World Street Children News

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July 31, 2007

Issue of street children ‘one of most important mounting social problems’

Filed under: Lebanon Streetkid News

Issue of street children ‘one of most important mounting social problems’
By Farah Aridi
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

BEIRUT: The number of street children in Lebanon is rising, and a range of measures need to be taken to combat the problem, according to participants at a workshop in Beirut.

Although no official statistics exist on the number of street children in Lebanon, the Lebanese Evangelical Organization has 60 children under its protection, said the group’s head John Iter on Monday. Iter said 15 percent of street children in Lebanon are Lebanese, while 55 percent are foreigners and the remaining 30 percent are of mixed Lebanese-foreign parentage.

Iter made his statements during a three-day workshop at the An-Nahar newspaper’s training center in Beirut, organized by the Social Affairs Ministry and the Higher Council for Childhood so concerned groups could exchange views with journalists on the approach to street children in the media.

The phenomenon of street children “has become one of the most important mounting social problems in Lebanon,” said secretary general of the Higher Council for Childhood Elie Mikhael.

“According to UNICEF and the National Labor Organization, street children can be divided into two categories: those in the street still in full contact with their parents and street children who don’t have anyone and are totally dependent on themselves,” he said.

There are different reasons that drive or force children to resort to the streets, he said. The reasons include the need for freedom, a wish to escape from parental pressures, violence or indifference and the search for trust and responsibility.

“Certain parents send their children off to work to raise money. Extreme, violent measures ranging from beatings to sexual abuse are taken [if] the child refuses to go or deliver the earnings of the day,” Mikhael said, adding parents’ pressure to make money as another reason for the increase in the number of street children during the hard economic times prevailing in Lebanon.

Aside from the daily needs such as food, clothes and shelter, Mikhael said it was important to provide a child with a suitable environment for a decent life.

“The children on the street are the most vulnerable to going astray, getting raped or abused, as well as manipulated,” he said. “Understanding and counseling is desperately needed to eliminate their problematic psycho-social state.”

In the presence of poor families unable to support their children, Mikhael announced that the council wished to reinforce family ties and renew missing links. “Sometimes we provide financial aid as well,” he added.

Mikhael announced the introduction to Lebanon of the foster family, where street children are temporarily placed until their parents are able to care for them or until a family adopts them permanently.

“Though it is still not that popular in Lebanon, foster families do solve lots of problems,” he said.

“Every intervention is carried out according to specific cases that do not resemble each other in any way,” he added.

The Higher Council for Childhood also urged stricter border security and free elementary education. “Most of the children found in the streets are non-Lebanese citizens who have been brought into the country through trafficking,” Mikhael added.

Rita Karam from the Higher Council for Childhood demanded that street children be given their rights with full consideration for their different circumstances and environments.

Recreational and educational programs in sync with the children’s needs and circumstances are needed. “Lebanon has already signed the International Treaty for Children’s Rights, which mandates the implementation of all articles stated in it,” Karam added.

One of the first barriers to addressing the issue is the fact that many street children have no identification cards, Karam said. “Having no identification documents makes it harder for these children to be received by organizations or obtain the least of their rights,” she said.

July 30, 2007

Homeless kids

Filed under: USA Streetkid News

Homeless kids
Provided By: Ketchuppopsicle
… sorta documentary? idk… but it’s something i’ve been interested in for awhile and so when i met these two it was after i got home from the bus station. David had mentioned them and while i was gone they had been staying in the garage for a few days. When i got back there they were. I heard they were homeless and we went to walmart to get them $20 worth of food.

The second part is very personal, and i’m waiting until tomorrow to see if i can get ahold of them to ask if i can put it up.. maybe David will know where they are.
I don’t know whether i will actually be able to get in contact with them but i will definately try. They weren’t here when i woke up this afternoon…

By putting this up i’m not trying to expose or exploit them, i guess i just found them interesting and thought other people would as well.

-Andy

Aron Ranen’s “The Squat” Homeless Kids in Los Angeles

Filed under: USA Streetkid News

Aron Ranen’s “The Squat” Homeless Kids in Los Angeles
From: Realitysurfer
Runaway Kids inside a squat speak about their lives. Ranen shoots as a one-man-band.

Secrets Street Kids Home Party.

Filed under: Thailand Streetkid News

Secrets Street Kids Home Party.

On Sunday, most bars in Pattaya were closed for business due to the start of Buddhist Lent and restrictions on selling Alcoholic Beverages. Many bar workers and owners took the opportunity to take a well earned break. This was not the case with the team from Secrets Bar, Restaurant and Hotel located in Soi 14 off Walking Street. They decided to spend the day at the Redempotorist Street Kids Home in Nongprue and invited nearly 200 kids from the Home and the Baan Jing Jai Orphanage for a day of fun and games. This was followed with a nice meal and entertainment including a magician and prize giveaways. We commend the actions of Secrets and if you would like to make a donation to the Street Kids Home or arrange a similar party you can contact them direct on 038 249 824.

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Student documents plight of Cambodian street children

Filed under: Cambodia Streetkid News

Student documents plight of Cambodian street children
By: Clayton Norlen
Issue date: 7/30/07 Section: News

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, it is common for children living on the streets to beg, sell books, offer shoeshines or fall into the sex trade just to survive.

David Alder, a junior film major, traveled to Cambodia this summer alongside amateur filmmakers Alisa Garcia and Maera Grove to document the condition of these street children. The documentary focuses on what the organization Child Safe is doing to improve the situation of homeless children in Cambodia.

Alder described scenes in Cambodia where young children between the ages of six and 17 would carry around infants, rented from mothers, to aid in their begging.

“Filming this documentary made me look at my immense privilege with my many resources here in the (United) States,” Alder said.

Street children are also at risk of ending up exploited in the sex trade by gang members or other adults who sell them to pedophiles.

According to the documentary, there are currently 24,000 children living on the streets in Cambodia.

Childsafe.org explains that the money tourists give to children who are begging or selling items doesn’t help the situation because children are still on the streets and not in school. The money children make is often split between gangs they may be involved with or given back to the family members and bullies who sent them to work on the streets.

“Tourists are unaware that they are contributing to the problems with street children by giving money to children directly,” Garcia said. “Tourists are adding to the problem because they feel guilty or want the children to go away.”

The documentary captures the everyday scenes of children living in the streets in Phnom Penh and Child Safe’s efforts to educate locals and tourists.

The organization says children are put at risk and into abusive situations in Phnom Penh because communities facilitate or ignore the signs of abuse. Child Safe works with community members to teach them ways to protect and educate children living on the streets in their areas.

July 29, 2007

Suspicious fire razes old house

Filed under: New Zealand Streetkid News

Suspicious fire razes old house

BEN FAWKES - The Dominion Post | Monday, 30 July 2007

A DERELICT central Wellington house has been reduced to a smouldering heap by an early-morning fire.

Neighbours alerted emergency services to the fire, on the corner of Martin Square and Taranaki St, shortly after 8.30am yesterday.

Ten fire engines and dozens of firefighters attended the fire, which was under control by 10.30am.

Nobody was in the building at the time of the fire.

Neighbour Carl Sherman said the fire took residents completely by surprise.

“I didn’t realise anything was happening until the first appliance arrived,” he said.

Mr Sherman said the building had been vacant for some time and had recently been taken over by squatters.

“There were lots of streetkids living in there and trashing the place.

“The police came and evicted them last week … now it’s burnt down.”

Mr Sherman speculated that a cigarette butt might have been dropped inside the building, starting the fire.

“A cigarette butt doesn’t start a fire straight away, it has to build up heat first, so a butt could have been dropped four to five hours before the fire started.”

Wellington central fire senior station officer David Utumapu said the cause of the fire was being investigated.

It was being treated as suspicious and the building appeared to have been broken into.

“From experience we know fires don’t start by themselves.

“The door was open when we arrived. The owner has assured us he kept it locked,” he said.

It is understood the building was due to be demolished and replaced by an apartment block.

What pushes children into urban streets?

Filed under: Tanzania Streetkid News

What pushes children into urban streets?
 
2007-07-29 10:33:54
By Peter Mwangu

Rajabu Wajabu born in Tabora region 27 years ago now calls himself a \"street dweller\" after several years of living as a street child. “I have already lived in the streets for about 14 years consecutively in Mwanza, Tabora, Kigoma and Dodoma regions.“ he said.

“The life of hardship in my family is what forced me out into the streets with no one to guide me through in my daily undertakings. He said his father travelled to unknown destination abandoning them with his mother.

“Despite being a child, I had to tirelessly do casual jobs to make the ends meet, balancing both school life as a pupil and as a sole provider of our family needs before I decided to accept the defeat (drop school life). After deciding to drop out of school while in standard three, I opted to sell groundnuts, boiled eggs, handkerchiefs, washing peoples\’ cars and other petty activities so as to support my needy family.

I resorted to being a street child,“ said the hapless Wajabu. At the moment, Rajabu is self employed as a shoe shiner where he can earn his daily bread but life isn\’t that easy since he is constantly confronted by the tough street conditions including missing a permanent work station.

“You can\’t believe that I don\’t have a place to sleep. When night falls, I simply walk around the city center streets till late night before looking for a convenient pavement for a short sleep,\" he added.

He however said that smoking marijuana is part and parcel of a street life and the street children believe that through the habit they are able to beat stress.

“The society has to know for sure that no one would wish to run away from his parents or guardians and start a new life on his own in a place full of confrontation, hardships and sufferings“ he claimed. He said that many of the street children decide to be what they are due to difficulties faced back at their villages.

“Listen! The difficulties we face in the street are the results of negligence of Government officials and our parents, calling policy makers to ensure street children are assisted. �� the government has lots of programmes that if well used can help reduce poverty but nothing is being done in reality.

“If parents at the villages are not able to provide basic needs to their children, how do you expect these children to remain idle and keep on enveloped under the out dated doctrines and customs.

Here I am working as a shoe shiner earning not more than 1,500/- a day, how do you expect me to budget with this small amount of money to meet all my basic needs like food, housing clothes and medication,“ “See that kid!… pointing at a young boy holding a tray of boiled eggs for sell��“the eggs he is selling belong to someone else, but because of his age, no one will disturb him. If the same work could have been done by an adult, he /she could have ended in court.

The influx of street children rural areas in our country will continue to intensify until the Government changes its policies towards economically empowering its people especially the rural dwellers,“ he commented.

Action needed on street children - Boys being used as criminal pawns

Filed under: Jamaica Streetkid News

Action needed on street children - Boys being used as criminal pawns
published: Sunday | July 29, 2007


Fabian Ledgister, Freelance Writer

"Street boys will become street men, who become street monsters! I predicted it a long time ago; it’s inevitable when given the level of exposure they get," says Claudette Pious, veteran comedienne and head of the youth organisation, Children First.

Speaking against the background of recent criminal activities where police have identified street children as the perpetrators of major crimes, Pious cites the cause as lack of attention being given these youths.

"There have been too many meetings and talk of what needs to be done, and little or no action. Lawd! Mi a talk bout it fi 10 years now! But a only when yuh hear the street boy bruk in a house and shoot an uptown lady that dem get attention," says the frustrated long-time advocate of street children, in reference to an incident in which police say they removed the leader of an organised armed gang of street boys called the ‘In The Streets’ gang’.

According to the police, the young gang members, whose street turf is in the vicinity of the St. Andrew Parish Church, in Half-Way Tree, use windshield wiping - at the stop lights where Maxfield Avenue intersects with Hagley Park Road - as a cover-up for criminal activities.

The alleged street-boy gang was observed recently engaging in deplorable actions such as spraying one motorist with a water bottle, hitting another motor vehicle, and cursing many others who would not give them money. At one point, a few boys converged on the church’s parking lot, where one ofthem showed the others a cellular phone, assumed to be stolen, and then handed it to an older youth in the group.

Officer in charge of crime at the Half-Way Tree Police Station, Detective Sergeant Radcliffe Levy, says: "It’s a big business being conducted by this gang, where they loot cameras, cellphones, and other items, and sell them at cheap prices to others that sell them again."

Police say street kids are now including car theft in their criminal activities, after police identified two youths in a recent car robbery to be street boys from the In The Streets gang’s vicinity.

Reports are that about 3:45 a.m. on July 3, a green Toyota Kluger SUV, which was reported stolen from the Mayfair Vista area in Kingston 19, was spotted along Ambrook Lane, which runs directly behind the St. Andrew Parish Church’s cemetery. Two boys, who were recognised by the police to be members of the In the Streets gang, were spotted jumping out of the vehicle with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

"The area is tense from a recent killing, so we believe that the boys were met with gunfire when they entered the community with the strange vehicle," an officer at the Half-Way Tree Police Station surmised. The police took them both to the Kingston Public Hospital, where they were treated and arrested for larceny of motor vehicle.

Convener of Hear The Children’s Cry, Betty-Ann Blaine, says that she recognises the behaviour of street children as bordering on delinquency, and has experienced their lawlessness first hand.

Verbal abuse

"I’ve been a victim of verbal abuse, I’ve been a victim of my car being damaged by some of these boys. There are organisations such as Children First, operated by Claudette Pious, the YMCA, and the Possibility programme, which the St. Andrew Care Centre operates, but much more needs to be done," says Blaine.

Pious says Children First has augmented its initiatives with the street children to include locating and eliminating the push factors that introduce them to street life. "What we do is look for the push factors - where they are coming from, who they live with. We institute both preventative and rehabilitative methods in a holistic way, and we are seeing success," she says.

Rehabilitation

"Rehabilitation is equipping these kids with a career skill such as barbering, photography and cosmetology, so instead of becoming monsters, they have the self-reliance and confidence to uplift themselves. In our preventative measures, we go into the homes and communities where these streets kids are coming from and try to empower the parents of kids with skills so they don’t push their children to street hustling," Pious added.

The Half-Way Tree police say they will also be taking proactive measures to stem the trend of street boys being used as criminal pawns, by levying criminal charges on the parents.

Detective Levy says: "These boys are buying bullets with your loose change and are recruiting more and more young persons without sources of income, so we are now going after the parents of these juveniles, levying charges of child neglect wherever applicable, and the child will be taken off the streets so as not to be used as criminals."

But top cop for the St. Andrew South division, Superintendent Derrick ‘Cowboy’ Knight, says that he will be trying what he describes as a passive and possibly more effective approach to combat the issue of street boys entering crime.

"About six years ago, SSP (Senior Superintendent) Powell, then head of the Newport West Police Station, teamed up with a teacher to create an education and feeding programme that saw success. I am now in dialogue with that said teacher to reinstitute this initiative, as well as NGOs, PMI and the wharf to get this under way," he says.

July 28, 2007

Helping Malaysia’s street children

Filed under: Malaysia Streetkid News
Helping Malaysia’s street children

By Jasbant Singh, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 



About 500 children are left to loiter at night
in the back streets of the capital
Up to 100 million children around the world live on the streets, according to UN figures, easy targets for exploitation and abuse.

Jasbant Singh, reporting for Al Jazeera from Kuala Lumpur, looks at a government centre in Malaysia set up to help street children, but which is causing controversy in the predominantly Muslim country.

About 500 children are left to loiter at night in the back streets minutes away from the bright lights of Kuala Lumpur city centre. Some are as young as six-years old.

Some have no home to go to, others cannot go home because home is where their mothers work as prostitutes.

"I know people say what I do is immoral and not good for children, but if I don’t do this who’s going to feed my child?" asks Anita, one of Kuala Lumpur’s sex workers.

Anita works in the back allies of the suburb of Chow Kit. She is dying of cancer.

Video link


Watch Jasbant Singh’s full report here
She has an 11-year-old son who roams the streets while his mother is at work. At school, his classmates and his teachers picked on him because of his family background and so he does not go to school any more.

Three years ago, he was put in a welfare home, but he ran away. Back to his mother.

Hartini Zainudin, a consultant at the Salam Malaysia Foundation, told Al Jazeera: "These children love their parents, whatever they do and so he wanted to be with his mother."

Zainudin helps to run a day care centre in Chow Kit, where the boy spends the day with other children who share similar stories - some of their parent’s are drug abusers, others are prostitutes.

The children get only the basics at the centre: some meals and lessons in reading and writing.

Conservatives speak out


Hartini Zainudin helps to run a centre
for street children in Chow Kit  
The centre is supported by Malaysia’s welfare ministry, but it has to fight for its own survival because the problems it seeks to cope with are often taboo subjects in Malaysia.

Dr Siti Mariah, of the Islamic Party of Malaysia, told Al Jazeera she was concerned the government’s support of the centre and its inability to tackle the cause of the problem, was as good as sanctioning prostitution.

"I’m worried about the message it gives to society that since the government is … helping them bring up their children, it’s OK not taking any action on the parents, the mothers," she said.

While most support the centre’s work, it fits uncomfortably with some segments of Malaysia’s society.

But Zainudin says the centre is necessary to keep the children off the streets.

"If we don’t protect [them, they] will be the fourth generation of sex workers in Chow Kit. This is what we don’t want," she says.

Street children have been a long-standing problem in Malaysia, but it is looking more and more as though the government is ready to ignore powerful, conservative, Muslim groups in order to deal with it.

Message amidst mirth

Filed under: India Streetkid News

Message amidst mirth

“Bhanwar” staged by the volunteers of Jamghat made friends by talking of the homeless. P. ANIMA



LAUGH TO THINK A scene from “Bhanwar”.

Slapstick comedy with a message. “Bhanwar”, a Hindi play staged by the volunteers of Jamghat – a non-government organisation, had a full-house in splits all the while.

But they also managed to poignantly highlight the issues of homelessness, unemployment, crime and safety.

Jamghat works with the street children in Jama Masjid and Hanuman Mandir areas. The organisation has often used theatre as an effective means to create awareness about pertinent issues.

It was no different this week at the India Habitat Centre, where the volunteers, basically college students, staged “Bhanwar.”

The mood for the evening was set by the music band Jigri. The youngsters sang couple of popular numbers from the film “Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi”, apart from a folk song from Himachal Pradesh and another from their first album. The zest of the young band was quite remarkable.

A weak sound system saw them keeping the mikes aside and singing without any acoustic aid, a rarity these days. Their voice did scatter at times, but they made it up with their extraordinary energy.

Feel of the place

“Bhanwar” opened by a giving a feel of Jama Masjid and the neighbourhood. Scenes changed swiftly – people in prayer pave way to portray a bustling “gali”– the “maalishwallah” along with other jobless men ogling at women and lost youngsters busy smoking pot.

“The play will have loads of humour otherwise hardly anyone would sit to watch the serious message,” said the anchor introducing the play. And “Bhanwar” kept the promise.

There were hardly any lax moments and an enthusiastic audience egged the actors on.

The 20 actors, students from the North and South campus, chipped in with their best and often got the local lingo, accent and body language right. In an effort to elicit laughter, the actors at times banked on exaggerated body language, but their spirit saw them sailing through.

“Bhanwar”, directed by Amit Sinha captures the way of life down the winding alleys of Jama Masjid. It starts off with a search for the thief Anwar which triggers a series of hilarious moments. There are stock characters though, Iqbal Chacha, the forgetful old man who firmly believes in the caste hierarchy, “maalishwallah” – the chief comic element in the play and envious women trying to get the better of their neighbour.

Smart Anwar manages to fool the residents and even lives in the alley as the “maulavi” before the police gets there in search of him. “Bhanwar” changes tempo to assume a serious tone as the moment of realisation dawns on Anwar, he marries the young rape victim and finds his role among the street children.

Despite the comic overtures, the play managed to communicate the “issues” well.

That included the rootlessness of migrants and their vulnerability, the apathy of the local people and also the homelessness of street children.

Adil Khan was convincing as the aging Iqbal and Deepak who doubled up as the “maalishwallah” and constable Ganpath kept the audience in good spirits. Three street children were also part of the play.

The lighting was adequate and the setting remained bare minimum. With the sound system not in place, a few dialogues were lost the din of wailing children.

It would have done the play good if it had not ran for an hour and 15 minutes. A little pruning would not have tampered its flow.

The entry was not ticketed as the purpose to “create awareness.” “Bhanwar” managed to do that though the actors were not professionals and the entertainment was a bonus.

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