So the cause of children living on the streets lies at home! Youth and Sports Ministry regional West manager Kaminieli Matai Sadrata believes it is an issue.
In fact when you think about it, a lot of things actually happen on the home front.
That’s where the base is formed.
That’s where we get life lessons first, and where we take our first steps towards independence.
It makes sense because there is a connection to guidance and adult supervision.
Following the ministry’s profiling of street kids in Lautoka and Nadi where most cases were found in the West, Mr Sadrata said this was the main reason children choose to stay on the streets.
“We have seen the problems faced by these young people. The root of this problem lies within their homes. For most of them, it is when mum and dad are separated and go on to marry other people, leaving their children to fend for themselves.”
The 23 youths identified on Lautoka’s streets, he said, were now under the ministry’s rehabilitation program
“Not only have we identified their individual problems, we also got in touch with their individual families and asked their parents and guardians why their children are on the streets.”
Now this is pretty serious.
It is good though that an effort is being made to get back to the root of what is being seen as a major problem area.
It is encouraging to know that education, work and social engagement opportunities have been organised for the affected group. That means empowering stakeholders.
It means creating awareness at important levels of society.
So with that in play now, the next stage is about empowering those impacted with employment opportunities.
Getting children off the streets should be a common goal for us all.
It should be something we strive for.
Again, we say there has to be appropriate awareness campaigns that hit the social structures, the vanua, and the family.
We need families talking about unity, about responsibilities, about values and priorities.
Any effort to keep our children off the streets should be encouraged and supported.
Perhaps we may need to re-evaluate the family structures, and consider what has been raised here.
Let’s consider our family, our base!
