Without intervation, children living on the street will end in a cycle of poverty, abuse, violence and criminality.
In Uganda,about 15,000 children between the ages of 7-17 years are living on the streets without care, parental guidance, shelter, and other basic needs of life. With continued stay on the streets...... the cycle continues. With your support, CRO Uganda works at transforming the lives of children living on the streets, their families and communities principally through long-term customized interventions that them productive and responsible.
Street life negatively affects mental, emotional and physcal well-being.
Children and young people get on the streets due to extreme poverty, family breakdown, parental death & illness, domestic violence, famine, landslides and physical or sexual abuse. But,on the street, they're exposed to criminal activities like pick-pocketing, drug abuse, robbery, alcohol abuse, commercial sex, violence and homo sexuality - which puts their lives in danger and are forced to perform tasks beyond their ages and capabilities for survival. Living on the streets typically avails no access to education, skills-training, health care, nutrition and parental guidance.All of this can impair brain development, negatively impacting long-term physical and mental well-being.
CRO works with several stakeholders and partners like you to advocate for the rights of these children and targeted communities and to raise resources to enable them enjoy their rights to education, food, health care, shelter and protection. This is principally done through rehabilitation, reintegration, vocational and formal education, nutrition and health care support as well as community's social and economic empowerment,to ensure that they can have a better future.
In line with Uganda government policies, CRO does not institutionalize children, but assists them to get rehabilitated, educated and reintegrated within their extended family lines as a long-term strategy. This has proved to be a “good practice” for the street children because the children have to take their own decisions to quit the streets.This usually has a lasting impact on the street children.
Our charity work focuses on the following:
RESCUE, REHABILITATION & REINTEGRATION
The problem:
Living on the streets without care, parental guidance, shelter, and other basic needs of life means a life of hopelessness leading to moral, physical and mental degeneration as a result of lawlessness, exploitation and abuse.
what we do
CRO conducts day and night street surveys to identify children living on the streets. Through this interactive activity, CRO is able to establish the bond with them, identify reasons why they are on the streets and devise appropriate help which inolves inviting them to the drop centers for rehabilitation and also to prepare them for reunification with their families. Through the interactions, social workers were able to find out reasons why the children are on the streets, what activities children are engaged in and how they can be helped.
This is the gist of our cause - opening doors to executing our mission [link].
MORE ABOUT OUR RESCUE, REHABILITATION AND REINTEGRATION PROGRAMS
EDUCATION
The problem:
The underlying cause for children being on the streets is poverty. This implies that many families cannot provide even basic resources like books or uniforms,causing children to fall behind without the support to catch up even at the government universal education. Children and Youth drop out of school to support their families and never go back.
what we do
CRO believes that provision of education to children formerly living on the streets will enable them to live an independent life, support their families and contribute to the development of their communities in a better and sustainable way. Through your sponsorship, you help break down the barriers that keep children from primary through secondary and tertiary institutions from getting a good education, including scholarships, skilled training and more.
HEALTH CARE & NUTRITION SUPPORT
The problem:
Living on the streets can mean having barely any health care, chronic malnutrition, starvation, poor hygiene and unsafe sanitation conditions, a lack of education about reproductive health and mental health, and preventable diseases going untreated.
What we do
CRO remdies the situation by providing basic medical services at its drop centers to both the children and their caregivers for common diseases and infections as well as basic necessities like water to ensure proper hygiene. Complicated cases are referred to government hospitals for specialized attention.
NUTRITION SUPPORT is done through prepared breakfast and lunch for children who come at the centers as well as distributing food portions to vulnerable families. This addresses the problem of malnutrition and starvation commonly associated with children living on the streets, encouraging them to positively respond to Our goal of transformation and greatly improving their health.
PSYCHOSOCIAL CARE & RECREATION
The problem:
The hardships and other forms of abuses experienced by children on the streets left the children totally devastated.These children are exposed to dangers and abuses of various types and are forced to perform tasks beyond their ages and capacities. Such exposure negatively impacts the mental and social awareness of the children.
What we do
To mitigate the situation, the children are provided with psychosocial care and support to help them cope and survive within their environment. Individual Group, peer and Family counseling, are carried out on a regular basis. This enables the children to express themselves and are helped on how to cope with their unique situations. CRO encourages children to participate in various sports and games in order to develop their talents, teamwork and improve their self-image.
Learn more about Psycho-social care and recreation
EMPOWERMENT
The problem:
Children on the streets are victims of poverty, a condition which denies them their right to food, clothing, education and other basic rights.In contrast,children and the communities where they live must have hope for the future and see themselves beyond their circumstances. Life and entreprenual skills are necessary to enable them overcome their environment and break the poverty cycle.
What we do
With your support, CRO empowers families in the targeted communities to create sustainable household income sources through training, monitoring and techical support. Through women clubs, workshops, parents'/guardian meetings, communities are equipped with good parenting habits,child protection,primary healthcare,safe health behaviors, etc, so that they can provide a supportive environment in which children can learn and socialize. The youth are also equipped with hands-on skills and supported with startup toolkits so that they can properly utilize their skills for gainful employment.