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• STREET CHILDREN
Supporting established homes and service centres,
and provide direct support to the children where appropriate.
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With increasing poverty, urbanisation and the recent conflict situation in Nepal, the incidence of street children in the major cities is increasing. Other factors such as domestic abuse and violence in the home and even boredom at home also lead children to the streets. The reasons that children end up on the street are multi-faceted and complex, and any kind of help and support to them requires a similar approach.
Street life for these children is detrimental to not only their physical well-being but also to their mental, emotional and psychological welfare. They continuously face violence and abuse from other street children, gangs and the police. Society looks down on street children leaving them with little self-respect. Street children who decide to leave the street life and return to society face many challenges, and some even return to the streets. We believe that although these children have faced a number of physical, emotional and mental hardships, they are very intelligent, resourceful and above all have the ability to dream like all of us. Thus, it is not just a matter of “taking them off the streets” and putting them into schools. We would like to take an approach where the focus is on the child and what he/she wants rather than imposing what we feel they need.
There are already a number of well-established organisations that are working for and with street children. Rather than doubling efforts in this area, Shenpen will support those specific activities of these organisations which already have experience and knowledge with street children, as well as providing direct support to the children where appropriate, for example, in the form of self-employment skills.
© 2006, Rangjung Yeshe Shenpen