19 August 2008
editorial
Although it may be too early to start saying this, it appears that the programme by the Government to rehabilitate street children using the Zambia National Service (ZNS) is beginning to bear fruit.
So far two intakes have graduated from the ZNS Chiwoko and Kitwe skills camps after acquiring survival skills and this is a development that gives hope that there is life after leaving the streets.
Many of these youths who have successfully graduated, found themselves on the streets for various reasons but for the majority, it was a result of the families breaking down and then the children succumbing to peer pressure.
They engaged in all sorts of vices ranging from alcohol and hard drugs abuse, theft to prostitution and other violent crimes.
In fact, most of them felt neglected and forsaken by society such that engaging in crime was a way of getting back at society. They had lost all hope of ever leading a life off the streets and free of crime.
It is therefore encouraging that some have undergone reform and acquired skills that will help reintegrate them into the community as citizens who have the potential to contribute meaningfully.
The challenge now lies with the public on what sort of assistance and reception they will offer to these youths. Hopefully there will be no stigmatisation because such kind of attitude discourages and tempts them to go back to their old way of life.
To help them settle down, ZNS and Government officials should regularly monitor them as a way of helping them rise above challenges they encounter.
It is also hoped that in future the corporate world may also deliberately employ those with skills they need so that these youths do not spend a long time looking for jobs.
Micro-finance institutions can also have a role to play by facilitating loans to those with skills like carpentry and tailoring to help them set up businesses.
But more importantly, society needs to re-examine itself and find solutions that will prevent children ending up on the streets. But overall this programme offers hope for street children who have the opportunity to be recruited.
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I recently returned from a trip to Ndola and Kitwe to visit street children in both cities. I was alarmed to talk to at least three children who had indeed successfully graduated from these camps, but who were forced back ONTO the streets when they made their journey home. Simply because the government have not thought through what to do with these children once they have their qualification. With unemployment as high as it is in the Copperbelt region, how do the government intend to find work for these children?
Thanks