Cheka Sana’s ‘Street Born Project’ works with girls and young mothers who are involved in sexual exploitation and/or who are living on the street
We help with facilitating the provision of medical care to these girls and their babies, focusing on pre- and post-natal medical care.
Our main approach of working with these girls is through the formation of association groups.
We facilitate sessions to the groups which include life skills, baby care and parenting skills, health care, hygiene and reproductive health, in addition to vocational training and business skills. The girls run these groups themselves and they decide together what productive activity they want to carry out as a group that will help them to achieve economic sustainability.
We provide street young mother with livelihood support, training and a start-up business grant, including training enabling them to financially recover from the lives of the streets and afford the costs of living and sending their children back to school.
We provide youth street girls/mothers with a dignity kit containing soap, underwear and reusable sanitary towels, enabling them to manage their period safely and with dignity and to ensure they don’t miss out any training or education.
Why we campaign for street young mothers
About 1940
Street children and young people are tragically living and working on the streets of Mwanza City, Tanzania
418
Girls are street-involved youth/sex workers
218
Girls street-involved youth/sex workers are below 18 years an increase of 229% since 2014.
About 5,000
Of children live on the streets in Kampala City, Uganda aged from seven up to the age of 17
What are we doing to help?
Prevention
When we can reach a child before they reach the streets, our chances of success are so much better. We seek to help families in difficulty and to divert children at risk from life or work on the streets.
Intervention
In a crisis, street children and young mothers need direct help and they need it quickly. We believe every child should have a safe, secure and decent place to call home. Our job is to work with these most vulnerable group and provide them with a safe and secure environment, where they can receive much-needed care and support.
Restoration
Street children and young mothers often suffer abuse and neglect as a result of widespread and damaging views that poor and marginalised children are of lesser social worth. We work with carefully trained, locally knowledgeable frontline partners to help the most vulnerable children and young people escape and seek redress from fear, violence, sexual, mental and physical abuse and intimidation. This encompasses work with local agencies and communities in order to provide children with the appropriate care. Where possible, we see that children are provided with a safe home and that they receive the support they need to recover from traumatic experiences.
Integration
Social justice and community empowerment are key aspects of our agenda. We work to achieve long-term, sustainable change in the lives of street children through educational support, reintegration with families (where appropriate), shifting local perceptions and working for economic empowerment. We also work to hold governments and other key stakeholders accountable for the present and future welfare of CLWS.
