Bi-Annual report for HoS
- 1. Executive Summary The House of Smiles Harare represent a common factor in CESVI interventions in promoting the rights of children and other young people living in marginalised and difficult conditions especially targeting those in streets. This mid-year report is on activities which commenced January 2016 –June 2016 focusing on four pillars. These pillars strategically focus on the identification, family tracing and assessment, reunification and other multi-sectorial support services which include nutrition, hygiene, medical care and educational support. The aim of the HoS in Harare is to give space to local organisations and individuals sharing the same vision with CESVI to assist and support children living and working in the streets. Vulnerable minors voluntarily drop in at the centre Mondays to Fridays for the purposes of interaction, establishing contacts, building relationships and ties and charting courses of action towards their rehabilitation and social reintegration through the family or their local communities. The project was operating within the continuum of different targets on different activities for the second half of the year. 6 children for FTA, 3 reunifications at least 1 follow up visit and educational support to 6 children. 1. Introduction Children in street environment often do not have access to protection and lack basic human rights services such as food, clothing, shelter, clean and safe water only to mention a few. According to UNICEF survey report November 2015, they are 2050 children in the streets of Harare alone and a total number of 5000 street children in the whole of the country. However, the House of Smiles sees only about 9% of these children.(see table 2.2 below) It is generally believed by the children and youths that the streets of Harare are lucrative and habitable - hence the pull factor to Harare. The HoS is the only drop in centre for these children. Most young people frequenting the centre are incorrigible due to lack of attachment and parental guidance. Young people on the streets are exposed to all forms of abuse and are mostly survivors of sexual, emotional and physical abuse with most of them having been neglected by both their nuclear family and extended families. The general public view these children in a negative way. They think they are delinquent and hard to cope with. This is the same view the government has. 2. Identification, screening and documentation of children Street outreach activity embraces identification of new street entrants, sick children in the streets and informing them about the HoS and services available to them at the drop in centre. Children and young people are encouraged to voluntarily visit the House and together with the staff try to find sustainable solutions to their challenges through the case management systeminitiated by DCWPS. A preliminary phone call could signal the beginning of a family tracing process especially for the new children dropping at the centre for the first time. This is possible if the child provides useful and accurate information. The Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services in Zimbabwe has the sole mandate on the welfare of children and their protection hence most children are referred to them for places of safety and for further
- 2. management. Reunifications are done where possible especially to simple cases which does not require places of safety. Table 1 New children drop in street entrants at House of Smiles Month Age Sex Identified Children FTA Referred Children Reunified children Deaths M F January 14-16 2 2 4 0 0 0 3 February 14-19 10 2 12 0 11 0 1 March 14-16 8 2 10 0 3 April 15-17 11 0 14 2 3 2 May 13-19 11 1 12 1 4 June 11-18 4 1 5 0 1 1 Total 46 8 57 3 15 10 2.1 Table 1 above shows that from February to May 2016 there is a high record of new street entrants. Possible reasons could be, firstly, unconducive socio-economic environment in Zimbabwe which has worsened general populace living standards. Secondly, end of January they were demolitions carried out in one of the informal settlements in Harare which left many families vulnerable and this may have forced into the streets. Thirdly most children are not going to school as parents could not meet their school fees. Government made a directive for every child to attend school but not all of them are enrolled at government schools. 2.2 Figure 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 January February March April May June Sex aggregate of new street entrant from Jan-June 2016 Females Males
- 3. 81% of new street entrants who visited the HoS are males, girls consist of the remaining percentage mainly because girls resort to cohabitation for survival in the streets, sexual trade and or are absorbed by the community as house hold helpers. From Table 1 above, 18% of the identified children were reunified, which positively commendable activity is considering the nature of the children. The major strength on this was that priority for reintegration was accorded to new children visiting the HoS before streetism soaked into them. Figure 2.1 Young people aged between 15-16 years frequent the streets of Harare and they constitutes 41% of the drop in rate at HoS. This explains even the average drop in age range on a daily basis. Children with ages varying from 15 -16 years tend to have a wide range of challenges in their lives. Some of these children may not have access to basic education as their parents or guardians cannot provide for them due to the prevailing socio-economic environment in Zimbabwe. They frequent the streets in search of sustainable solutions to their predicament in form of jobs. Some leave home looking for relatives whom they have lost contact with anticipation to be assisted and they find themselves in the streets. Another probable reason could be relational challenges with guardians caused by teenage hood and the macro- economic system. Very few girls drop in due to different reasons as cited on figure 1 above. The other challenge could be lack of programs targeting specific challenges faced by girls in the streets. Girls in streets environments have quadruple vulnerability. 3 Personal Hygiene, nutrition and medical support 3.1 Hygiene guarantees good health for every human being. Young people in streets often lack this necessity in their day to day living. Their access to bathing and laundry facilities is limited and they have no access to clean water which is a major component to survival. Bathing and laundry facilities are provided to these children. A total of 2108 0 5 10 15 20 25 9-10 yrs 11-12 yrs 13-14 yrs 15-16 yrs 17-18 yrs 19-20 yrs Sex and age aggregate for new street entrants Females males
- 4. bathing, laundry and services were provided during the reporting period. 2108 plates of plates of hot meals either between rice or sadza were served to these children. Nutrition remains a major component to the health of these children. Failure of them to receive a hot meal at the drop in centre guarantees them scavenging from restaurant bins around town. Figure 2.2 The above diagram figure 2.2, explains the frequency drop in of children at the House of Smiles for the past six months. A total frequency of 2108 children dropped in and girls only constitutes 9%of the total population. As highlighted above the main age accessing services at the drop in centre is between 15-16 years. 193 children dropped at least once for the period under review at the centre. The probability of a child returning to the House of Smiles is approximately 9% which is very limited compared to a total number of 2050 children in the streets of Harare as per UNICEF head count results November 2015. 3.2 Medical support was extended to a total number of 28 children and young people. Girls who visited the HoS for medical assistance constitutes 39% and their illnesses were mainly related to STIs. On average boys frequently visit the drop in centre as compared to girls. 61% of the boys accessed medical support. The macro-system again is at play as it shapes the behaviour of boys in the streets contributing to their illness. Most of the boys provided with medical assistance had wounds attained from beatings from the members of the public after they snatch their valuables like cell phones or neck chains. This is significantly caused by unavailability of hand outs from members of the public as compared to the previous years due to tightened pockets caused by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. Boys Girls 0 200 400 January February March April May June Frequency Drop in from Jan-Dec Boys Girls
- 5. 3.3 Psycho-social support plays a crucial role in the lives of children and young people surviving in difficult and marginalised conditions. They have experienced different traumas at this young age and psychological attention is significant for them to view life positively. Childline volunteer counsellor based at HoS offered counselling services to 89 children and 12 of them were girls. New and old children are included in the total number of children assisted psychologically. 4. Second chance education support 4.1 CESVI through HoS compliments governments’ efforts on the welfare of vulnerable children especially those operating in streets environments. For the period under discussion the HoS was operating under the target of assisting six children with formal education. The target was met, three of them are attending formal education and the other three are at vocational skills training colleges. All of them passed through the HoS seeing one of the girls aged 17 years graduating with Young Africa having completed a certificate in cosmetology. Thorough linkages, a further two children are receiving assistance fromprivate benefactors and are attending secondary education and vocational skills training. 4.2 Children on the streets lack access to basic education. OSSG is an engagement activity for relationship creation with these vulnerable minors. Sustainable solutions and engagement of other service providers within the case management system are effected at the drop in centre. However, amicable child development is possible with parental guidance which these children lack. Lack of parental guidance hinders proper child development often resulting in them having difficulties in attending these classes. The OSSG activity has some challenges one of them being lack of commitment from the children since they drop in voluntarily. Most of the school going age are not interested in attending lessons when they visit the House due to peer pressure from the elderly boys. It is recommended for all children who are within the school going age to be encouraged or enticed to attend classes provided at the drop in centre as well older boys. Nevertheless, World Education International realising challenges with the target group in terms of learning introduced edutainment to the activity. OSSG is now consisting of JIC -RUN where sexual and reproductive health rights issues are discussed and they have shown interest in the topics. Traditional lessons on primary level education as per Zimbabwean standards such as basic English, Shona, Mathematics and content are a mere white horse. In the beginning the main OSSG objective was to prepare the child for reintegration into the community in terms of discipline and understanding.
- 6. Figure 3 4.3 Other engagement activities are soccer with netball introduced in March 2016. Soccer trainings are conducted once a week on Tuesday and netball on Thursday. These activities enable talent identification and psycho-social therapy. HoS has a semi established soccer team since most of the participants lack commitment. Six exchange matches within a 40 km radius of Harare were participated in. The HoS team lost all in favour of the competitor. On a positive note the HoS identified two talented 17 years old boys who are being prepared to be put through a soccer academy. 0 3 3 4 2 1 13 15 17 21 20 19 JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE OSSG Attendance Register Females Males
- 7. HoS two stars Paul Hanyani and Takudzwa Mandisodza who is standing closer to the coach in yellow T-Shirt. 4.4 CESVI provides fees for acquisition of national registration documents for street children. For the period under review only one girl was assisted with the replacement of a birth certificate and acquisition of a national identity card. National identification documents acquisition proved to be an activity in need of a multi- sectorial approach. Different players are involved in the acquirement of these documents. Although CESVI meets the penalty fees to the Registrar, other contributory factors like the need to trace and identify a relative who shares the same surname with the youth remains a stumbling block to the acquisition of these important documents. Most often the youth does not provide accurate whereabouts to be able to locate the relative. 5 HoS Clientele Attitude 5.1 We have observed that some of the youths and children who have been frequenting the HoS have developed unbecoming and unwanted behaviour. The question that our post engagement monitoring has come up with and has remained unanswered is,” Are our programs doing enough to assist these souls? Where is the House losing the plot? What measures can be put in place to mould good behaviour in these children?” There are evident cases of youths who are now addicted to drug and alcohol abuse and this negatively affects their commitment, performance, life management and focus on the future. Young people in street environment have since migrated from light drugs to strong stuff such as glue. These children have become violent by the day. Two incidences with potential violence at HoS were recorded whereby staff seek public security intervention during this period. It was observed that one of the contributing factors is the absence of temporal shelter where children can be placed for proper moulding to take place. As it is, the HoS
- 8. continues to work with the children coming from the streets environment which does not help matters either. 6 HoS Local Community Assistance 6.1 The HoS gets assistance fromthe local community through donation of used clothes, blankets and food items. These donations are very important as some of these children desperately need clothes to wear especially warm clothes for the night and for winter. Through a Post Distribution Monitoring exercise, it was realised that most of the elder youths to whom these donations are issued sale themto raise cash to satisfy their appetite for drugs and alcohol abuse through the purchase of alcohol and both soft and hard drugs like Glue and mbanje. They would rarely sale these clothes to buy food since they get one meal per day at the HoS Drop in Centre. 7 Networking 7.1 The staff at the HoS continued to net-work attend various meetings with other stake holders both government and civil society organisations within the child protection fraternity and other local organisations working with young people in street environments. The forums include; Child Protection Network (CPN) meetings chaired by UNICEF Child Protection and safeguarding training workshops Provincial level and district level Child Protection Committee (PCPC & DCPC) meetings chaired by the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services Partners Meetings with other organizations working with orphans and vulnerable children Taskforce meeting with other organisations working with children in streets environment ( City of Harare, VFU, DCWPS and other local nongovernmental organisations) Brain-storming meetings with individuals and well-wishers who have passion to assist street children. These meetings also involved children themselves. The growing numbers of children coming into the streets, Key issues that repeatedly come up in these meetings are the need for shelter in the form of temporal shelter/home, the need for entrepreneurial skills/vocational skills training for the bigger youths and the need for a holist and multi-sectorial approach to the problem