One of the most disturbing experiences in Jinja is the presence of street kids. What kind of world allows the most vulnerable of people to be left to fend for themselves?
The children often come from three categories:
- they have run away from home.
- they are sent into town each day by their parents to collect money/food.
- they are orphans.
The younger children often do fairly well at street life. They are cute and their vulnerability makes all of us want to help. But once these children reach their teens, most people see them as an annoyance and refuse to help them. Those older children then abuse the younger ones, forcing them to give them items to avoid further abuse. The primary skills these teens have acquired are now useless.
It’s a painful cycle. But there is hope!
Jinja currently has two registered NGOs devoted to getting these kids off the streets.
Child Restoration Outreach has created a database of every street child in Jinja. For the past 12 years, they have worked diligently to identify parents/relatives of each child–all while providing education, meals, and after school programs. 1moreChild provides school fees, 3 meals a day, school uniforms, supplies, shoes, clothes, medical care, tutoring, mentoring and a football club. While these organizations have different emphases, they work hand-in-hand, ensuring that all children are on the database and receive appropriate sponsorship.
So, why is it still a problem? We think that a large part of the problem is the big hearted tourist. Yikes! CRO and 1moreChild work patiently to instill discipline into these children. For many, this takes extensive amounts of time and significant counseling. A generous tourist is often unaware that such a program is in existence and works against these steps by providing a way for these children to remain independent on the streets.
So what’s the appropriate response? DON’T GIVE!
Actually, we don’t believe that. We want you to give. We just want you to give intentionally. Give knowing you are helping a child gain long-term help. Give to one of these organizations.
Learn more about the two registered programs working with vulnerable children in Jinja:
If you suspect that you found a street child that is not currently being helped (which is highly unlikely), then call one of the organizations and ask.
