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Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Rwanda.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Street Children, A Waiting Disaster Richard Oundo,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Ambrose Gahene,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Many factors
contribute to the emergence of street children. The major factor is that
these are children born as a result of prostitution, where the mother does
not know the legitimate father of the child.
When the child grows to about five years and fails to be provided with
the necessary love from parents, the kid will resort to living on street
verandas or under sewage trenches. Other children find their way into the
streets as a result of mistreatment from parents. These types are always
furious and merciless to other street kids because they have been subjected
to a brutal life. To them, everybody they meet is likened to their harsh
parents. Some other children are sent
to the streets to beg for money by their parents. The Question of
Street Kids in The International Child and Youth Care
Network CYC-NET, 26 April 2005 www.cyc-net.org/features/ft-streetkids2.html [accessed 15 July 2011] PERCEPTION VERSUS
FACTS -
The typical depiction of street children by the media invariably connects
them with physical deprivation, inadequate nutrition and hygiene and, the
skirting of the law. It also portrays children as being vulnerable to adult
(particularly male) exploitation and to environmental hazards. These and other
negative traits are supposedly evidenced by the street child's poor health,
inadequate clothing and alienation that percolates down to feelings of
personal insecurity, resulting to emotional disabilities and destructive behaviour. All this reflects the fact that these children
spend much of their time away from adult support. Yet, empirical evidence is
quite different. Any street child earns, on average, as much as the adults in
their vicinity and often up to one and a half times the minimum wage of most
of these adults. For example, in Gaborone, Botswana, where a maid usually
earns $20 for eight hours of work, few street children would spend 15 minutes
to clean a car for less than $5. Their income, therefore, is generally
sufficient to meet the cost of decent and nutrition meals. Indeed, for many,
food is far less plentiful at home, if available at all. For this reason,
too, a good outfit is usually not beyond their means, although they often
ignore middle-class views of decency in preference for worn-out clothes, or,
if engaged in begging, then they wear tattered clothing and wash only weekly,
to increase their earning potential. In the same vein,
research regularly shows that most street children are predominantly healthy
and that when they are ill, they are usually looked after by a relative.
Thus, many of them resort to self medication purchased from traditional drug
sellers or over-the counter, which is a phenomenon common in the under
developed world. . ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF
- Rwanda www.unicef.org/infobycountry/rwanda.html [accessed 15 July 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/rwanda.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are an estimated 7,000 street children in Human
Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61587.htm [accessed 20 December 2010] CHILDREN
– According
to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the net primary school
enrolment/attendance ratio was 75 percent. Of the children who entered the
first grade, 47 percent reached the fifth grade, and the secondary school
attendance ratio was 5 percent There were
approximately six thousand street children throughout the country. Local
authorities rounded up street children and placed them in foster homes or
government-run facilities. The Number of Street Children in Kayonza On the Decline Stephen Rwembeho,
The New Times, allafrica.com/stories/201009280170.html [partially accessed 15 July 2011 - access
restricted] Talking to The New
Times, yesterday, the coordinator of SACCA, Valentine Mukamuyenzi,
explained that the NGO has developed a successful programme
of rehabilitating and taking the children back to school. She disclosed that over 200 former street
children have so far been rehabilitated. "We prepare them to pass the
entrance exams for various grades. We help pay their registration fees,
uniforms, scholastic materials, feed them and accommodate them," she
said. "Of course
some children still reappear on the streets, but on average the challenge was
reduced. "I lived like
an animal. Ate in rubbish pits and slept in the open. I was in a state of
hopelessness I never thought of the future for I never had the present. But
now the sky will be the limit on my way to being a doctor," he said Residents Decry Increased Theft at Lillian Nakayima,
The New Times, allafrica.com/stories/200903160495.html [partially accessed 15 July 2011 - access
restricted] "They start
with pick pocketing after which they resort to off loading
cars" Gakuba narrates. He adds that women have been robbed of
money, jewellery, mobile phones and other things.
At times it turns into a battle when people try to resist being robbed. "This gang is well equipped with
razor blades and knives. People no longer resist because they prefer their
lives to material things," he says.
Nyabugogo dwellers report seeing these
street children with drugs, this has alarmed the residents' security.
According to them, these thugs are between the ages of thirteen and twenty. Tougher Approach Needed for The New Times, allafrica.com/stories/200806120250.html [partially accessed 15 July 2011 - access
restricted] Understandably, the
challenges the school is faced with in just a space of two weeks are related
to indiscipline. It is not even a month after starting and the adapted kids
are capable of finding their way out to look for drugs. A journalist who caught up with the lads
and inquired into their short experience was largely greeted by lamentation.
They complained bitterly of being underfed, confessing their wish to return
to the foster homes. The school
administration refutes the children's allegations of inadequate food,
pointing to their complicated past life as a gripping negative influence they
will take time to be separated from.
The director of the school also observed that with the children still
able to access drugs, crying for more food is expected. Sealing the
entrances and exits to control unwanted movement of children and commodities
is a thing the administration may want to consider. The school may also take
a less defensive position and delve into the alleged matters of insufficient
food quantities. Godfrey Ntagungira,
The New Times, allafrica.com/stories/200805120709.html [partially accessed 15 July 2011 - access
restricted] The Ministry of
Gender and Family Promotion in the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday
picked up 330 kids from "At the end of
the solidarity camp, the ministry will identify those who can be taken back
to primary or technical schools and others will get the opportunity join
catch-up classes for a while before sitting for primary leaving examinations,"
she noted. James Buyinza,
The New Times, Kacyiru, 12 November 2007 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Mujawamariya said that the
ministry plans to put up many computer kiosks in all primary schools located
in The computer
packages for these children will include personal hygiene, sensitisation of masses about the dangers of HIV/Aids and
prevention, ways of controlling malaria and games. This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] CAN YOU TELL ME HOW
YOU ENDED UP ON THE STREET? - I left home in 1993, I was
12-years-old, in primary 5. I left with my brother who was ten. We stayed on
the street for 4 years. What drove us to the street was mistreatment at
home. Things were ok for us before,
our stepmother treated us well, but then things suddenly changed negatively.
She started denying us food, falsely accusing us of doing bad things, and we
could be beaten without reason. In the
morning, we could have breakfast when dad was there, but at lunch time not
eating was a sure deal because in most cases, dad was not there. Supper
depended on the presence of dad. For a
while we could only eat if our dad was there. In most cases dad did not know
what was happening to us Dad was also a church person, thus absent most of
the time. We suffered a lot. I could
not cope with my mum, as a result I sought somewhere I could find love and
peace, and the only option was the street, where I could stay with fellow
children. My brother and I made a decision at once and left home to live on
the street. Edwin Musoni, The
New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Deputy Commissioner
General of Police Mary Gahonzire called for help
for street children, saying; "We have a second generation on the
streets; street children have given birth to other children who are also on
the streets now and are giving birth at a tender age. We need to protect
these children. Local photographer returning to Rwanda Audrey Stanton, The Register Herald, March
24, 2007 www.register-herald.com/local/x519078333/Local-photographer-returning-to-Rwanda [accessed 15 July 2011] The pictures he has
taken during his last two visits to Help Widows As You Discourage Begging Immaculate Chaka, The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Most of the widows
in Mukandahiro Anastasia told The
New times that some time back she was depending to the pottery, were she could
get some little money to feed the family but since the buying of the swamps
were they used to collect clay from, buying soap and other basic needs became
a great deal to handle. Street Children, A Waiting Disaster Richard Oundo,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Ambrose Gahene,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Many factors contribute
to the emergence of street children. The major factor is that these are
children born as a result of prostitution, where the mother does not know the
legitimate father of the child. When
the child grows to about five years and fails to be provided with the
necessary love from parents, the kid will resort to living on street verandas
or under sewage trenches. Other children find their way into the streets as a
result of mistreatment from parents. These types are always furious and
merciless to other street kids because they have been subjected to a brutal
life. To them, everybody they meet is likened to their harsh parents. Some other children are sent to the streets
to beg for money by their parents. Street Children - Turn Not a Blind Eye Stephen Buckingham, The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] James Tasamba,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] About forty former
street children picked from Ruhengeri town received
certificates and tools on Wednesday October 18, after completing training in
different technical activities. The
children completed training in tailoring, carpentry, welding, and motor
mechanics courtesy of caritas Ruhengeri dioceses. Street Children to Get Training Centre Paul Ntambara,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 15 July 2011] Street children
will soon have an opportunity to gain vital training skills to enable them
earn a living once a school called ‘Centre for Champions’ is completed. ‘We decided to call
this centre one for champions because we are positive thinkers. We want it to
be a centre for excellence. We want these street children to discover their
purpose in life through this centre, pursue it, achieve it and excel in it,’ Rutayisire said. Kids detained illegally Reuters, www.news24.com/Africa/News/Kids-detained-illegally-HRW-20060515 [accessed 16 July 2011] The HRW said that
since 2005, city officials in Swept away: street children illegally
detained in Human Rights Watch, May 2006 -- This
13-page background briefing paper documents life at a detention center in hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/rwanda0506/rwanda0506.pdf [accessed 16 July 2011] SUMMARY - The authorities
of Held at the Gikondo center in overcrowded buildings, the hundreds of
detainees suffer from lack of adequate food, water, and medical care.
Children are subject to abuse from adults detained in the same buildings.
Police officers claimed that detainees should spend no more than three days
at the center, but some, including children, have been held there for weeks
or months. One thirteen-year-old boy died there on April 16, 2006, suffering
from severe malnutrition; on the same day a young woman detainee, also
reportedly malnourished, suffered a miscarriage and was hospitalized. Authorities hold
the detainees as “vagrants” under colonial-era regulations but rarely charge
them formally, bring them to court, or afford them the due process rights
guaranteed under the Rwandan constitution and international conventions by
which The detention in
particular of children in miserable conditions violates provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter
on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child, to which Sexual Harassment: A young woman s tale Nasra Bishumba,
News from www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_2615.html [accessed 16 July 2011] Sometimes they
(other street kids) force us to do dirty sexual things that they have watched
in blue movies. And because they are stronger, there is nothing that you can
do. It s hard to tell anybody. It s shaming and after all, nobody will
believe you she said Somebody can easily
surface from nowhere and rape you or beat you up and carry away your blanket.
Even those we help in their daily chores like sweeping their shops sometimes
refuse to pay us because they know nobody will believe us when we report the
cases, she said sadly. Peace Body Supports 1,160 Street Kids Eleneus Akanga,
The New Times, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 July 2011] The Foundation for
Peace, Sports and Culture (SCPF) that operates in the The Question of
Street Kids in The International Child and Youth Care
Network CYC-NET, 26 April 2005 www.cyc-net.org/features/ft-streetkids2.html [accessed 15 July 2011] PERCEPTION VERSUS
FACTS
- The typical depiction of street children by the media invariably connects
them with physical deprivation, inadequate nutrition and hygiene and, the
skirting of the law. It also portrays children as being vulnerable to adult
(particularly male) exploitation and to environmental hazards. These and other
negative traits are supposedly evidenced by the street child's poor health,
inadequate clothing and alienation that percolates down to feelings of
personal insecurity, resulting to emotional disabilities and destructive behaviour. All this reflects the fact that these children
spend much of their time away from adult support. Yet, empirical evidence is
quite different. Any street child earns, on average, as much as the adults in
their vicinity and often up to one and a half times the minimum wage of most
of these adults. For example, in Gaborone, Botswana, where a maid usually
earns $20 for eight hours of work, few street children would spend 15 minutes
to clean a car for less than $5. Their income, therefore, is generally
sufficient to meet the cost of decent and nutrition meals. Indeed, for many,
food is far less plentiful at home, if available at all. For this reason,
too, a good outfit is usually not beyond their means, although they often
ignore middle-class views of decency in preference for worn-out clothes, or,
if engaged in begging, then they wear tattered clothing and wash only weekly,
to increase their earning potential. In the same vein,
research regularly shows that most street children are predominantly healthy
and that when they are ill, they are usually looked after by a relative.
Thus, many of them resort to self medication purchased from traditional drug
sellers or over-the counter, which is a phenomenon common in the under
developed world. . Orphans of the
Genocide Albert P'Rayan,
Worldpress.org, www.worldpress.org/Africa/355.cfm [accessed 16 July 2011] "I'm quite
used to my street life. During the daytime I spend my time in the market. I
help people carry their vegetable bags and get some money and at nights I
sleep in front of any shop on the street. It is hard. The street is not a
secure place for girls like me. We're hungry, we have no shelter, anybody can
abuse us however they like. Nobody says anything." Lasting Wounds: Consequences of Genocide
and War for Human Rights Watch Report, March 2003 --
Vol. 15, No. 5 (A) www.hrw.org/reports/2003/rwanda0403/rwanda0403-07.htm [accessed 16 July 2011] VII. CHILDREN ON THE
STREETS
- SEXUAL VIOLENCE
AGAINST STREET GIRLS
- While less numerous than street boys, girls living on the streets
experience most of the same problems as boys and, in addition, are frequently
subjected to sexual violence. A local NGO recently reported that 80 percent
of street girls have been victims of rape, while another study puts the
figure as high as 93 percent. One study found that girls who turn to the
streets are generally younger than street boys. Street girls are often
invisible because they do not travel around in gangs as boys do, staying
generally on their own or in small groups. Information about Street Children - This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum
for Francophone Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 2-5 June 2004, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 July 2011] A study by UNICEF
Kigali in 2002 suggested that there were around 7,000 street children in UNICEF, UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=28064 [accessed 16 July 2011] The UN agency
reported in a document on the sensitization program, that authorities and the
public consider street children as "delinquents, thieves, deviants, and
evil people who must be fought by all means and not protected". Mindful
of their social marginalisation, UNICEF added, the
children Are "distrustful of people and are not always easy to
approach". Rwanda to Set up
Vocational Training Project for Street Children Xinhua News Agency, news.xinhuanet.com/english/20010727/434251.htm [accessed 16 July 2011] Children will be
taught handcrafts, like construction, woodwork, catering, plumbing and so
on. She said the already trained
children will be sent back to their localities to provide useful services to
the people. Street Children Youth With a Mission YWAM www.ywamconnect.com/sites/ywamrwanda/street [accessed 16 July 2011] Although no official
statistics have been collated, it is estimated by various NGO’s that there
are between 5,000 and 10,000 children who live on the streets in Murambi Centre For Street
Children – Ginkongoro War Child At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 July 2011] Forty street
children from Ginkongoro district, Street children
rounded up in Rwanda BBC World Service, 17 January 1998 pangaea.org/street_children/africa/rwanda.htm [accessed 16 July 2011] Authorities in the
southern Rwandan town of Robert Walker, BBC, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3452881.stm [accessed 16 July 2011] Rwandan authorities
have come under fire for forcibly rounding up hundreds of street children in the
capital, Kigali, ahead of an African leaders summit. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Street Children - |
Torture in [Rwanda] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Rwanda] [other countries]Street Children in [Rwanda Child Prostitution in [Rwanda] [other countries]