World Street Children News :: Malawi Streetkid News

Street children to benefit from Scout Extension Project 

BY PATRICK MSOWOYA 03:28:41 - 04 September 2006

Hundreds of street children in Lilongwe would from this month benefit from a Scout Extension Project under Gift of Peace where the children, most of them orphans, will receive voluntary education.

Chiefs Commissioner for Scouts Association of Malawi Evans Mphalasa said this on Saturday during launch of the project. He said his association has targeted a number of street kids who will go under formal training aimed at incorporating them back into society.

Mphalasa said during the initial pilot phase for the project, the Scout Association of Malawi intends to identify over 40 children who will be taught life skills under a number of scouts clubs currently operating in the city.

Speaking during the same function, Deputy Director for Children Affairs in the Ministry of Women and Child Development Esmie Kainja said it was unfortunate that orphans go under severe torture and abuse in the homes, a situation she said forces them into the streets.

“Research has shown that orphans continue to be tortured in the homes where most of the times are either beaten now and again or forced to do heavy manual work hence their fleeing into the streets,” said Kainja.

The Scouts movement dates back to the colonial era in the 1960 but was later banned in Malawi during the one party regime. The movement bounced back in the 90s with the blessing of former president Bakili Muluzi. President Bingu wa Mutharika is the movement’s patron.

The Scouts Association of Malawi gets funding from the World Organisation of Scouts Movements based in Geneva, Switzerland and the current project is expected to cost about K500,000.

Street kids warmed 

BY TIMES REPORTER 03:50:40 - 29 May 2006

A group of passionate leaders calling themselves Malawi Interaction Leaders Network (Milnet) on Friday donated jerseys and coats to street kids in Lilongwe.

Representing Milnet, Effie Tambala said she was particularly concerned that winter is approaching and street kids, who are most of the times orphaned, have no one to turn to for warmth.

“That is why I suggested to my friends that we have this initiative and call it ‘Warm the Street Kids’,” Tambala said.

She explained that Milnet is a baby born out of the British Council Interaction Leadership Network.

“The British Council equipped us with strong leadership skills and we only thought it right after our training to give back to our societies and help reproduce passionate leaders in our communities,” she said.

Tambala also pointed out that the old popular saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow is “a bit out of tune” now. She suggested that people should advance that the youth are the leaders of today. “Leadership starts at any age. Even those kids who are monitors in their classes are leaders and we need to nurture that leadership,” Tambala said.

Principal Secretary of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services Andrina Mchiela, who was also present at the handover ceremony, praised Milnet for the good work and urged Malawians to follow its example.

“I am sure that if many Malawians were to come up with similar initiatives for street kids and orphaned children, some of the problems in our society would be lessened,” Mchiela said.

Milnet members raised the money for buying the warm clothes and they also mobilised resources from other well-wishers like Coco-Pina and Village of Hope.

Billiat gives hope to street kids 

BY Yvonnie Sundu, a correspondent 06:29:19 - 17 May 2006

IN life very few people are certain of their destiny but uncertainty does not stop many from keeping their heads up to achieve their wishes and aspirations. With such ambiguity of what the future holds for such people, 14-year-old musician, Lyson Billiati who has spent his childhood days begging in the streets has opened a new chapter in his life. Armed with his hot-selling debut Dziko today Billiati might not match the economic stature or fame of the likes of Lucius Banda, Allan Ngumuya or Billy Kaunda, but certainly perseverance has made a difference in his life. While many people metamorphosing to standard life would resort to drinking, smoking and womanising, the story is different for the wonder kid.

"I would rather remain an ordinary person, live simple life and help the needy with the little I’ve got than pretending to be too modern. “I’ve seen a lot of people who after breaking through on the music scene would completely change their life-styles and live a borrowed life,” says the musician who draws his inspiration from popular musician Joseph Nkasa.

Asked why he is inspired by Nkasa the young musician recalls that he performed with Nkasa when he was so young. “I had the advantage to perform in the same church choir with Nkasa in Chiradzulu when I was so young,” says Billiati hinting given such a background Nkasa has always been his main source of inspiration.

The youthful musician expressed optimism that his album would help promote the socio-economic welfare of street kids and the needy in general, in an oblique reference to the plight of street kids.

"I have realised that there is much talk about the plight of the needy but there is insufficient action taken to address our plight," Billiati said. The young musician said he was working out on how best he could assist his fellow needy.

“If you go around in town you would notice a lot of helpless kids yet the country has countless millionaires. Even those who receive funds meant for the needy do not use it to benefit the needy,” he said.

Child day concentrates on street children 

BY DEBORAH NYANGULU 06:25:05 - 15 May 2006

This year’s International Day of the Child, which falls on June 16, would concentrate on the street kid, Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services Joyce Banda has said. Banda made the revelation last week when she lunched with street kids supported by a Farmer’s World feeding programme under the Support the Child initiative.

The Gender Minister said street kids face a lot of hardships but get very little help because they are only deemed as street criminals. A young girl who spoke on behalf of the street kids at the luncheon complained that life on the street was hard and they are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/Aids.

“Shop watchmen offer us a place to sleep in exchange of sex and protection. We cannot say no because we need the shop verandah to sleep on as it is cold,” she said.

Banda said reports of such horrible demands by watchmen had already reached her office. She added that an impeccable source told her street kids are being trafficked, some are joining gangs while girls are being used as sex workers in drinking places and brothels. Banda said enforcing laws and strengthening the campaign against child abuse would help solve the problem. The Gender Minister stressed that she intends to make this year’s child day a special one for street kids so that their worth in society is recognised.

‘Handouts encouraging street kids’ 

BY Jacob Nankhonya

05:24:21 - 25 April 2006 The tendency by rich people to give out money and gifts to youngsters is one of the factors encouraging kids to be on the street, Programme Manager of Chisomo Children’s Club Grace Tsakama, has said.

She made the observation on Friday in Lilongwe during a march by Chisomo Children’s Club. She said street children usually flock to Asian owned shops on Fridays for handouts and the children are mostly boys.

Executive Director of Chisomo Children’s Club, Nelson Mkandawire blamed individualism among families, saying it was aggravating the problem of street kids.

More street children as Malawi food crisis deepens

afrol News, 5 February, 2003 - As the food crisis tightens its grip in Malawi, there are reports a worrying increase in the number of children coming onto the street in the desperate search for food and money. Starvation looms for more than three million people in Malawi - almost a third of the population - as a result of the country’s worst food crisis for decades.

The Christian relief and development agency, Tearfund, warns that the situation in Malawi’s largest city, Blantyre, is getting desperate as an increasing number of orphans and extremely poor children take to the streets.

- We are seeing an increasing number of children coming onto the street because of the food crisis, says Nelson Mkandawire, Director of Tearfund partner Chisomo Children’s Club, based in Blantyre. "There’s no food at home so they are forced onto the street to beg. For many it’s their only option," he explains. 

Between January and March last year, when hundreds of thousands of families were desperately short of food, Chisomo Children’s Club reported up to a 150 percent increase in the number of children on Blantyre’s streets, when compared with the previous year. A year on, with the humanitarian situation now significantly worse in Malawi, Chisomo fears that the number of street children will exceed last year’s increase. The food crisis is expected to continue to deteriorate until at least the next harvest in three months time.

- During 2002 we saw approximately 40 new children coming onto the streets every month, but in December that figure doubled, says Mr Mkandawire. "The increase is continuing and we’re expecting a huge number of children to come onto the street in the next three months, many more than last year. The food shortages are just too big this time and it’s deeply worrying," he continues.

Chisomo fear that the real number of children hitting Blantyre’s streets could be much higher than the initial estimates. "These figures only include unaccompanied children under 14 years of age, but if you include older children and also those who come onto the streets with their parents to beg during the day and go home at night, the true picture is likely to be much worse," says Mr Mkandawire. "We are also seeing a similar pattern of growth emerge in the capital Lilongwe."

Grinding poverty, family breakdown and HIV/AIDS are among the main reasons why children come onto the street in Malawi, Tearfund explains. It is estimated that 80 percent of the street children in Malawi are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. But as the food crisis has deepened, it is currently the main reason that children are coming onto the street in Blantyre.

- Once on the street, children are vulnerable to sexual abuse, the organisation warns. Chisomo report that children as young as six years old, both boys and girls, are sexually abused on the street in Malawi. "They are so desperate for food that they are often lured by the promise of money," says Mr Mkandawire. "My biggest fear is that as more children are forced onto the street by the food crisis, there will be a rise in sexual abuse and subsequently in HIV/AIDS." 

Chisomo also report that the food crisis is causing children to drop out of school. Mr Mkandawire says: "When I asked some of the street children why they had dropped out of school they said, ‘Why go? We only come home hungry. At least on the streets we can earn some money to buy food.’" 

- There has been a big delay in the rains this year, says Temwani Gausi, Income Generation Officer at Chisomo. "And when the rains are late people can’t plant their seed and so it delays the harvest. It means that come April, when people would usually harvest, their crops will still be green and people will be forced to eat green maize, like last year. I am very worried about the future."

Erratic rainfall in recent months, resulting in a lack of rain in some areas and flooding in others, threatens poor harvests once again. "The harvest in April will provide some respite from the food crisis, but it is unlikely to last long," says Paul Lapworth from Tearfund. "The situation in Southern Africa is a long term crisis that requires long term solutions."

Malawi is one of seven Southern African countries currently experiencing the region’s worst crisis in decades, caused by a deadly combination of erratic rainfall leading to widespread harvest failure, HIV/AIDS, political mismanagement and economic instability. More than 14 million people in Southern Africa currently depend on international food aid.