Zimbabwe Street Work

Every day more and more children are ending up on Africa’s city streets which  become a last resort for children who are escaping family breakdown, abuse or bereavement.  Often it is pure starvation that drives them away from home. They see the street as offering the chance to earn money, to scrounge for food and to hide from abusive families.

However tough and resilient these children become from the hardship of street life, they are still children.  But they often avoid adults and are hesitant to form trusting relationships. They remain hidden and oppressed. In order for their lives to develop, and for choices to leave the streets to be offered, these children will need the guidance of someone who understands and listens to their needs.

The street worker’s role is to be on the street with the children. The street worker gains access to their world and provides the child with the option of a friend and a safe adult. Every  child is then in a position to explore options, make choices and decisions and to express their own real needs, hopes and fears within a relationship of mutual trust and honesty.

The street worker’s ability to move to the children offers far more effective care than any fixed institution could hope to do in isolation.  In a city like Harare, where street children eat out of bins and sleep in gutters, where the police can intimidate and arrest spontaneously, a street worker provides the life-line that can guide the children to real choices and chances of a future.

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