Streets top option for some children
JANA-MARI SMITH
Family poverty and food insecurity are some of the main factors driving children from their homes and onto the streets, a recent study of more than 200 Windhoek street children found.
A draft of the case study on 217 Windhoek street children, 183 female and 34 male, headed by University of Namibia lecturer Johanna Nashandi, was presented in June this year, with the goal of determining the socio-demographic characteristics of street children in Windhoek.
The majority of the children interviewed were aged between 15 and 18, with more than 75% saying that one or both parents were still alive and that they did have a home, but preferred living on the street.
Most of the street children said they contributed towards their family finances but they return sporadically as life on the street becomes preferable to conditions, mainly poverty related, at home.
Only 22 of the respondents said they were orphaned. Physical abuse was cited as a reason for leaving by fewer than 6% of the respondents.
Once on the street, the majority said that the social bonds of their street gangs, earning money, a sense of belonging and independence from authority figures, keep them there.
One of the main findings of the study is that the majority of respondents said that the independence they experience on the streets, and their integration into street ‘families’, make it difficult to reintegrate into conventional home settings.
Close to 67% of the respondents told the researchers they had never been rounded up by authorities, including police and social workers, during their time on the street.
However, based on the profound impact of surviving on the street, the study recommended that interventions should be geared “towards removing children from the street at onset, and not after they have developed a sense of belonging on the street”.
For those who have survived on the street for longer periods, their independence makes it “very difficult to submit to authority, structure and discipline as observed from the results”.
The report states that 60% of the males had lived on the streets between one and five years and nine of the female respondents claimed they had survived for 11 years on the street.
“It can be concluded that more girl children are engaged in the survival strategies on the street than perceived,” the study notes.
The study recommends that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare should develop strategies addressing long-term street children, who “have no interest in a permanent place, but rather a place that allows them free will”.
Another recommendation is to provide shelters where street children can bathe, eat, learn skills and retain a notion of independence.
The study also found “there is monetary value in staying on the street, which street children would not receive if they accept an alternative living arrangement”.
According to 170 of the female respondents, they earn on average N$50 or less per day.
Sixty-one of the respondents said that begging food and money “from strangers, particularly white people, is the easiest way of earning a living on the street”.
Thirty-one of the interview subjects however, said that “nothing is easy on the street”, describing it as a daily struggle.
The main sources of income according to the majority of respondents is begging (zula) and stealing, scrap-metal collecting and selling, and selling of foodstuffs and items such as recharge vouchers. Odd jobs also provide an income.
Less than two percent of the females named commercial sex as an income source.
Of the 34 males interviewed, 6.06% said commercial sex was their top income generator.
The research found that 133 of the children interviewed, 61.29%, were not in school at the time of the study, and 38.71% did attend school.
Close to 60% had completed some primary school, while fewer children (2%) completed secondary school education.
The study was conducted by 57 Unam social work students.
Family poverty and food insecurity are some of the main factors driving children from their homes and onto the streets, a recent study of more than 200 Windhoek street children found.
A draft of the case study on 217 Windhoek street children, 183 female and 34 male, headed by University of Namibia lecturer Johanna Nashandi, was presented in June this year, with the goal of determining the socio-demographic characteristics of street children in Windhoek.
The majority of the children interviewed were aged between 15 and 18, with more than 75% saying that one or both parents were still alive and that they did have a home, but preferred living on the street.
Most of the street children said they contributed towards their family finances but they return sporadically as life on the street becomes preferable to conditions, mainly poverty related, at home.
Only 22 of the respondents said they were orphaned. Physical abuse was cited as a reason for leaving by fewer than 6% of the respondents.
Once on the street, the majority said that the social bonds of their street gangs, earning money, a sense of belonging and independence from authority figures, keep them there.
One of the main findings of the study is that the majority of respondents said that the independence they experience on the streets, and their integration into street ‘families’, make it difficult to reintegrate into conventional home settings.
Close to 67% of the respondents told the researchers they had never been rounded up by authorities, including police and social workers, during their time on the street.
However, based on the profound impact of surviving on the street, the study recommended that interventions should be geared “towards removing children from the street at onset, and not after they have developed a sense of belonging on the street”.
For those who have survived on the street for longer periods, their independence makes it “very difficult to submit to authority, structure and discipline as observed from the results”.
The report states that 60% of the males had lived on the streets between one and five years and nine of the female respondents claimed they had survived for 11 years on the street.
“It can be concluded that more girl children are engaged in the survival strategies on the street than perceived,” the study notes.
The study recommends that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare should develop strategies addressing long-term street children, who “have no interest in a permanent place, but rather a place that allows them free will”.
Another recommendation is to provide shelters where street children can bathe, eat, learn skills and retain a notion of independence.
The study also found “there is monetary value in staying on the street, which street children would not receive if they accept an alternative living arrangement”.
According to 170 of the female respondents, they earn on average N$50 or less per day.
Sixty-one of the respondents said that begging food and money “from strangers, particularly white people, is the easiest way of earning a living on the street”.
Thirty-one of the interview subjects however, said that “nothing is easy on the street”, describing it as a daily struggle.
The main sources of income according to the majority of respondents is begging (zula) and stealing, scrap-metal collecting and selling, and selling of foodstuffs and items such as recharge vouchers. Odd jobs also provide an income.
Less than two percent of the females named commercial sex as an income source.
Of the 34 males interviewed, 6.06% said commercial sex was their top income generator.
The research found that 133 of the children interviewed, 61.29%, were not in school at the time of the study, and 38.71% did attend school.
Close to 60% had completed some primary school, while fewer children (2%) completed secondary school education.
The study was conducted by 57 Unam social work students.
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