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Cameroon: Govt to Rehabilitate Street Children
The Post (Buea)

28 April 2008
Posted to the web 28 April 2008

Elvis Tah

In its efforts to transform the lives of street children, the government of Cameroon is working on a national programme geared towards the rehabilitation of more than 800 in that category.

In line with the programme, the Southwest Provincial Delegate of Social Affairs, Fon Valentine Asongtia Foreke, recently disclosed to The Post that his Delegation has put a good number of the street children in rehabilitation centres.

"We have counselled some of these street children, opened up a mechanic and carpentry workshop for them in Tiko. We have enrolled more than 25 of them in Kumba, from FCFA 4 million given by the government. We also give them psychosocial assistance," said Fon Asongtia.

Quizzed on what his Delegation is doing to reintegrate these children with their families, the Delegate said most of the children tell lies and give wrong information about themselves and their families, thereby making it difficult for the social worker to get in touch with their real families.

That notwithstanding, Fon Asongtia said his Delegation has been able to reunite some of the children with their families or provide them with a trade."Concerning those who came about as a result of the "oga" syndrome (master-servant contact), we try and educate their masters and see if they could be reintegrated or learn a trade," said Asongtia.

The Delegate added that in line with the national programme, the Borstal Institute in Buea is undergoing rehabilitation to create trade departments that can render the children economically self-sufficient.

Still expounding on the Borstal Institute, Asongtia said there are two placement procedures there: judicial and administrative."The judicial placement is when the children or minors are sent to the institute by a magistrate as a result of a crime they committed. Under this placement, the institute informs the court on the changes of the child’s misdemeanours behaviours.

"Under the administrative placement, the minor is handed over to the institute by a social worker or a family who finds him/her obstinate. The institute informs the court before accepting the child," the Delegate said.

He pointed out that the Delegation also sponsors a Grade I teacher who teaches the minors at the Buea Central Prison, all of these is in a bid to eradicate juvenile delinquency.

Apart from mad people that wander about the streets, many children are increasingly joining them. They are found mostly inhabiting bus stops and video game houses. Some of these street children sleep on the verandas of off-licences and bars, and in abandoned or uncompleted houses.

In Douala, the Catholic Cathedral seems to be providing a safe haven for them where many have their beddings under a tent, where they retire from their daily activities to doze.

These street children come from different backgrounds and for various reasons; those who break up from their families because of disequilibrium and those who get to the streets because they have a misunderstanding with their benefactors or masters.

Some of such children are of Nigerian origin who are brought to Cameroon to serve as shop keepers or house helps, and after a misunderstanding with their masters, they flee to the streets.

A majority of such children are found in Kumba and Tiko in the Southwest Province.

The second category of street children are those who are actually living with their parents or guardians but are out of school, probably to hawk and supplement the family income.

The third category is of Arab extract that move along with their mothers, in markets and strategic places to beg for money.

Zimbabwe: NGO Embarks on Project to Rehabilitate Street Children
The Herald (Harare)

17 April 2008
Posted to the web 17 April 2008

Harare

A Local non-governmental organisation, Oasis Zimbabwe, has embarked on a programme to support Government’s efforts to rehabilitate street children and orphans.

In an interview yesterday, the organisation’s funding officer Miss Tinashe Sande said a rehabilitation centre had been established for the disadvantaged children in Kambuzuma. "We have set up a centre in Kambuzuma where we will equip the children with skills such as tailoring, carpentry, computers and agriculture as part of our social

responsibility and support of Government’s efforts to improve the lives of the street children and orphans," Miss Sande said. She said her organisation also conducts family reunification programmes. Oasis Zimbabwe has also set up the Tanaka project for former street girls aged between 14 and 18 years. The project is aimed at offering temporary residence for the girls to undergo psychological support while imparting them with self-help skills. Oasis Zimbabwe has partnered churches in setting up pre-school centres for orphans and vulnerable children.

"We have set up a model pre-school in Kambuzuma supporting other pre-schools in 12 high density and peri-urban areas where we train pre-school teachers free of charge," Miss Sande said. The organisation appeals to well wishers to donate in cash or kind towards the promotion of its noble projects.

Leagas Delaney handed Street Child Africa business

17-Apr-08

Leagas Delaney has been appointed by Street Child Africa to overhaul its brand identity ahead of the UK charity’s tenth anniversary later this year. Street Child Africa, which is the only UK charity devoted to helping street children across Africa, is understood to have appointed the agency without a pitch.

The work will be overseen by Leagas Delaney global chief executive and agency co-founder Tim Delaney. The agency has been tasked with repositioning the charity, with a high profile press and poster campaign breaking in May.

It will also redesign Street Child Africa’s logo and offer strategic and brand consultancy, as well as idea generation and helping to expand the range and scale of professional partnerships.

The charity, which has TV presenter Tony Robinson as its patron, hopes the work will help boost donations and its profile. Last year it raised over £1m to reach 40,000 African street children.

It brings employees of its African partners into direct contact with street children, offering them friendship, guidance, protection, education, medical care and skills training. It works with nine local partners in seven countries including Ghana, Zambia and Uganda.

Ghana: Big Opportunity for Street Children
Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)

15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008

Kingdom Sosu

In his bid to equip the youth with sporting skills in the country, Mr Ray Quarcoo, a renowned sports enthusiast, has set up a non-governmental organization, Bridge Foundation, run by a 61-year-old Robert Bevan, a retired British civil servant.

Moved by the request of the then Ministry of Youth and Sports (now Ministry of Education, Science and Sports) in 2002, when the late Mr Edward Osei Kwaku was the sector Minister, Mr Quarcoo, the President of Bridge Foundation started the construction of a multi purpose sports facility at Roman Ridge in Accra.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the youth centre which houses a big sports hall, training centre and a three-bed room accommodation for Coaches and trainers, on a plot of land provided in 2003 by the Ghana Railways Corporation in Accra, and inaugurated in 2003 . Mr Quarcoo, in an interview revealed that the Foundation seeks among other things to reduce the street children menace confronting the country by helping them fully develop their potential and also keep them from other social vices.

The President stated that "We will also facilitate refresher courses for our sports administrators and Coaches, as well as clinics for schools to improve sports." He pointed out that the NGO will on its own equip the centre with modern facility and a scholarship scheme to the benefit of deserving youth who have excelled in their various fields of endeavour and also arrange for overseas training and sponsorship for national teams preparing for international competitions.

"Already, we are in serious talks with a British-based company, OPEN CAST, in the United Kingdom who have expressed their interest to come on board to make this project a huge success," Mr Quarcoo said. According to the president, OPEN CAST are on the verge of raising funds through fund raising campaigns towards the building of a three JSS classroom block at Kokrobite, in Ghana. Through his efforts, great boxers such as Ike Quartey, the Clottey brothers, Alfred Kotey, Osumanu Yahaya among others has gained prominence.

Mr Quarcoo emphasized that the training centre is opened to children between the ages of 10-20 and with talents in sports, especially boxing and table tennis in the Accra metropolis. He is therefore appealing to individuals and corporate bodies to throw their weight behind other sports Foundations in their quest to salvage the street children menace. Already, the Foundation has started a computer training exercise for intelligent but needy children in the Roman Ridge Area and has had two graduation ceremonies already. And for some time now, Child Care Foundation, an NGO based at Malam, in Accra, visits the Bridge Foundation on Saturdays for computer training lessons under the tutelage of Nicholas Manu, a graduate volunteer of the organization. At the early stages of the constructional works, the late sports Minister visited the site and congratulated Mr Quarcoo for offering hope to the needy in society.

Sierra Leone: Miss University Feeds 35 Street Kids
Concord Times (Freetown)

11 April 2008

Ben Samuel Turay

Miss University Thursday fed 35 street kids at Aries International Restaurant on Lightfoot Boston Street.

Khadija Sall said street children are hungry, hardly found something to eat and are not educated. She said the situation of the children saddened her and that prompted her feeding the kids.

"I organized this charity because it is my plan to help street kids in the country, and I want to pledge my continued support to more deprived children," she said.

Sall said she has written letters to various companies to help her address the needs of street children.

She expressed her intention to start visiting the homes and families of the children to acquire knowledge about problems affecting them.

Proprietress of Aries International Abibatu Sesay said she is very impressed to see a young girl like Sall express interest to address the needs of children. She said if every Sierra Leonean could express similar interest towards disadvantaged children, it will be good for the country.

Beneficiary, 15 year-old Mohamed Kamara said the food he had was his first food he had eaten since the start of the day. He said he has never been to school because his parents are poor.

Street children get lifeline Story by PATRICK NZIOKA and MIKE MWANIKI Publication Date: 4/11/2008

The Government will set up drop-in centres in major towns to serve as contact points for street children. Dr Manu Chandaria, chair of the Street Children Rehabilitation Trust Fund, admires a basket made by former streetboys during the launch of the street families rehabilitation exhibition at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi on Thursday. Photo/STEPHEN The centres will offer food and other facilities to attract the street children. Through this arrangement, social workers will have an opportunity to convince them to join rehabilitation programmes. Local Government minister Uhuru Kenyatta said the first centres would be opened in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Eldoret. This is a radical shift in strategy in dealing with street families who have in the past been forcibly  evicted from the streets. The non-residential centres will also provide counselling, medical services and recreation for the children. “Those targeted will visit the centres out of their own volition rather than being forced. There will be higher chances of success because such an approach will seek active collaboration of the targeted children and youth as opposed to forcefully taking them from the streets against their will,” Mr Kenyatta said in a speech read on his behalf by PS Solomon Boit during an exhibition to mark five years of a rehabilitation programme by his ministry. The minister said the ministry would train 150 social workers to equip them with relevant skills to enable them handle rehabilitation programmes at the grassroots level. He warned those who sold glue to the children to stop doing so as the police had been instructed to deal with them firmly. Rapid urbanisation He appealed to Kenyans to contribute towards the rehabilitation programme through the Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund under his ministry. Mr Boit explained that the programme had been upgraded to a fully fledged department while its budget would be increased from the current Sh33 million to enable it undertake its mandate. The chairman of the fund, businessman Manu Chandaria blamed rapid urbanisation and poverty for the street children menace in cities. He called on Kenyans to take the children as their own as it was the only way to deal with the challenge. Dr Chandaria called on the Government to speed up the purchase of a children’s centre in Nyeri and the development of a piece of land in Ruai  to house the children. Meanwhile, a new study shows youths want politicians to urgently address the high levels of unemployment and runaway crime in most parts of the country. The youths accuse the politicians of failing to prioritise the availability of condoms. They also accused them of failing to address teenage pregnancies and abortion, among other reproductive health issues. The study, which was conducted in the eight provinces last year, involved 1,949 respondents, Centre for the Study of Adolescence executive director Rosemary Muganda said Thursday. Experts estimate that almost 250,000 adolescents abort annually. A 2002 study by the Ministry of Health in 56 health facilities showed that four out of 10 of those who died of complications from abortion were adolescents under 19 years. Some of the negative consequences associated with teenage pregnancies include high school drop-out rate or interrupted education, vulnerability to or participation in criminal activity, social ostracism and child neglect.

Violence causes number of street children to rise Story by WANJIRU MACHARIA Publication Date: 4/4/2008

The number of street children has doubled in three major towns in the Rift Valley due to the post-election violence. Regional children’s officer Abdi Yusuf, Thursday said there were more beggars, street children and even idling adults in Trans Nzoia’s Kitale Town, Eldoret in Uasin Gishu District and Nakuru Town. There are over 47,000 children living at internal refugee camps in the province. Mr Yusuf said the district with the highest number of children forced from their homes is the larger Nakuru with 15,000, followed by Trans Nzoia with 13,000, while Uasin Gishu has 9,000. However, the children’s cannot give the actual numbers of street children because some spend all their time in the streets while others go to the camps at night. Mr Yusuf said some children who are not refugees are taking advantage of the situation to abscond school and beg in the streets. Good care The children’s officer said there were programmes in place to ensure that the children were withdrawn from the streets and put under good care. He said the provincial administration with the help of the Kenya Red Cross Society, UNICEF, Save the Children UK and World Vision had initiated a programme to help the displaced children. He said most of separated minors had been placed in children’s homes while others have been re-united with their families through the assistance of the Kenya Red Cross tracing department. The official said child protection committees had been formed in Nakuru and Eldoret to cater for the welfare of the displaced children and protect their rights and similar committees would be put in place in other districts. Mr Yusuf said there were allegations of child abuse at camps but was quick to add that there was not factual information to enable the department take legal action.

200 street children to reunite with families
Last Updated: Friday, 4 April 2008, 15:55 GMT

Children fishing

The Tema Metropolitan Social Welfare Department would by the end of this year reunite 200 street children in the metropolis with their families.

The 200 children were identified last year by a joint team of social welfare officials and members of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) Women and Children Sub Committee.

Mr George De Graft Assan, Tema Metropolitan Social Welfare Officer who disclosed this to Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the children were identified from Tema Manhean and the fishing harbour.

Mr. Assan stated that the programme would start with the fishing areas and later expanded to cover other areas of the metropolis such as Communities One and Two.

He added that the project which was supposed to take off last year was shifted to this year due to late budgeting.

The Social Welfare Officer however stated that preparations were underway by his outfit to submit the budget to the TMA for approval for the take off.

Touching on the activities of the 200 children, he said some of them serve as porters while others join the canoe fishermen to fish for a fee at the expense of their education.

Mr Assan noted that the children lied to the team that they were either for the morning or afternoon shift when asked why they were not in school.

He further said the team gathered that the parents and caretakers of the children were either dead or unemployed adding that counselling and vocational training would be given to the jobless parents.

Source: GNA

In Egypt, child workers a growing problem as food prices rise
The Associated Press
Published: April 3, 2008
CAIRO, Egypt: Each day, 14-year-old Ali Abdel-Nasser works at a brick factory on the outskirts of Cairo, loading a donkey cart with new bricks to be taken to a nearby furnace to dry. He has worked at the plant almost every day the last four years, since age 10 when his father died.

Responsible for a family of seven, the boy is bitter that even the donkeys at the factory get more time off than he does.

"The owners of the factory give the animals two days off," Ali said. "But I cannot afford to rest. If I did, nobody is going to bring bread for my family."

As Egypt struggles with rising food prices and inflation, the plight of poverty-stricken child workers and the lack of protections for them has gained new attention.

The country’s parliament is looking into measures to comply with international conventions to protect children from ill-treatment and hazardous employment, such as with chemicals and pesticides. But as food prices grow, the incidence of children working is almost certain to grow as large and poor families struggle to cope, aid groups and experts say.

More than 20 percent of Egypt’s 76 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. The government subsidizes some food and other staples but has struggled to keep up with demand for subsidized bread and other foods as world wheat and other food prices have skyrocketed.

Hundreds of children are thought to work at the string of almost 200 small brick factories in the Arab Jbour area, about 50 kilometers south of Cairo, said Salah Waheeb, who works for a British charity that looks after animals at the factories, called Brooke Hospital for Animals.

The children earn an average of about 25 Egyptian pounds (US $4.50) a day to load donkey carts to carry the new, wet bricks first to a drying area, and then to a furnace.

Several of the child workers in the area, interviewed by an Associated Press reporter on a recent trip, said they had sometimes been beaten with wooden switches by foremen at the factories, if the foremen thought the children were going too slowly in their work.

No foremen would agree to be interviewed. But human rights groups and outside experts say conditions for working children can vary greatly across Egypt — from factories that provide meals and some basic schooling, to those that work children long hours, often in scorching heat, and abuse or beat them.

Countrywide statistics on the number of working children are almost impossible to gather.

"It’s hard to get data, and the given ones do not usually separate between working children and street children in Egypt," said Siham Ibraheem, the head of the Tofoulti Organization, a local charity that looks after street children.

"This is a catastrophic issue that the government and all the public and international organizations must look at with serious concerns," he said.

The government has no official statistics on how many children work at factories or other jobs nationwide. But its latest statistics set the number of street children, between the ages 6 and 17, at about 1.5 million.

In large cities like Cairo, it is common to see children as young as age 5 dodging cars to try sell gum, flowers, tissue paper or trinkets to cars waiting at red lights. Many of those working children, in contrast with the factory child workers, have no families or have run away and live on the streets.

An official at the National Center for Criminal and Social Research said the country has fewer than 30 public shelters for street children or other poor children and about 160 private shelters. Police often arrest those trying to sell on the streets, if they are considered vulnerable to delinquencym and put them in shelters, where they often again run away The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Nine-year-old Abdel Moti exemplifies the reasons why some very young children in Egypt end up working.

Abdel, the youngest child seen working at one brick factory near Arab Jbour, said he has worked at the plant since age 8, driving a donkey cart each day. He earns about 20 Egyptian pounds (US $3.60) a day to help his mother, who works as a house maid. Often the money the boy makes goes to pay for medicines for his paralyzed father.

Abdel said he has no regrets about leaving school to work, because this way he can earn money.

"Here they pay me, and I can help my family," the boy said.

Within the framework of the project, employment and social assistance shall be made available to the street children in other to facilitate integration within their various families. The project which is in its pilot phase shall focus on some 800 children.

Before the execution phase of the project, a training session to acquaint provincial and community resource persons was organised. The session, organised in Yaoundé delved on the complexity of the phenomenon in Cameroon.

The Minister of Social Affairs, Catherine Bakang Mbock announced plans to provide psychological and moral assistance to the children within three years before they reintegrate their families.

In Yaounde, street children hovering around public places, train stations and motor parks have been a course for concern. As young as 13years, some of these children have been left to fend for themselves. They are commonly associated with theft, drug abused sometimes rape.

The ministry of social affairs insist the reintegration is a collective responsibility, exhorting the populations to be part of the exercise.

Pamela Bidjocka, Editor