Feature - Rehabilitating Nairobi's street families

Situated in a densely populated suburb in the east of the capital, Nairobi, Bahati community hall, has for many years been used by local residents for social functions. It is from this hall and others around Nairobi's sprawling Eastlands neighbourhoods, that many of Kenya's known boxing talents have emerged. However, since the start of this year, Bahati community hall has been converted into a temporary rehabilitation centre for street families - a growing social problem in Kenya's major cities. There are currently five such centres in Nairobi, accommodating about 1,500 former street boys and girls. TRAINING AND REHABILITATION Bahati hall accommodates 150 former street boys over the age of 15, but the rehabilitation centre still lacks basic amenities such as bedding and bathrooms. The hall serves as a refectory as well as a classroom. At night, it is converted into a dormitory. There are only 15 mattresses at the centre, which are given only to those who are sick. The rest sleep on mats or gunny sacks and cover themselves with light blankets. In the morning, the bedding and other personal effects are rolled into the sacks, which are then hung on the walls to free the hall for other activities. Despite these difficult living conditions, many of the boys in the rehabilitation centre say they are happy. "I have greatly improved since I was brought here," 18-year-old Robert Mwangi says. "The government has been looking after us and taking us to hospital when we are sick. They have also been bringing us clothes." Stephen Amata, another former street boy, is eagerly awaiting his turn to be sent for training, where he expects to learn to be a motor-vehicle mechanic or a driver. "Life was very difficult on the street. We sniffed glue and smoked everything we could find. Now I am determined to change," he says. Officials say the first batch of 300 former street boys and girls who have responded well to rehabilitation have been sent to the National Youth Service (NYS), a government training programme for young people with limited formal education skills. The second batch is expected to join in August. Others over the age of admission to the NYS, are expected to be absorbed by the private sector to study business skills. "It was like all of them were waiting for this programme. They were ready to change," Susan Kabiru, a volunteer at Bahati told IRIN. "They really appreciate the love we show them here." According to Margaret Buyela, who runs the children's department under the home affairs ministry, the children placed in the rehabilitation programme were interviewed and classified according to their needs before being sent to appropriate institutions for rehabilitation or reunion with their families. "The department has been actively involved in correction [of street children] and taking them to centres and interviews, as well counselling the street children and street families," she said in a statement to mark the Day of the African Child on 16 June. REGISTRATION AT BIRTH The Day of the Africa Child was initiated in 1991 by the Organisation of African Unity in honour of those killed in 1976 in Soweto, South Africa, when thousands of black school children took to the streets to protest against the inferior quality of education under the apartheid government. The theme of this year's event was that every child has a right to registration at birth. Without a birth certificate, children have no official identity, recognised name or nationality, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's executive director, said the unregistered child was also likely to be unable to apply for a passport, a formal job, a marriage licence or vote later in life. "If we do not get it right from the start and register babies, it is an uphill battle from there on," Bellamy said in her message to mark the day. "Unregistered children lack the most basic protection against abuse and exploitation, and become a more attractive commodity to a child trafficker, illegal adoption rings and others who seek to take advantage of their non-status." In Kenya, one in every three babies born is not registered, according to Home Affairs Minister Moody Awori, who presided over the occasion. In the case of street children, most of whom are unregistered at birth, issues of survival are of much greater concern. The street family phenomenon in Kenya has been blamed on a combination of factors, but mainly on increasing levels of poverty and lack of parental love. Some former street boys said they were forced out of their homes by brutal step-parents, while others dropped out of school for lack of school fees. Official estimates also indicate that 60 percent of the urban populations in Kenya live in slums, while occupying only five percent of the land - a major factor believed to be responsible for the increasing number of homeless children. HEALTH CONCERNS Social workers say malaria is the most common ailment among the street families, but many also suffer from various respiratory infections, sexually transmitted diseases, intestinal worms, HIV/AIDS-related infections and drug withdrawal symptoms. So far, the centre has been receiving most of its food supply, clothes and blankets from donations from NGOs, churches, individuals and the private sector, according to Kabiru. Bahati centre gets most of its drugs from a mobile clinic set up by the city council, but hardly enough to deal with all the needs of the boys. The centre also lacks a proper drug rehabilitation facility, as well as a voluntary testing and counselling centre to determine HIV status. According to Lameck Abuga, a volunteer, teaching the boys to communicate is a major challenge, as most of them were still addicted to glue and hard drugs when they came to Bahati to the extent that they could hardly speak. "We are weaning them off drugs through counselling. The boys themselves try to withdraw, but they get severe withdrawal symptoms, and we don't know how to deal with that," Abuga said. Besides giving them social skills, the programme also provides the boys with HIV/AIDS education, through NGOs such as GOAL. FREE EDUCATION The street families rehabilitation programme is seen as one of the recent remarkable efforts by the Kenyan government to promote the welfare of the child. In March 2001, the government published the Children's Act, a new law which not only spells out the broad definitions of the rights of the child - in line with international instruments -but also addresses the need to protect children against harmful cultural practices such as forcible circumcision. In January this year, the government launched a free education programme for all primary school children, which has attracted more than a million children previously out of school. Most of the rehabilitated street children of school age are expected to benefit from the programme. DIFFICULTIES However, despite the enthusiasm shown by the government to rehabilitate street families, the programme has been beset by many funding problems, forcing some of the former street families to return to the streets. Charles Amunga of the Nairobi City Council explains that the programme has faced many hiccups, because it was initially a "crash programme" with no government budgetary allocation until June. "It is a miracle that we have survived. The city council and donors have really helped us," Amunga told IRIN. The long-term plan, according to Amunga, is for the government to build a rehabilitation complex far from the city, where all the needs of street boys and girls can be met under one roof. Gilbert Mbalanya, who heads the Bahati social hall, attributes the setbacks to impatience on the part of the street children, as well as to poor management in some of the rehabilitation centres. "These children are on the streets because they lacked parental love. They must not be treated like prisoners," Mbalanya told IRIN. "We collected them voluntarily and they are free to leave and they are always welcome," he added. The programme is facing funding difficulties, with most rehabilitation centres lacking adequate food, shelter, and medical supplies. The social workers also lack sufficient funds to carry out their outreach activities, which would help unite the children with their families. However, according to Betty Tett, the local authorities assistant minister, the government has already earmarked about US $6.2 million to be used towards rehabilitating and training 1,500 reformed street children. Tett said the funds had been raised by a specially appointed street families rehabilitation trust fund, whose board comprises leading government officials and private sector representatives. Ultimately, Mbalanya says, street families remain the responsibility of the Kenyan public, and not the government alone. "It is only Kenyans who can make a difference. They have brought the boys and girls to the streets. They are the one who can solve it. Let them support the programme and do as the churches and the other donors are doing," he said.