Street 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. Living on the street, children often seek very low paid work and can be forced into begging or prostitution.

In all that we do, we are determined to support those on the margins of society, especially children.

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 be returned home. This programme has been remarkably successful with very nearly 90% of those children remaining off the street.

In 2020 the Rwandan authorities decided to phase out residential care for street 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 drives children onto the street.

We have opened a new centre at the site, called the Rusizi Social Care Centre. 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
  
• Training in sign language and physiotherapy using the experts from The Alivera Project
• Training in basic literacy and numeracy skills

On Saturdays children from disadvantaged local families come to the centre where they can benefit from a good meal, recreational opportunities, counselling and help with their studies. This enables us to monitor the progress and well-being of local former street children.

Impact

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

Key Performance Indicators

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

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

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