City centres thronged by street children

* Children rights groups estimate over 50,000 street children living in Pakistan
* Police says criminal gangs of street children are patronised by influential people
* Psychologist believes street children likely to become criminals and terrorists

By Terence J Sigamony

RAWALPINDI: Going to bazaars, shopping malls, schools, mosques and shrines in the city has become difficult not because of tight security but because these places are thronged by street children who swarm around visitors.

Pirwadahi, Faizabad, Raja Bazar, Mareer Chowk and Sawan Adda have become havens of such children who have reached these places from rural Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and NWFP.

The term ‘street children’ was introduced in the 1980s to refer to children who live on or spend a lot of time on streets of the urban areas. NICEF categorises street children in two main categories.

The first category includes children on streets who are engaged in some economic activity. Most go home by the end of the day and contribute their earnings to their family’s earnings. They may be attending and retain a sense of belonging to a family but because of the economic fragility of their families, these children may eventually opt for a permanent life on streets.

The second category is of children who actually live on streets or outside a normal family environment. Family ties may exist but are tenuous and are maintained only casually or occasionally.

The number of children living on streets worldwide totals between 100 million and 150 million, while it is forecast that by 2020 the number will increase to 800 million. In Pakistan children’s rights groups have estimated that over 50,000 children live on streets.

Children at Pirwadahi and Faizabad are living in unhygienic and squalid conditions. They live in under-construction buildings, hotel basements and verandas of bus stands. Majority of such children has come to the city with expectations to fend for themselves or their families through various occupations but after arriving here, they discovered that streets were not paved with gold.

Kamal Ahmed alias Kami at the Pirwadhi bus stand said he ran away from his house five years ago because his father used to beat his mother on trivial issues. He never bore Kami’s expenses but always abused them.

He said, “One day my father came home drunk and when my mother asked for money, he started thrashing her. When I tried to protect my mother he thrashed me too. I decided to leave the house and come to Pindi but I did not know that I would land in more problems.”

Police in these areas are aware of criminal activities but are reluctant to put a stop to them. A police official confided to Daily Times that these gangs were very strong and had links with local influential people. He said they had arrested some street children on charges of pick pocketing three times, but superior officers ordered their release.

Saiqa Ashraf, a psychologist working on child sexual abuse, said these children become criminals, terrorists, revolutionaries, drug addicts and abusers. “They are starving and ignorant, destined to become thieves or victims of child sexual abuse. The girls become prostitutes but there is also male prostitution. The boys are uncontrollably violent and have lost the ability to feel emotions such as love. For the most part they are amoral,” she commented.

Some children say their parents asked them to beg or perform menial jobs like shoe polishing, car washing, cleaning in restaurants and selling flower garlands or small items. Their income rarely exceeded Rs 100.

“We have good days on Chand Raat, Eid and festivals,” said Mohammad Abid, a street child studying at Gharib Nawaz School.

He said he wanted to study but his father told him that he could not afford his school expenses and forced him to wash cars.

Street children have a sense of ownership to markets, bus stops and footpaths and do not allow outsiders, which are other street children, to ‘invade’ their territories.

A young girl, with a bandage around her head, said she had had a fight with another girl a day before because she was begging in her area.

Manizeh Bano, executive director of Sahil-an NGO working on street children’s issues, said street children are free and they do not have any obligations. There is no actual reason for street children to have any form of routine or stay in an area for a long time, but despite their freedom they often choose to stay in one place.

Temporary home provides shelter to street children
By DJ Yap
Inquirer
Last updated 09:47pm (Mla time) 09/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines–KAREN NEVER KNEW THE meaning of home until she set foot in the Open Day Center (ODC) run by the Virlanie Foundation.

Having known only life in the streets and under the bridges of Manila, the strong willed 5-year-old girl was unprepared for this welcome environment in the heart of Quiapo and unwilling to leave the sanctuary it suddenly offered her.

But the center is open only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., after which the center’s staff of six retires from the task of providing street children like Karen a place to eat, bathe, and perhaps escape momentarily, the scary world outside.

Thus when the clock struck five, Karen would not budge from her seat.

She shook her head twice and squared her shoulders, determined not to leave what had served as her home for eight hours that day. “Can I stay?” she asked, leaving the social worker on duty not a little heartbroken.

Finally, her big brother grabbed Karen’s arm and together, as the sun set, they strolled toward whatever nook or cranny of Quezon Bridge was available to spend the night. We can always come back tomorrow, he told her.

A project of Virlanie Foundation and funded by Amade, the ODC is a unique facility where young persons living in the streets may take refuge during the day but must leave at night.

The rationale behind it, said Virlanie’s deputy executive director, Arlyne Fernandez, is to provide street children with a comforting environment away from vice and crime, and to prepare them for the time when they find a home and have a family of their own.

“The truth is we hope we don’t have centers like this because that would mean no more street children. But as things stand, it seems impossible,” she added.

In an interview at the Virlanie head office in Makati City, Fernandez made clear that the institution does not condone children allowed to roam the streets. “But the children are out there anyway. This is our first step to let them experience a home atmosphere,” she said.

“They need to be in a safe place. The street is not a good place for children, and they have to experience home life so they’ll get used to it when we find a home for them,” Fernandez stressed.

The center, housed in a two-story building on Arlegui Street not too far away from Malacañang, does not provide free food, but instead encourages the families of the children to cook their own food in the kitchen.

The staff is composed of three social workers, a teacher, a nurse and a “house parent,” who oversees the children’s activities. Fernandez said an authority figure is important for kids in the center.

Volunteers are welcome, said May Laurent, who works as a team leader in the facility. “We’re looking for those who can train the kids in carpentry, sports, arts and crafts, etc.”

In the facility, there is a television set, an activity area for tutorials and workshops, and a toilet and bath where the young visitors may wash themselves.

“At first no soap was provided, so we asked them to bring their own. But no one did and many of them had skin diseases or wounds, so we decided to make soap available,” said Lauren.

The rest of the time is devoted to tutorials on various topics from the 3Rs to personal hygiene, and learning sessions on arts and crafts, or for older teens, adolescent sexuality and reproductive health.

Laurent said hygiene is usually the first thing their young wards learn in the center.

With a pained laugh, she recalled one little boy, who, not knowing how to use the toilet, did his thing right on the floor of the activity area. “He and his sibling live under the bridge where they do their toilet activities anywhere. These little things, we have to teach them,” she said.

Apart from the ODC, Virlanie actually operates 12 residential homes providing food, shelter and education for more than 1,000 disadvantaged children in the cities of Makati and Manila and in Batangas and Cavite provinces.

Since the inauguration of the facility in June, Fernandez said an average of 70 to 100 street children have begun to frequent the place every day, though not all of them at the same time.

Often coming in groups of five to eight, more boys than girls visit, Laurent said. They come from Manila’s depressed communities in Divisoria, Avenida, Carriedo, Basan, Paco, Carriedo, P. Casal and Plaza Miranda.

Laurent said working in Virlanie for four years did not prepare her for the images of extreme poverty and squalor that the center’s visitors face every day of their lives.

She remembered three siblings: Anna, 10; Michael, 6; and Gabriel, 3; whose parents are both in jail for petty offenses.

“I visited them once in their shanty under the bridge. The roof was so low you could hardly stand inside the shanty. There were overhanging electric wires, so any wrong move was dangerous,” she said.

Laurent continued: “I felt so scared, but of course I did not show them I was. Yet they were so happy to see me. It seemed as though living there had become so natural for them.”

After seeing their situation, Virlanie took in the siblings and arranged for their accommodation to the temporary homes.

Anna was sent to the Drop-In Center, Michael to the Marco Polo Home, while Gabriel was taken in by an aunt, The three are now doing fine, Laurent added.

“I remember the first time they visited the center. They are good, well-behaved kids. But they were obviously very hungry. They were always hungry,” she noted.

Which is why, despite the policy of not giving the street children food so they do not become dependent on the center, Laurent made an exception for the three. “I served them the food we had left over. In secret, of course.”

“As a social worker, I’m supposed to have an air of detachment dealing with these children. But every now and then, you can’t help but feel for them,” she confessed.

(The children’s names were changed to protect their identities.)

Attacks on students on rise

    September 29 2007 at 02:21PM

By Christina Gallagher

A group of street children are being blamed for the increase in assaults and muggings of university students in Melville.

Nine robberies, some of them at knife-point, have been reported to police in 2007 by students of the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

In the most recent attack, on Thursday, a female UJ student was robbed off-campus by a young male armed with a knife.

Ward councillor Cindy Grobbelaar said street children - mainly youths from neighbouring Westbury and River lea - had been a problem in the area for the past five years.

Grobbelaar attributed the recent increase in crime to the collapse of a street child education programme earlier this year and also to the death last month of one of the ringleaders of the group.

"Lucky was the one who kept the youth in check," said Grobbelaar.

In recent weeks there has been a dramatic increase in attacks on university students.

Earlier this month a female student was robbed at gunpoint while walking to campus. A 14-year-old streetchild, who had a toy gun in his possession, was detained by campus security the following day after the robbery victim spotted him.

University spokesperson Sonia Cronje confirmed that the number of incidents of assault and robbery reported by students had increased this year.

Police crime statistics for the past year also reflect that cases of armed robbery in the area have increased.

Cronje said the university had made "extensive additions" to security services this year. But Roelof Hugo, the head of UJ protection services, admitted that resources were insufficient to protect all students in the area.

Surrounding businesses also appear to have been affected.

Manana Serote, the manager of McDonald’s in Melville, said the restaurant had been forced to erect a fence around its premises to keep the streetkids out.

"They were harassing our customers for money. Our security guards had to escort customers from the building to Campus Square across the street to keep them safe.

"If we hadn’t put up the fence, we wouldn’t have any customers," she said.

A student, who asked not to be named, confirmed that a group of 20 streetkids were often seen in the afternoons in front of the McDonald’s, and they were joined by more youths over weekends.

The recent redeployment of Constable Veli Mkhwanazi, a Brixton policeman who has worked closely with the streetchildren, was said to have left the group idle and contributed to the rise in crime.

"The constable used to organise activities for these kids," said Superintendent RDM Sithebe.

"We are busy looking for someone else to do this. We don’t just want to arrest the kids. We want to educate them too."

UNICEF: Improving Mongolia’s juvenile justice system
Provided By: unicef
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, 28 September 2007 - In Ulaanbaatar, the bustling capital of Mongolia, five dishevelled children dart across the dusty pavement and pry open a heavy manhole cover. They slip into a narrow hole deep below the city — for now, this is where these children are living.

No one knows exactly how many street children are living in Mongolia, but estimates in Ulaanbaatar range from as low as 300 to as high as one thousand.

“Poverty is the number one factor sending kids into the streets,” says UNICEF Representative Bertrand Desmoulins. “More often than not, they are victims of domestic violence, abandonment, broken and dysfunctional homes. Ultimately, they may come into conflict with the law, victims of a harsh justice system that is ill prepared to cope with this new reality.”

UNICEF believes that legal reform which will amend the current system and protect children is an urgent priority. Equally important is ensuring that a wide range of social services are established to help prevent crime. As part of an innovative programme, UNICEF is supporting the local government to help divert juveniles from formal court procedures.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/protection/mongolia_41147.html

HCM City exhibits street kids’ art

(26-09-2007)

HCM CITY— A special exhibit of paintings of nature and scenes of daily life by street kids and children with physical disabilities is now on display in HCM City.

The exhibit at the Hotel Equatorial includes work by 60 children who attend schools for disadvantaged children, including Anh Minh, Hy Vong 1, Gia Dinh and the HCM City Youth Vocational Training Centre.

The paintings are executed in oil, watercolour, pastel and other media.

The highlight includes Rung Tram (Cajeput Forest), an oil painting by Phuong Linh, a student of a school for deaf children, Hy Vong 1, in District 1. More than 300 deaf children from the city and rural districts attend the school.

Linh’s work features a girl who is returning home from a forest while carrying firewood on her shoulder.

The 13-year-old skillfully uses green, blue, yellow and light brown to reflect the peace and beauty of trees, fish and water.

Other paintings portray serene moments of children at play or at home and school.

The works sell for US$30-40 each.

"Our event raises money for Linh and her colleagues, helping them continue their studies," said Nguyen Hoang Thinh Tri, who works as a teacher for Hy Vong 1 and is a member of the organising board. "The public’s support gives our kids hope."

Sponsored by Hotel Equatorial and the HCM City Fine Arts Association, the exhibit can be seen at 242 Tran Binh Trong Street, District 5 until October 20. —VNS

RENUKA CALLS ON PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FOR THE WELFARE OF STREET CHILDREN
	16:6 IST

The Government has taken up number of initiatives for the protection and welfare of the children but public private-partnership is must to get desirable results in this area. This was stated by Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development here today in a function organized by ‘CHILDSCAPE’ an NGO to facilitate street children for their outstanding achievements.

Ms. Chowdhury said that setting up of Child Right Commission is an important step in the direction of child welfare but education and information of children is also very important to make them enlightened youth. She urged the private sector to come forward and help in this endeavour.

Awarding street children for outstanding achievement, she said that the Government is exploring various options for education, health care and training of the street children with the help of private sector. She said that all the children are the assets of the nation and it is the duty of every citizen to see that all possible opportunities are provided to the children for their development.

On the occasion, the Minister awarded certificate and cash prizes to:

-Mohd. Ismail: A rag picker at Saket, working actively for community teaching of street children.

-Master Sankar: a rag picker at Basant Lok community. He not only goes to school, but also ensures that all 12 children from his slum attend school.

-Master Malik: a student of childscapes Bansant Lok and has today got a job and is self-sustainable.

-Master Ajay: a young enterprising student who has shown extreme dedication. He ensures that all the other fellow children do not miss the class.

-Master Anwar: supports in counseling on drug abuse of fellow students.

RENUKA CALLS ON PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FOR THE WELFARE OF STREET CHILDREN
	16:6 IST

The Government has taken up number of initiatives for the protection and welfare of the children but public private-partnership is must to get desirable results in this area. This was stated by Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development here today in a function organized by ‘CHILDSCAPE’ an NGO to facilitate street children for their outstanding achievements.

Ms. Chowdhury said that setting up of Child Right Commission is an important step in the direction of child welfare but education and information of children is also very important to make them enlightened youth. She urged the private sector to come forward and help in this endeavour.

Awarding street children for outstanding achievement, she said that the Government is exploring various options for education, health care and training of the street children with the help of private sector. She said that all the children are the assets of the nation and it is the duty of every citizen to see that all possible opportunities are provided to the children for their development.

On the occasion, the Minister awarded certificate and cash prizes to:

-Mohd. Ismail: A rag picker at Saket, working actively for community teaching of street children.

-Master Sankar: a rag picker at Basant Lok community. He not only goes to school, but also ensures that all 12 children from his slum attend school.

-Master Malik: a student of childscapes Bansant Lok and has today got a job and is self-sustainable.

-Master Ajay: a young enterprising student who has shown extreme dedication. He ensures that all the other fellow children do not miss the class.

-Master Anwar: supports in counseling on drug abuse of fellow students.

Krousar Thmey #05 - Bunthy
From: remiduha
La lecon de vie de Bunthy, jeune orphelin soutenu par la fondation Krousar Thmey
(Former street child talks about how he has benefitted from the work of Krousar Thmey.)