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What is the program for street children?By Boniface Mouti Last week’s issue of Arusha Times gave a clear picture of what is happening in our streets as far as the lives of street children are concerned. It was established that in Arusha, "660 children languish in municipality streets." This is very sad affair. I would like to thank Mkombozi centre for street children for the initiative that they have taken in conducting this exercise. The figures are there both in black and white for us to see. What next? I have talked about street children in most of my previous articles. It is a problem that everyone in the society can participate in solving in our different capacities. But, I would like the community and especially those organisations working with street children to continually re-evaluate their programme approach for these children. What is our perception about street children? Do we affirm that street children like other normal children are equipped with expressions, feelings, understandings, imaginations, concerns, desires and hopes? Do we affirm that these children are also equipped with disagreements, questions, dreams, complaints, initiatives and strengths? When we accept to take responsibility of these street children, do they find that the services available are in their best interest; do they believe they will be listened to and not judged; do they think their opinions and experiences will count for something? At this point it would be fair to talk about shifting paradigms, which automatically demands a shift in programmatic strategies. If we see street children or youth as having something to offer rather than as empty vessels needing to be filled and helped, we must intentionally build programs that translate this belief system into action. First we need holistic programming. We must respect street children as whole beings with complex and interconnected life experiences. We should not send the message to them as people who have little to offer and should get into organizations only to receive and learn. If we engage with them on one aspect of life (such as income), we cannot avoid considering how this aspect relates to other areas of their life (such as health). The initial work for social workers should begin with street health, creating method and tools for communicating with street children and youth about sexual health, HIV/AIDS, work in the sex trade, and drug use. Street children and youth do not choose to use drugs or engage in risky sexual practices in an environment of obvious answers or simple choices. They are constantly balancing the satisfaction of immediate needs and benefits of short-term coping strategies against the potential risks and future consequences of their actions and decisions. The social worker should shift away from the temptation of always being seen as "expert adviser" and the street child as "dependent client" to a relationship that respects young people’s ability to articulate their own reality and define their own goals and objectives. At the same time our programs should be focused to useful harm-reduction and risk management life skills. We must continually train our social workers with the techniques for working with "where they are" and then supporting them in moving towards lives of risk prevention and health. This is what holistic programmatic approach means. We must promote interactions with street children and youth based on opening dialogue with them around the choices they are making and how to enlarge the range of safer choices they might otherwise make. The street children are our children. Came to think of it, that rich fellow who sits in a luxurious office could have fathered this child and abandoned the mother. Yes! Indeed they are our children. Let us design programs that can better their lives.
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