Parentless childhoods
In Africa, parentless childhoods are more widespread than in most places of the world. There are different reasons for this:
In many rural areas, the circumstances under which women give birth are simply too poor, and many women die during childbirth due to complications that no one is equipped to handle.
Additionally many children lose their parents to AIDS, the children are passed on from one family member to another until no one is left and the children end up in orphanages or, much worse, on the streets.
Some children have lost only one parent, but often the remaining parent remarries and, even more often, the new husband or wife will have nothing to do with children from the previous marriage. So they put them on the street or in homes, and start a new family.
It may seem unbelievable to us, but if a woman is left alone with her children, and her husband has died, her only chance of survival can be to remarry, thus securing her livelihood, and therefore she will accept giving up her children, if he does not want them to come with her. When it is the other way around, the new wife will often beat the children of the previous relationship in jealousy, sometimes to the point where they run away themselves, before getting thrown out. In either case, children cost money, and the more mouths you have to feed, the harder life is. This is unfortunately very common for thousands of children in Kenya .
Besides violence, the children can be subjected to abuse or incest, and the parents' alcohol and/or drug abuse can also cause children to be put in homes. Sometimes neighbours intervene and a small percentage are taken away by the Child Welfare Department, which exists, but by no means has the resources to monitor all the families in need in the cities, not to mention rural areas.
STREET CHILDREN
To older children, it is tempting to live on the street. On the surface they seem to be ''free''. They can make money by picking pockets, mugging and burglary, and children as young as 6 or 7 are a common sight in the street. But the hard life they have experienced at home continues on the street. Many of the children sniff glue, and violence is rampant which even includes rapes amongst their own number. It is truly the survival of the fittest.
REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION
Rehabilitating street children and getting orphans into the school system can change their lives, something people are well aware of in Kenya .
Education is the way forward, and even adults will stop you in the street and beg you to be their 'sponsor in the West' so they can start or finish an education which they cannot afford to complete themselves.
100% to the Children believes that helping children to get an education and rehabilitating street children are some of the best ways to change things in the long term. But it's worth remembering that rehabilitation is never successful unless the child is supported all the way.
A young man who has been given an education until he is 18 is still at great risk of ending up back on the street if he is not helped to get a job or an apprenticeship. Young women easily end up in prostitution.
PROSTITUTION AND CORRUPTION
Prostitution is unfortunately extremely common and widely accepted in Kenya , despite that fact that many Kenyans are practicing Christians.
Everybody is always ' looking to make an extra buck', and many years of political corruption have left the population both desperate and with demoralised.
You will experience young girls walking proudly down the street with their clients, as they know they earn more in a week than their parents do in six months.
In Kenya , 1% of the population owns 90% of the wealth, and it is practically impossible for an ordinary Kenyan family to support themselves.
Unfortunately, many Westerners contribute to the widespread prostitution in the country, and it is common knowledge that paedophiles also enjoy visiting Kenya due to easy access to young victims.
DONATIONS AND SPONSOR PROGRAMMES
We want to emphasize the importance of individual sponsorships of children and to support those who display integrity, those who will not bend to corruption and those who have visions for their country and ambitions on behalf of the children.
Their work is essential to changing the conditions for so many in Kenya.
100% to the Children has made a big effort to establish reliable contacts in Mombasa's orphanages and schools because we want to help these people through donations and sponsorships, and because we want to make sure that the funds we raise go directly and 100% to the Children. |
