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Have you ever thought who a street
child is?
Introduction
Street children represent one of the most disadvantaged
categories of vulnerable children.
A Street child can be
defined as child who has not reached the age of
adulthood but to whom the street or unoccupied dwelling has
become his or her habitual place of abode and with no care and
protection.
The existence of street children is directly related to a
number of social problems which include poverty, urbanization
(rural-urban migration), armed conflicts, the social problems
resulting from AIDS pandemic, lack of basic education and life
skills and the break down of extended family life systems,
community values and traditional social and economic
structures. Though we believe is escalating, there is lack of
comparable surveys and figures documenting this increase.
The street children are not a homogenous group, but consist of
individuals in different backgrounds and difficulties, such as
orphans, children from very poor families, abused or rejected
children and run always. What they have in common are that
they are spending most of their daily life on street and are
either partly or fully making their living on street. Street
children are also characterized by lack of child guidance, a
care and protection.
Children on the street could be grouped into two broad
categories:
1. Full time street children: Are those without
contact with their family who spend day and night on streets
and verandas and actually view street as their home.
2. Part time street children: Are those working on the
streets but living at home such as school dropouts and
children sex workers.
These categories are transitional for instance, children may
be temporary forced to help the family earn a living or cater
for themselves. Most of the m come form families living in
difficult circumstances.
Main objectives of efforts to address street children
problem in Uganda have been and still are:
* To prevent children form coming to the streets.
* To rehabilitate and reintegrate children on the streets into
mainstream society.
Article by
Kibuli Senior Secondary School through the project co-ordinator,
Musinguzi Emanuel.
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