Working with street children

Street children are excluded, feared and misunderstood.
Street children are pitied, victimised, abused.
They provoke a variety of responses from their own families and communities.

evaluation Team DRC At StreetInvest we recognise that the street, despite its difficulties, dangers and apparent undesirability, is the defining factor in the lives of these young people. It is where they sleep, eat, socialise, work and form sexual relationships. It is their home and their community. It must therefore be validated as such before we can hope to communicate in any meaningful way with these young people. We believe that all children, including street children, irrespective of how hard they are to reach (indeed especially if they are hard to reach) have the right to a safe, trusted adult, a professional helper - a trained street worker - alongside them.

The Street worker training programme 'Take Your Shoes Off' was created to give those wishing to work with street children and young people the core competencies required to work for children in difficult circumstances.

No child should have to live alone. StreetInvest exists to invest in those that do.

Working with street children

Street children are excluded, feared and misunderstood.

Street children are pitied, victimised, abused.

They provoke a variety of responses from their own families and communities.

Streetworkers can:

Be the first point of contact with street children.

They can tell us what children need. Through their relationships they provide pathways to family, education, better health, safety, identity.

As a network they provide the basis for a professional, coherent response to street children in what is otherwise a fragmented, inconsistent, knee jerk response.

Continue to recognise & build on the children's strengths, resilience, and resourcefulness...