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Street-working Children - Who are they?
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Contrary to what is often believed, most of the children we see selling chewing
gum, juggling, cleaning windscreens or whatever at traffic lights or singing in
buses to earn a few pesos, do not live in the street. They usually live with
their families or a relative.
However, these families are themselves submerged in extreme poverty and are
frequently dysfunctional, with little or no schooling and with a high level of
physical violence – often including sexual abuse – or emotional aggression.
As the children often work all day, they do not go to school, and are thus
condemned to a continuing cycle of poverty. Additionally, they are exposed to
many dangers in the streets; they are prey to older youths and gangs and work in
hazardous conditions.
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Street-working Children - JUCONI action
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Again we begin by approaching children in the street through
Operation Friendship, which in the case of street-working children, also makes
contact with the child’s family as soon as possible. This contact with the
family is extremely important because the children’s problems and their
solutions are mainly in the family. Arrangements are made for JUCONI educators
and family therapists to start making weekly visits to the family in their home.
We focus on providing a strong supportive link with parents, reducing the levels
of family tension and violence, and helping the family develop positive
communication strategies. As this begins to yield results, parents are able to
prioritise their children’s needs and look at ways of withdrawing their children
from street work.
For the children themselves, we immediately provide educational-therapeutic
support to heal their emotional wounds, and as soon as possible we arrange for
them to attend a school. We then help them handle their school work, and also
work with the teachers and the school principal, who are fundamental in helping
the children settle down in the school and achieve satisfactory results.
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