63 street children confirmed in Rumbek

By Manyang Mayom

August 16, 2009 (RUMBEK) — There are 63 vulnerable children on the streets of Rumbek, according to Lakes state director of Street Children Rehabilitation Organization (SCRO) Puondak Benjamin Makoi.

Of this number, 15 children were abandoned, 21 are orphans, and 27 are runaway children.

“Anyone visiting Rumbek may observe there are numbers of vulnerable children living on the streets. Despite their obvious presence in the streets of this town, most efforts have not had an impact on their troubles. Their living conditions are obviously miserable and they are in need of help. Otherwise, if the situation is left unattended, it might go out of hand and might be costly to address it in the future. Thus, SCRO came about as one of the ways to try to arrest the situation,” said Mr. Puondak.

He also affirmed that SCRO is carrying out household surveys, focus group discussions with community members and questionnaires targeting 9-year old to 18-year old children, as well as in-depth interviews with key informants. A total of 134 community members responded to the survey.

Mr. Puondak’s figures on the vulnerable children came about as a result of the survey. He stressed that within the population of these 63 children, 13 have had basic education to a level of lower primary classes, and 50 are uneducated. 79% of these children do not have access to basic medical service.

The survey encountered some problems in registration and documentation of the vulnerable children, which was quite slow because the questionnaire size was too large. The children also distrusted surveyors who attempted to round them up to be interviewed.

HEALTH CONTEXT

During the baseline survey the children were asked through questionnaires on various aspect of their health, such as HIV/AIDS awareness, the basics of proper hygiene and sanitation, and how and where do they get medical treatment.

“Due to substance abuse and lack of parental support these children will grow up with a distorted view of reality and will not be able to relate well to members of their society. The will be psychologically unstable and unable to properly deal with the pressure of life,” said the SCRO director.

The survey results indicated most of the vulnerable children scavenge through litter on the street or from dustbins for food items and discarded clothing. These habits present health risks to them and they may get diseases caused by bad hygiene and sanitation.

They also face exposure to illnesses like malaria during the rainy season. The vulnerable children do not have awareness of how to prevent HIV/AIDS. Drug abuse is also another health risk these children have. Most of them use hallucinogenic substances.

SOCIAL CONTEXT

Although some children have menial jobs at local businesses, most of them make a living out of begging, hawking or stealing. The community regards them as criminals.

“In a period of five to ten years these children will no longer be a vulnerable group within the community but a dangerous group. Without education or skills it is possible that most of them will turn to crime to meet their basic needs,” said Mr. Puondak. As of 5/03/09 five of the inmates awaiting trial were children, according to the daily registry at Rumbek Police Station.

Most of these children have no access to mainstream schools, vocational training or an accelerated learning program. SCRO reported concern that five to ten years down the road the community will have a problem of illiterate young men without skill who are unable to find jobs or participate in nation building.

These children are growing up amid insecurity as the state has become overcome with inter-communal violence.

“Another consequence of these vulnerable children living on the street is that in time there will be a second generation of street children (children of street children) presenting a complex situation for the community and government,” concluded Mr. Puondak.

(ST)