Street-Connected Children - A Better Life

Rwanda Action has worked in the districts of Nyamasheke and Rusizi since 2008. Our main office is based in Kamembe, a town on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As such, it is a place of transition which attracts a diverse population including some of the most desperate people.

Children are driven onto the streets for a variety of reasons: the death of parents; absent parents due to family conflict, divorce, imprisonment; children born from prostitution; domestic violence; lack of food at home or the means to send children to school and children dropping out of school. Street-connected children may seek very low paid work and can be forced into begging or prostitution.

Street-connected children are defined as: “(a) children who depend on the streets to live and/or work, whether alone, with peers or with family; and (b) a wider population of children who have formed strong connections with public spaces and for whom the street plays a vital role in their everyday lives and identities. This wider population includes children who periodically, but not always, live and/or work on the streets and children who do not live or work on the streets but who regularly accompany their peers, siblings or family in the streets” (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2017).

We strive to support children living in vulnerable situations to prevent them being driven onto the streets.

In 2012 we built a centre called Baho Neza Mwana ("A Better Life for Children") which provided short-term residential care in a stable, supportive environment with schooling and/or training opportunities. At the same time we set out to identify and support families so that their children could return home. This programme has been remarkably successful with almost 90% of those children remaining off the street.

In 2020 the Rwandan authorities phased out residential care for street-connected children so we are now channelling our support for vulnerable families and children through our Building Communities programme. Our target is to reduce the poverty that is often the root cause of children being driven onto the street.

Our centre is now called The Rusizi Centre for Inclusion. It is the base for our outreach work and provides a venue for training parents and key members of the community.

Some examples of training which can meet local needs:

• Teacher training with a special emphasis on inclusion
• Business and enterprise training
• Training in parenting skills and understanding disability
  
• Training in sign language
• Training in basic literacy and numeracy skills

On Saturdays children living in disadvantaged situations come to the Centre where they benefit from a good meal, sporting activities, recreational opportunities, counselling and help with their studies. Through this programme we can work with parents and schools to monitor the progress and well-being of these vulnerable children.

Impact

• Reduce the number of children driven onto the street
• Reduce the number of rehabilitated children returning to the street

Key Performance Indicators

A reduction in the number of children driven onto the street in each of the village cells that we support

A reduction in the number of rehabilitated street-connected children returning to the street

Our team at the Rusizi Centre for Inclusion is working with families in their communities to improve their livelihoods to prevent children having to live on the streets.