAVOYOCO. In fact, this is the sole local organization that greatly helped these children. They have collected around 300 children from the streets of the city and they get many them back in to their homes. Now they have 55 street children in their center where they shelter, feed and educate them. As Ifrah rashed told me when they collect these the children interview them. And when they find their families, they get back to their families. A part from this rehabilitation, they also give free education and skills to work. Upon my visit to this center, I find different children from the street children. They are well behaving kids and they are physically good looking.

The important question, can HAVOYOCO take the responsibility of rehabilitating and helping the all street children in Somaliland?

Truly speaking, these children need extensive support from the Somalis around the globe to help them rehabilitate and get them back into the real truck of life.

THE WORD ON THE STREETS Loving the cast-off children of Albania
By Andre van der Bergh

It all started with a bag of bananas. Late one evening last February, one of our friends went on an outreach to sailors in the port area of Durr�s, Albania. While sharing the gospel on an Indian ship, one of the crew gave him a bag of bananas. My friend tried to refuse it. What would he do with a whole bag of bananas? But the Indian insisted and gave it to him when he left the ship. While walking through the port, his eyes fell on a group of children sitting between containers. He went over to them and gave them the bananas. Much to his surprise, more and more children came out from behind the containers. He asked them what they were all doing there at 11 at night, and then started to hear their stories. There and then he caught the vision to open a centre for street children, in Durr�s. We have been running the centre now for nine months, and God has been blessing us richly. We rented a house in the centre of the city and about fifty children come three times a week to receive a warm meal, clothes…and stories of Jesus. Some of the children also sleep at the centre during the night, but unfortunately we cannot accommodate all who would like to come. We would like to see this ministry grow and are looking at buying a piece of ground to build a centre. Let me tell you about the children. About 70% are gypsies, and their ages range between 5 and 17. Most of them have never learned to read and write although they can write their names. The kids sleep between containers in the port area, in the open air. In the winter they huddle up against each other for warmth. Some of the children were sold to child traffickers for sexual exploitation, but they ran away to try to make a living on the street. Others have had some of their organs cut out for sale on the black market, to organ clinics in Italy. A kidney goes for 1500 Euros. The system provides an easy way for the parents to get their hands on money. Because of fear of their parents, these children run away and turn for help at our centre. Some of the girls are sold into prostitution. One, Senada, was left on the streets when she was 6 years old. She is now 14, and we have just found out she is pregnant. During the day you can see these children on the streets, begging and receiving the kicks and curses of people passing by. We thank the Lord that we can show them God’s love and grace. The word on the streets of Durr�s is that there is a place for street kids to go, where they can be loved. More and more new children are coming to us daily. Only one other centre of its kind exists in Albania. Our vision is to see a new facility built as soon as possible, for the place we have at the moment is inadequate. We want to train these children to read and write. We want to teach the older ones a specific trade like sewing, hairdressing, carpentry and running a small business. Each day we are dealing with different trauma cases. Some of the children are being sexually abused by their family members, others were thrown out in the street and told never to return to their families. We also have orphans with no one to take care of them. Some kids also have medical problems that need attention, like Mariglen, a 14-year-old with no bladder control. Sometimes as he stands talking to me or others he wets himself. The disorder makes him smell and no one wants to go near him. We have taken the boy for tests and it seems that this is a medical as well as a psychological problem. We also have children who have had one or both legs cut off. This atrocity is mostly done by parents, who then drop them in a busy road so passers-by will throw money at them. Some of their wounds are bleeding continuously and they need medical help. We love these children so much, and we know that God can change their lives and give them hope. Every Wednesday my wife, Lidy, and I hold a kids’ club for them. They are always so eager to hear about Jesus and to learn new memory verses. Some of them have received Jesus as their Saviour and we can already see a change in them. They now understand that they are not alone. They have a Father taking care of them. Will you please keep us and the centre in your prayers? Ask God with us for land and funds. For more info on the centre and our ministry, please feel free to contact us at andrelidy@yahoo.co.uk
10/06/2005"

bayanihan.org - 26 - Regional center for street children opens in Dagupan Apr.1
Sunday, March 26 2006 @ 07:26 PM BST

Social

A regional center for abandoned street children in the Ilocos region will open here on April 1.

Called The Haven for Children, it was built by the Congressional Spouses Foundation,. Inc. (CSFI) headed by Mrs. Gina de Venecia, wife of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

The center, constructed in a 1,000-square meter beside the Haven for Women in Barangay Bonuan, Binloc, will become a ‘home away from home for neglected children’.

Mrs. de Venecia will formally turn over the building to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office here.

Ailene Oligario, social worker of the DSWD in charge of the center, said six street children will be the first group to be assisted by the center when it opens next month.

Abandoned children in the center will be taught livelihood program to prepare them to re-enter society.

She said The Haven will focus on the tragic sectors of street children, namely orphans, abandoned, hungry, drug dependent and hopeless who have endured nightmares of living in the streets for many years.

‘The Haven for Children is a perfect example on how the government and the private sector can work together to improve the lives of Filipinos,’ she said.

The project is a counterpart of The Haven for Children built in 2004 in Muntinlupa City that opened its door to children aged 6 to 14 from Metro Manila.

De Venecia said two other regional centers built by the CSFI will be inaugurated this year. These are in Tarlac City and in Solana, Cagayan."

Street Children

(Blog entry) 

Last year I was in Cebu, Philippines. I was struck by the number of "street children" begging on the streets for food and money. I gave food to a few, but the need was overwhelming. There were naked children begging for food and water. A pre-pubescent girl carried an infant on her hip. Nine or so in a group begged outside the Church of El Nino at Magellan’s Cross. Since I have been home, I have been attempting to collect clothing and money to send to the nuns there to help take care of some of the street children. I would like to have Habitat for Humanity to build a home for abandonned children in Cebu. Any ideas or help are welcome.