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by Manjula Fernando

Why would children prefer a life on the street? What was their life like before? Is it the freedom they are after or the friendship and brotherhood extended by others of their ilk? Or is it because they have no other choice in life?

A recent study conducted by the National Child Protection Authority for the WHO has strived to find answers to these questions as well as many others concerning street children. The study targeted the Municipality area of Colombo and over 530 children were interviewed by their 34 data collecting officers.

Children end up in the street due to many reasons. They may be born on the street to beggars, prostitutes or the mentally-deranged. Or they may be forced into street life by various factors. The study has classified several 'push factors' and 'pull factors' that would draw normal children to the street.

The 'push factors' can vary from domestic violence, mental, physical and sexual abuse to sudden deprivation of parental care. The study team found children who had run away from homes unable to bear physical harassment of a drunken father, sexual advances of a mother's lover and domestic servants who had been ill-treated by their employer. All denied love and care.

One of the disturbing findings had been that there are some children from families whose mothers have left for the Middle East as domestic servants. This could well be the first signs of a growing major social problem in future, the unavailability of a proper mechanism to care for the children of Middle East-based female workers.

Distressed children get pulled into the street because there is plenty of work available for minors. This is found to be the leading 'pull factor' while the availability of food in the cities draws them to crowded streets in the urban areas.

Chairman of the NCPA Prof. Harendra de Silva elaborating on the findings of the study said: "Unlike in the past, a lot of children on the street now are educated and concerned about their personal hygiene. They have had some sort of a formal education in their life and we found a significant number of children who had attended school upto Grade 8."

Unfortunately, this did not have a positive effect on their work. A lot of male children on the street were involved in hawking, like the sale of lottery, fruits/vegetables, king coconut, meat/fish, flowers and betel leaves. Collecting items from CMC dump yards was a popular form of livelihood as there were a lot of children involved in this. Some were involved in extreme forms of work such as carrying heavy loads of goods (Nattami) and toilet/drainage cleaning.

The girl street child was found to be the most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Even the ten year olds who were interviewed had revealed sexual relationships with older men. In one instance it had been her own father. They disclosed physical abuse by uncles and their mothers' lovers when they refused to have sex with them.

Many children refused to answer the question whether they get beaten up by others but all those who actually did said they were. Most of the time it had been their parents and sometimes older siblings. Some have said they get beaten by railway station security guards, mudalalis and strangers.

An average child was said to be earning over Rs.200 a day going up to even Rs.1000 on certain days.

There was significant progress in their enthusiasm in saving and some had bank accounts of their own and even knew how to use a teller machine. Nevertheless, a significant number of children, especially those who were employed by 'Mudalalis' (agents), were grossly underpaid and forced to work for long hours.

The research team had interviewed children over 10 years on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. A significant proportion of children had refused to comment. But many who did, knew it was a deadly disease. It had been evident that there is not enough awareness on this area among the children. A large number of children said that they go to private doctors for treatment for illnesses while an equal number said they go to government hospitals and dispensaries.

A small percentage said they don't seek professional treatment.

Many young children (under 8 years) were found in Pettah -near Gasworks junction, Malwatte Road, Main Street, 5th Cross Street and the Fort Railway Station; most of them belonged to beggar families. Usually they were accompanied by parents or a guardian.

A distinct finding had been the diminishing of girl children from streets as they grow. Only a few girls aged over 14 years were seen on the street although no reason for it was evident.

There had been a striking combination of religions and ethnic groups among the street children. Some said that they were Sinhala-Hindus while some introduced themselves as Tamil-Buddhists and Muslim-Buddhists.

The most likely reason for this could be the inter-ethnic marriages which commonly exist among street communities.

Enumeration of street children had been a difficult task due to many reasons. For one thing they are a mobile population constantly moving from one place to another. And 'children on the street' who come there to find employment and go home at night had to be distinguished from 'children of the street' who live there 24 hours a day. Children of beggar families have also been classified as a separate group.

These children in general were very enthusiastic about education.

However, they were not so keen to attend formal school or go to an orphanage. The NCPA has recommended a skills development program to address the issue of involving these children in an occupation.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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