World Street Children News :: Yemen Streetkid News

A street child in Sana’a suffering from a deformation due to burning accident.

UNICEF confirms that street children are among the most physically visible of all children, living and working on streets and public squares. Yet, paradoxically, they also are among the most invisible and therefore, the hardest to reach with vital services like education and health care, as well as the most difficult to protect.

Street children … another world

Twelve-year-old Thabet Ghalib has worked as a roaming seller for three years. According to him, his father forces him to work. “My father forced me and my three brothers to work since he doesn’t.”

He insisted on showing spots and blotches that have spread on his back. “These spots suddenly spread on my body. I have no idea what they are.” The spots weren’t Ghalib’s only concern, as he also suffers occasional spasms. “When these spasms attack, I fall down in the street, but nobody tries to help me. Even my friends run away when I fall down.”

Thirteen-year-old Ali Ahmed said he also experiences fits. “I suffer headache fits that sometimes continue three days and prevent me from leaving my house to work.” Ahmed, who sells balls and dolls in a Sana’a park, said he suffered a terrible incident when he was burned two years ago. “I went with my cousin to burn my school books and the fire caught me abruptly,” he explained, with the burning causing noticeable deformation on his right hand and back.

“Fever is killing me!” 11-year-old Mohammed Ali exclaimed. “When I experience this fever, I stay home for many days. The fever makes me weak, sleepy and my eyes fill with tears. I think it’s malaria.” Ali said his father forces him to work to get money; otherwise, his father will beat him. “My two older brothers ran away from home because of my father’s treatment. I’m now the only one on which my family depends,” he added.

Beating by one or both parents is not the only violence against these street children. Violence is widespread among the children themselves, as they must fight to survive. “We formed a gang to protect this area. We don’t want anyone occupying this area and beginning to sell to and steal our consumers,” Ghalib explained.

According to the children, they may get into bloody fights to “protect their business.” “I was stabbed on my leg by a sharp glass piece when I tried to sell in an area another gang controls,” 14-year-old Badee said.

Badee’s brother, who is working as a booklet seller on the street, faced possible death when a car hit him. “He badly injured his head and broke his arm and he spent 19 days in a public hospital. Now he’s OK, but he often complains of a headache,” Badee recounted.

Street children often find themselves in conflict with police and other authorities, who harass or beat them. “We keep running away from anti-begging police who arrest us, beat us, take our money and put us in jail. They say we’re beggars, but we’re not,” the children protested.

Ghalib, Ahmed, Ali, Badee and others confessed that they constantly are exposed to sexual harassment. “Many times, those in their cars ask me to join them, saying they’ll pay more money if I ride in the car. I ignore them and try to run away.” Ali explained.

More susceptible to disease

Medical experts say children in these circumstances are exposed to infection and disease more than adults.

“Children who work in the street mainly are subjected to skin diseases, respiratory diseases and venereal or sexual diseases,” pediatrician Dr. Mohammed Kashnoon said.

Due to the absence of personal cleanliness and prevailing unsanitary conditions, most street children suffer scabies, chicken pox, measles and other infectious illnesses transmitted by direct and indirect contact, according to Kashnoon. “These children also are subjected to respiratory diseases like sore throat, pneumonia, bronchitis and tonsillitis, which may lead to meningitis,” he confirmed.

Most of these diseases are transmitted by air; that is, if an infected individual coughs, his bacteria-contaminated breath is transmitted by air to these children, who spend most of their time on the streets. “These diseases can be cured if the ch

Skin diseases became widespread among Yemeni street children.

Street children also are exposed to sexual and venereal diseases. “Sexual diseases result from sexual abuse that these children are exposed to on the streets. These children come under huge stress from those adults seeking perverted relationships,” Kashnoon explained.

He also referred to injuries caused by widespread traffic accidents occurring in the streets, with the main victims being street children.

Dr. Abdulhamid Abu Hatem pointed to other chronic infectious diseases that have become common among street children. “Leprosy has become widespread among these children,” he said, as children with no idea about the disease mix with leprous individuals spread throughout many regions, for example, Bab Al-Yemen, using their infection to beg.

“Street children also can be disease carriers,” Hatem explained, “They’re exposed to viruses and bacteria more than others because they spend a very long time on streets that are very dirty and unsanitary. They also can carry these viruses and bacteria into their homes, spreading disease to their families and neighbors.”

Psychological problems

Hatem talked about the impact of difficulties and obstacles street children face on their psychological state and their health. “Street children are exposed to beating, sexual abuse and sometimes are used in illegal work. Such treatment negatively affects their psychological state, which also gradually weakens their immune system, so they become easy targets for disease and bacterial attacks.”

According to Hatem, most street children also suffer inferiority complexes. Kashnoon also emphasized that street children experience very complex psychological diseases. “A child who’s mistreated constantly may become spiteful toward society and such hatred reflects itself in violent behavior; that is, these children become ruder and more violent,” he added.

Street children experience symptoms of megalomania, paranoia and more rarely, depression. “These children weren’t born with these complexes, but mistreatment, their circumstances and society’s view all share in creating such psychological problems,” Kashnoon asserted.

Regarding the rate of medical treatment street children receive, Hatem said, “These children arrive at hospitals in very serious and late conditions. Most of them don’t complete their treatment because there’s no constant medical care from their parents or due to poverty, which prevents many families from even consulting a doctor.”

Hatem harshly criticized NGOs and local associations adopting children’s issues in Yemen. “Many organizations use ‘children’s issues’ to gain more support. In fact, those who use children’s issues to gain financial support are just as much exploiters as those who force children to work on the street.”

Although street children are running businesses to support their families, they still suffer society’s low opinion and are treated as beggars, juveniles or delinquents. The Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood (HCMC) defines them as street children due to the shame involved in admitting this group’s existence and absence of specific provisions for “street children” in Yemen’s legal framework.

There are no specific statistics on street children numbers in Yemen and estimates vary enormously. The most recent study conducted for UNICEF in 2000 estimated the number of such children in Sana’a as 28,789. Most were between age 12 and 14, with the vast majority (78 to 96 percent) being boys.

Two boys fighting in the street.PHOTO BY HAKIM ALMASMARI

Street children

“Street children” is a well-known name for many Yemeni children resulting from them spending long hours in the streets rather than at home. The name directly indicates these children’s bad behavior and attitude as they worsen daily.

Children think they become more mature like their fathers and big brothers by cursing and fighting, while some think it’s their way of getting the attention they need as children. However, when they spend most of their time on the streets, they eventually become emotionally weak.

“Home is everything for children. When they lose the warmth of home, they try every possible way to gain it back. Their ways of doing that are not obvious to parents. Parents think it’s bad behavior when it’s really the need for loving parents,” local doctor and father of four Mohammed Saleh said.

Street children practice several bad activities that cause chaos in some situations. They go to candy shops in groups and distract the shop owner as they steal money and candy. This stealing habit develops over time until they begin stealing from their own homes and then from their neighbors.

“I used to see my children with a lot of money. When I asked them where it came from, they refused to tell me. I later found out they had been stealing from a meat shop owner,” mother of eight Fatima Humeed said, noting a negative change in their behavior.

“They put nails in the street. They throw little stones and dirt at passing cars. They even throw themselves in front of cars to frighten drivers. They also bother their neighbors by knocking on doors and running, putting garbage in front of their houses and by shouting and disturbing them,” she added.

Their first home

Children spend more time on the streets than at home. The streets have become a place where they learn to act and to deal with people. For many children, from the moment they awaken, they spend their time on the streets, only returning home at mealtimes to eat quickly and go out again.

What is more shocking is that little girls are doing the same thing. Girls often are more vulnerable than boys, so they are kept home to be raised well. But this is not what’s happening. In some instances, young girls spend as much time on the streets as boys.

School is a very strange place for these types of children. For them, it is a boring place to torture them, when they could be spending time having fun with their friends. It is never explained to such children the benefits and importance of studying. “Why should they learn? They will grow up and find no jobs. It’s a waste of time, energy and money,” a father of seven complained.

Many parents only realize the importance of education for their children during exams month. Parents lock their children at home to make them study, but unfortunately, it’s too late. Children become aggressive and violent when they spend their time on the streets and since they hate school and studying, they don’t study for exams. At this point, parents begin losing control over their children, but it is control they never had due to allowing them total freedom.

Future bad effects

Living in a bad environment has numerous bad effects. Boys grow up to be careless and violent, continuing a lifestyle to which they’re accustomed. They continue spending time on the streets but with a new way of harassing others. They start chasing girls and going down the wrong path. They develop fighting habits and begin possessing guns and different types of weapons. They start forming larger gangs and picking senseless fights with passersby until it worsens.

Girls also grow up to be poorly behaved as a result of spending time with boys who are like them on the streets, as well as having no other care than getting into other people’s business and gossiping about everyone.

Whose fault?

Parents are the ones who mold a child’s character and behavior. When they do this poorly, it remains with the child for life, even if they attempt to change it. It is like a genetic imprint, as it’s nearly impossible to change.

Ironically, Yemeni parents love having many children but unfortunately, they don’t like the responsibilities that come with it. Fathers chew qat with friends without disturbance and mothers go out visiting others and gossiping, while children are sent to the street to do whatever they want.

“Parents who raise their children poorly are without minds. They not only raise their children to be bad, they destroy their future and any chance they have to be good people. We see a lot of boys and girls today who commit crimes and do very bad things to their families and society,” senior college student Jamal Shaef said, worrying when imagining his children in this situation.

Many parents nowadays complain about the amount of responsibility they must take, but didn’t they think about that before getting married?

The most common reasons that children are pushed to the streets are poverty and family conflicts. These children are mostly from the marginalized group of Akhdam (the servant class), children of the returnees from the first Gulf war, children of families who came from other govern orates and settled in Sana’a city, and children of poor families that live in Sana’a city.According to UNICEF’s study, 58 percent of Yemen’s street children wash cars and beg to get by. The remaining 42 percent work as hardware collectors, cattle grazers, vegetable sellers and the like.

The phenomenon of street children is a nationwide problem exacerbating by the deterioration of the economic situation in the country. On top of living on the street, the children acquire habits and conducts such as smoking and stealing.

The Safe Childhood Center (SCC) is one of the few centers in Yemen, that takes care of these children. The center can accommodate 30 kids, but that is not enough. Many children do not get help they need to become effective members of society.

Lack of cooperation

The SCC faces several difficulties. It lacks a suitable building to fit the increasing number of street children. “We have a small center for thirty children and because of this, we cannot provide help to more than thirty at a time,” says the manager of the center, Mrs. Haime. “Most of the women working in the center are volunteers. So we also need qualified male staff. The problem is that we do not have money to give your staff salaries,” she added.

Another important problem is that society does not seem to value the services offered by the center. Some official and charitable societies do not wish to cooperate with the SCC, so money is tight.

Even though the SCC could use more funding, there is support from different sides. The Ministry of Education contains the street kids in regular education despite the fact that these children have no birth certificates or schooling certificates. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor allocates money to cover expenditure of the center, monthly stipends to children and provide children with healthcare for free. The SCC also receive equipment, furniture and staff training with the help of different organizations.

Divorce and poverty

The statistics or figures related to divorce rates and the scant income of the head of the household are two of the primary reasons behind spread of the phenomenon of street kids, in addition to dropping out of school, deviant upbringing and bad social climate.

Yussen was eleven years old and living on the street, when he joined the center. “My father divorced and he married again. After a month of the marriage, my father drove me to the streets with my three brothers,” he says. The four children did not find a place to live in except the street. After one month, they went home, but unfortunately they found nobody there. “My father sold the house and went away. We do not know where to,” Yussen says.

Help to integrate

The SCC aims to provide full care for children, retrain them to be fully integrated in society, and help them in acquiring new skills. It also aims at developing the abilities and potentials of children and encouraging the society to contribute in making the project a success.

“Some of the children are illiterate, when they come to us. So, we teach them in the center and send them to study in the public schools,” says Mrs. Haime. “These children get excellent degrees in their schools,” she added.

The children living at the center are those w

The SCC has a list of requirements for the admission of children to the center as the applicant has to be homeless; from a morally deviated family; an orphan or he/she can be one who pursues low-paid professions to sustain their families.

Functions of the SCC

The center has varied and diverse functions and activities in the areas of education, health, religion, sports, entertainment and feeding. In the educational field, the center works on eradicating illiteracy and enrolling kids in government schools or vocational institutes to learn some professions from which they profit in the future. In the religious respect, the SCC registers children in summer camps to memorize the Quran and gain useful lessons in daily Quran sessions. Concerning the areas of health and sports, the center still suffers the lack of staff and health equipment. However, there are some sporting activities such the participation in sport clubs and football tournament.

The SCC staff supervises the activities of the center around the clock, as well as in the official vacations. The staff includes a supervisory committee that collects donations from donor organizations and philanthropists. Female specialists and teachers assess the behavior of children, direct them towards the best, write reports on the progress of children and train them before school enrollment.

With respect to the area of entertainment, the center coordinates trips and cultural contests for children while feeding in the center depends on the support of traders and donors.

The center has also launched illiteracy eradication centers for children who are deprived of regular education due to difficult living conditions, as well as for those who exceeded the school age without enrollment. The SCC has registers for the education of the children, their progress rate and their behaviors inside the building of the center.

A day at the center

In the summer vacation, a normal day at the center is scheduled to include both religious and entertaining activities. At 8:00 a.m. on the first day of vacation, kids go to the mosque and stay there until noon. Then they return to the center to watch T.V. until 2:00 p.m. At 5:00, kids practice different sporting activities in the field under the supervision of some specialists until the Sunset Prayer. After the Nightfall Prayer, they clean the center and then go to bed. On Thursdays, children are allowed to visit their families according to particular timetable.

Achievements

Despite difficulties, there are a number of achievements reached by the center that are worth mentioning. These achievements are reflected in the educational progress of children and obtaining high rankings. Some illiterate children come from vocational institutes and join the center to learn as there are varied specializations inside the center, contributing to the organization and success of the center.

The SCC is also involved with the first documentary film on the phenomenon of street children in Yemen.