All My Children

Getting organized in a town

As contact is being made with the children by the street animator, three to four committed people willing to get something off the ground need to get together. Their first step is to identify the possible resources within the community and to communicate with these people and organisations with a view to calling a first meeting of concerned citizens. It should be made clear that the meeting is exploratory and that people do not commit themselves in any way by attending. Such resources could include the following:

• Child Welfare in the town and township;
• Two priests/ministers of religion (preferably belonging to a ministers’ fraternal) one in the town and the other in the township;
• A lower and higher primary school principal/teacher in the township;
• A community health nurse at the hospital/clinic and/or a local medical doctor;
• Police Services in the town and township;
• One or two business people in the town and township;
• Charity organisations (such as Rotary Club and Lion Club);
• A social worker/child therapist/child psychologist;
• Someone from the local taxi association;

• Any other group or individuals working with children.

At the first meeting of these community resources, someone familiar with the phenomenon of street children should give a brief overall picture of their situation, their numbers and the places where they have been identified by the street animator. Following this presentation, the question should then be asked: `What should we do in our town about the street children?’ It is likely that two main views will be put forward:

• Street children are a problem in our community and we need to do something about it. For instance, we must establish a feeding scheme (soup kitchen), shelter, clothing, a drop-in centre, ablution facilities, medical aid, etc. The provision of such ’services’ enables people to feel good in themselves. `The poor kids should not have to suffer so much.’ Usually, people involved in public services (welfare, health, etc) are the first to propose such solutions.

• Street children are persons in our community in need of care and we need to do something about it. For instance, we need to have a ‘care group‘, that is, a few people who will become directly involved with the children as they are being identified by the street animator. The task of this care group will be to assess the children’s circumstances: why did they leave home, when did they start working in town, what would they like to do, etc, and try to find ways and means of reintegrating them into their families. Usually, people involved in church work are the first to propose such solutions.

Although expressed in a rather simplistic way, these two approaches are bound to bring tensions when the meeting discusses how to address the plight of street children. Arguments to the effect that the first approach encourages children to carry on living on the street and even encourages others to join them will be brought forward. Arguments to the effect that the second approach is cruel to those children who cannot be attended to immediately by the care group will also be highlighted. Vanistendael’s debate — street children: problems or persons? — is the question that ultimately needs to be addressed.

In answering it, it is important that the meeting be clear as to what it wishes to achieve and that it analyses the repercussions or side-effects of whatever decisions it takes. Is the ultimate goal to alleviate the immediate sufferings of the children (and if so, how to go about it and what are the consequences or dangers of such an approach)? Or is it to re-integrate the children into their families (and if so, how to go about it and what is the best way of achieving this)? Our committee has opted to see street children as persons and therefore all our efforts are geared towards re-integrating them into their families even though this may mean that, until they are attended to, they will have to suffer on the street. Our decision for the second approach did not meet with the unanimous approval of all present; in time, however, its benefits are gradually being acknowledged.

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