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With street children, the main victims of urban
poverty
in Ouagadougou
In 2002, the Human Development Report published
by the United Nations Development Program ranked Burkina Faso at
number 175 (out of 177 countries). With less than one dollar a day,
45.3% of this
country’s inhabitants live below the poverty line.
The primary victims of poverty are children and women, who are increasingly
heading to cities to look for means of survival. As such, many isolated
children with no resources are left with no other choice but to
roam the streets of Ouagadougou.
To date, few measures have been taken in favour of these children.
To compensate for this gap, samusocialBurkinaFaso,
an non-governmnental organisation under Burkina Faso law, was created
in February 2000.
Bringing assistance to street
children in Ouagadougou
Composed of one nurse and two first-aid workers, mobile teams
cruise the streets of Ouagadougou seven days a week so as to have
daily contact with street children. They carry out night rounds (five
times per week) in an easily identifiable ambulance and day rounds
(five mornings per week) on mopeds. Their goal is to locate children
on the street who are at odds with their family and/or society, to
bring assistance to them and if need be, to provide them with
guidance. Temporary housing is proposed to children who are in great
medical or psychosocial danger as well as to children considered “ready”
to leave the street.
samusocialBurkinaFaso works in
close cooperation with Burkina Faso's Centre Renaissance of
the Ministry of Social Action, where it has installed its base and
a medical office. The Centre provides a site for medical and/or social
transit that makes it possible, on the one hand, to respond to emergencies,
and on the other hand, to create a link between the street activities
carried out by the mobile teams and the organisations that deal with
children over the long term. The reintegration of these children is
a long and complex process that requires evaluation, preparation and
trust-building in order to optimize the chances of succeeding.
In 2004 in the Centre Renaissance, samusocialBurkinaFaso
set up a daytime drop-in centre for street children where several
activities are proposed to them to help them become integrated into
society.
Futhermore, street chidren suffering from serious pathologies are
immediately directed toward partner hospitals. Nurses from samusocialBurkinaFaso
provide support for the children during their hospital stay. Samusocial
covers hospital fees, distributes medicine and follows up on the children.
Medical and social care being given during day cruise.
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The Renaissance center, partner of samusocialBurkinaFaso,
towards which endangered children are oriented. |
Capacity-building
The on-going training of teams by samusocialInternational
and external parties enables the staff to acquire and strengthen their
analysis and assessment techniques, which are so essential to the
smooth running of their activities.
samusocialBurkinaFaso has also
developed a network of institutional and non-governmental partners
that is still growing. It enables Samusocial to work in cooperation
with structures whose activities complete its own and thus to provide
help that is adapted to children.
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