By SANFROSSA MANYINDA
SOME street kids including those that were last week relocated to Friends of the Street Children’s Home in Kitwe, male section have abandoned the facility due to hunger and other challenges.
Kitwe is one of the towns that have been faced with the challenge of street kids in the country.
In June this year, the Ministry of Community Development working together with the council police conducted an operation and relocated the children who later went back to the streets.
Last week, the Kitwe City Council conducted an operation and relocated 27 street kids from the central business district as they were becoming a danger to motorists and pedestrians.
As of last week, the facility had about 36 children most of whom have escaped and gone back to the streets.
A check by the Daily Nation at the facility yesterday, indicated that only 26 children were still around.
The check showed that children did not have enough food, clothing, beddings and mattresses.
However, Fiends of the Street Children male Section Coordinator, Jack Nyirongo, confirmed that most children were running away because of hunger and lack of social amenities.
“We are faced with a lot of challenges here as you can see for yourselves and this is why most children do not stay because they feel they are living better on the streets.
“We are dealing with children who need special attention and if they do not feel that they are cared for, they do not hesitate to leave the facility to go back to the streets,” he said.
Mr Nyirongo said that the children lacked activities and tools to keep themselves busy and ended up engaging in violent activities if they were not running away from the facility.
He said there was need for a long term sustainability programme such as building structures for rent at the huge land that the facility has as well as planting citrus fruits that will be bringing in a monthly income to meet the needs of the children.
Mr Nyirongo called on all well-wishers to get on board and help the facility in any way possible especially where food was concerned.
He however thanked Nkana Milling Company among other local investors for consistently assisting the facility in one way or the other.
Friends of the Street Children run three main programmes to respond to the needs of children which include the outreach programme, rehabilitation programme and reintegration programme.
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