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Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early years of the 21st
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** More street children as Malawi food crisis
deepens afrol News (African News
Agency), 5 February www.afrol.com/News2003/index_maw003.htm [accessed 17 June 2011] At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] Grinding poverty,
family breakdown and HIV/AIDS are among the main reasons why children come
onto the street in Life on the streets www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11504 [Last access date unavailable] Mavuto, not his real
name, is fourteen-years-old. Born in Neno, his parents died two years ago. Consequently his
frail grandmother assumed the responsibility of taking care of Mavuto and his two young siblings. Mavuto says that
lack of food and other basic amenities forced him to leave the village and
start a new life as a street beggar in the city of Blantyre. As a result he has been a consistent
beggar for close to two years, moving through the streets, begging for
change. “I do not have any place I
call home. Most of the times, I sleep without any covers together with my
friend in that restaurant,” says Mavuto, pointing
in the direction of an old tin-made structure. “Older boys and minibus touts often beat
us up and rob us of our meager resources,” he admits. Last week Mavuto was raped and sodomized by two men. “It was on Wednesday around midnight when
two men entered our shelter and asked for a space to sleep,” he
explains. “Almost immediately they
produced knives and ordered me to undress. When I tried to protest they
threatened to kill me if I refused or shouted out,” says Mavuto. As he talks Mavuto
bows his head, his eyes cast down, sweater shielding his young face. “Then they introduced their members into
my anus. One after another. I was sodomized right in my room,” he says. But it wasn’t the first time. And
according to Mavuto, he isn’t the only young boy on
the streets in Blantyre to experience this.
“When I was just a novice beggar I was also sexually assaulted, that
was before I knew that these things happen,” says Mavuto,
who never reported the rapes to the police.
“I live in a very dangerous environment,” he admits. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF
– www.unicef.org/infobycountry/malawi.html [accessed 17 June 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the
Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/malawi.htm [accessed 19 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - A 1999 study estimated the number of children on the
streets of three major cities to be roughly 2,000. Approximately 22 percent of primary school
age girls were not in school, and another 60 percent of those enrolled were
found not to attend school regularly.
Indirect costs of education, family illnesses, and lack of interest in
education are lowering school attendance CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The Ministry also
collaborates with stakeholders to form the National Task Force on Children
and Violence, which deals with child labor as well as other threats to
children’s health and well being.
Street children receive assistance through the Department of Social Welfare
and the Ministry of gender, Child Welfare, and Community Services. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61579.htm [accessed 19 February 2011] CHILDREN
- More
than half of the country's children lived in poverty, mostly in rural areas.
Children in rural households headed by women were among the poorest. Only one‑third
of children had ready access to safe drinking water, infant mortality was
high, and child malnutrition was a serious problem. On June 21, the
government launched a National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children to mitigate the impact of poverty and HIV/AIDS on the country's
estimated one million orphans. A few charitable
organizations attempted to reduce the number of child beggars in urban areas;
however, the problem of street children worsened as the number of orphans
whose parents died from HIV/AIDS increased. Extended family members normally
cared for such children and other orphans. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1
February 2002 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/malawi2002.html [accessed 19 February 2011] [53] While noting
the challenging socio‑economic situation, the Committee remains
concerned at the increasingly high number of children who do not enjoy their
right to an adequate standard of living, including children belonging to poor
families, AIDS orphans, street children and children living in remote rural
areas. In addition, the Committee is
concerned at the lack of a social security system that would ensure access to
health services for children. [65] The Committee
expresses its concern at the increasing number of street children and at the
lack of specific policies and programs to address this situation and to provide
those children with adequate assistance. Life on the streets www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=11504 [Last access date unavailable] Mavuto, not his real
name, is fourteen-years-old. Born in Neno, his parents died two years ago. Consequently his
frail grandmother assumed the responsibility of taking care of Mavuto and his two young siblings. Mavuto says that
lack of food and other basic amenities forced him to leave the village and
start a new life as a street beggar in the city of Blantyre. As a result he has been a consistent
beggar for close to two years, moving through the streets, begging for
change. “I do not have any place I
call home. Most of the times, I sleep without any covers together with my
friend in that restaurant,” says Mavuto, pointing
in the direction of an old tin-made structure. “Older boys and minibus touts often beat
us up and rob us of our meager resources,” he admits. Last week Mavuto was raped and sodomized by two men. “It was on Wednesday around midnight when
two men entered our shelter and asked for a space to sleep,” he
explains. “Almost immediately they
produced knives and ordered me to undress. When I tried to protest they
threatened to kill me if I refused or shouted out,” says Mavuto. As he talks Mavuto
bows his head, his eyes cast down, sweater shielding his young face. “Then they introduced their members into
my anus. One after another. I was sodomized right in my room,” he says. But it wasn’t the first time. And
according to Mavuto, he isn’t the only young boy on
the streets in Blantyre to experience this.
“When I was just a novice beggar I was also sexually assaulted, that
was before I knew that these things happen,” says Mavuto,
who never reported the rapes to the police.
“I live in a very dangerous environment,” he admits. Vasco's Story: Running to Stand Still Cathleen Falsani,
Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/cathleen-falsani/vascos-story-running-to-s_b_70268.html? [accessed 17 June 2011] They said to be
careful, to not get too close, to not let
"it" get to me, to not become overwhelmed or "too
emotional." After about three
weeks of behaving myself and keeping my head and heart in check while
traveling through east Africa, I did exactly what they said not to do. I fell in love. Hopelessly, helplessly,
achingly in love. His name is Vasco.
He's 10. It was love at first sight on my part, though I can't speak for the
Malawian child who has broken my heart with his. Street kids miss family values Duncan Mlanjira,
The Daily Times, 16 July 2007 www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=5726 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] “From what we have
discovered, most of these children are not orphans,
they have parents whose marriages broke up.
“Most of them are from single parent homes and are encouraged to go
into the streets to beg because they are not well provided for at their
homes,” he said. He said it was wrong
to give the children money because such handouts encouraged them to stick to
the streets. Miss Marcus Muhariwa,
05 December 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Almost clocking six
months basking in the glory of being “I have learnt that
not all children that we see loitering in the streets of our cities and towns
are orphans. They have parents and guardians and these people simply don’t
have the capacity to support the children’s education and provide them with
the necessities,” she said. Dickson Kashoti, 06 November 2006 This article has been archived by World Street
Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] The population of
street children in Kaluluma said she was
concerned with reports that some watchmen in Lilongwe were cashing in on
street children by charging a fee when the street kids sleep on the verandas
of shops. “The government would take
drastic action against such watchmen. There is no need to charge these poor
children, the government would not sit back and watch,” warned Kaluluma. Lack of love in homes increasing street
children Chikumbutso Ndaferankhande
, 20 October 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] One of the
facilitators Phoebe Kufeyani said unfair and biased
treatment of orphans by guardians in homes force them join the streets. She
added in the face of HIV and AIDS, orphan hood was on the increase. She
decried the tendency of property grabbing by relations, which makes the
deceased children poor. Street children to benefit from Scout
Extension Project Patrick Msowoya,
04 September 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Hundreds of street
children in 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. CHILD DAY concentrates on street children Deborah Nyangulu,
15 May 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] 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. Handouts encouraging street kids Jacob Nankhonya,
25 April 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] 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. More street children as Malawi food crisis
deepens afrol News (African News
Agency), 5 February www.afrol.com/News2003/index_maw003.htm [accessed 17 June 2011] At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] Grinding poverty,
family breakdown and HIV/AIDS are among the main reasons why children come
onto the street in Consortium for Street Children – Consortium for Street Children cfsc.trunky.net/content.asp?pageID=29®ionID=4&countryID=37 [accessed 17 June 2011] The rise in street
children numbers is the result of worsening economic conditions aggravated by
the breakdown of extended family structures and the impact of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. An estimated 25% of the urban population is infected with HIV;
there are an estimated 1.2 million children orphaned Our work with victims of abuse Rita Hieble,
Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa MSOLA, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] STREET CHILDREN IN True Stories - Street children in Malawi Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 June 2011] Emmanuel problems
with stealing / Maloyano stole food / Doreen, an
orphan accused of witchcraft./ Nakiline, an
adolescent mother, raped / Child Labour
Rages On In Charles Ba, News from www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_522.html [accessed 17 June 2011] Poverty and cheap
labor are factors that have fueled child labor in the country. Child labor
has deprived the Malawian society of a skilled and educated workforce for the
future and so perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Street Children – The Situation by Martyna Bec [access information unavailable] Martyna Bec’s report highlights the situation facing many
children in Street Children's
Ministry — The Salvation Army, www1.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf/0/113775350FD038DD80256E58004EEB29?openDocument [accessed 17 June 2011] Every Wednesday
lunchtime eight dedicated young people from Heather Loomes,
The Salvation Army Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 25 September 2011] The number of
children varies. Often there are up to 60 or so children, and other weeks there
are fewer. On arrival, two helpers walk around the railway the market
finding the children and telling them we are by station. There are also
around 20 adults who know they will be offered food if there is any left
after the children have been served. Many of the adults are blind and several
have other physical disabilities. I never saw them go without any food. Man BBC News, 10 June, 2003 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2978568.stm [accessed 17 June 2011] Since 1998, the
club has worked to enable hundreds of children to return to school or start
apprenticeships in skills such as carpentry and metal work. Many of these children have also been reunited
with families. Kondanani www.kondanani.com/about.php [accessed 17 June 2011] BACKGROUND - The need for the
establishment of the orphanage arose due to the high rate of HIV/Aids
infection in the country, which is continuing to rob many children of their
parents. The extended family system in Due to the fact
that many other orphanages would not admit babies because of the cost, and
the fact that it is labour-intensive, Kondanani embarked on admitting such babies rather than
leaving them to die in the villages. The first baby was admitted to Caring
Hands Infant Home on 7 November 1998. Our criteria for
selecting the children are: that all our children come from poor families,
only babies below the age of 6 months are admitted, every child is either
affected or infected by the HIV/Aids pandemic. Hundreds of
children are orphaned or abandoned in SOS Children in SOS Children's Villages www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/africa/malawi [accessed 17 June 2011] At the beginning of
2002, SOS Malawi reacted to the growing AIDS epidemic with a community
outreach program, which is coordinated by the All
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