What is a safe environment for children? It’s a place they feel most loved and connected to the people that matter most. Children, in general, are free-spirited beings, paying attention to a lot of details yet acting unconcerned due to their dependent nature. When this natural environment of love is threatened, they seek refuge elsewhere and eventually end up in groups of children with similar issues. Rather than staying in the abusive home, they go to the street for safety. But we can all testify that there is nothing good that can be taught or gained on the street. On the street, they are vulnerable to more abuse which turns them into bitter adulthood. This and many issues concerning street-connected children have been important to us and have been addressed several times in our Teach Them Young initiative.
This year, as part of the International Day for Street Children, we are been reminded once again that a child’s safe place is home with family and not otherwise. We have therefore stressed the need to strengthen family bonds at all levels of their lives. In addition, the system of child upbringing where everyone in the community is involved is gradually fading, every child is the child of the community, and we do not wait to see the worse before a reaction. At any point in time, children must be subject to a system where they are aware of the impact the people around them are making.
With the help of stately partners Adamfo Ghana, school-going children are been empowered to stay in school and off the street whilst community leaders and individuals in society are been reminded of their role in the eradication of streetism and the right way to protect children.
Teaching would centre on the risks of streetism and dropping out of school, time management, carrier choice, and decision-making. There is a special package attached to this course that includes numerous stationery and personal protective equipment that will be shared with the students. All of this is powered by Adamfo Ghana as part of their Increasing Impact programme organised around the International Day for Street Children on April, 12th.
Street-connected children are not the plights of the community, they are a result of negligence over the years that have come back to affect our societies, they deserve better, they deserve our love and protection and this is how we would bring them back to us once more.
Together, we will intentionally groom safety-conscious children for our society.
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