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Street Children Project Uganda
Dwelling Places, a project which focuses on boys and girls of the street below the age of 14, recognises the importance of raising children within a family setting and doing all it takes to preserve a family unit as long as it is in the best interest of the child.
We must never assume that the best place for the child is away from the parent but rather question how we can help the parents and ensure the child lives with them. However, when parents struggle extraordinarily to fulfil their intended roles, then if we have been called to be God’s hand of grace in that situation, we have a responsibility to intervene.
The Family Empowerment and Preservation Programme
Dwelling Places’ Family Empowerment and Preservation Programme meets these responsibilities and raises the standard of care for children at risk by working with children and working with families.
The key to working with the children is reconciliation. Children are taken off the street, usually into our transitional rehabilitation home followed by tracing an adult family member. We then follow a reconciliation programme to restore a loving and trusting relationship between the child and the parent or guardian. The programme aims to encourage a genuine sense of belonging and willingness to live together between the two parties, regardless of prevailing conditions at the time.
Work with the family would not be complete without resettlement of the children into the community, which Dwelling Places aims to do after two years of rehabilitation.
Family Empowerment and Preservation Programme in practice
Maama Rapha and her nine children lived in Uganda as homeless refugees from Sudan for many years. We found the family through her three youngest children who were picking wild vegetables on the street. A successful reconciliation exercise led her to release her three youngest and most vulnerable children into our transitional home and her recruitment onto the Family Empowerment and Preservation Programme.
In the programme, Maama Rapha was supported with housing and trained in crafts-making and basic business principles. She is now able to make pillows and confectionery, which she sells to support her family. Through introducing the family to the Gospel and a church in the local community, she has made constructive friends, boosting a sense of belonging and restoring hope into the family.
At the beginning of 2005, we resettled Maama Rapha’s children back in their home. We believe that the successful resettlement of Maama Rapha and her family into this new community will serve as a testimony of the transforming power of God.
Source: Extracted from "Restore Magazine, Issue 2: Parenting" with permission. Restore, the magazine for the Christian childcare community, is a collaborative initiative of Viva Network, a global movement of Christians working together to bring more children better care. For more information, visit http://www.viva.org/restore
Rita Nkemba is the director of Dwelling Places, a Christian ministry that provides holistic care to street children in Uganda. It is part of Viva Network. For more information about Dwelling Places, visit http://www.dwellingplaces.org
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