Children in Crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia

19 street children kept begging us to re-start our rehabilitation program as they were ready to leave the streets and go back to their family. These were hardcore streetkids, sleeping rough, addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking and gambling.

We admitted them into our safehouse and started working with them. The first few weeks were the hardest as the withdrawal symptoms quick in but 15 kids came through it and 4 kids decided that they were not as ready as they thought they were and went back to the streets. Over the following weeks we worked with the kids, did counselling, lifeskills training, skills training, crafts and sports activities, they learned cooking and sewing as well as simple electrical and plumbing repairs. We also worked with their parents as they had no idea in what shape their children were in. They had sent them to get aid and food in town as they were not able to provide enough for them. Once they found out what had happened they apologized to their children and at the end of the 3 months the children were re-united with their parents.

We will continue to follow them and where needed we will give the families additional economic empowerment opportunities.

The current economic situation and the lack of parenting skills aggrevates the problems for children. There is not enough food in the house and parents sent them to find food elsewhere, or the parents have to work and leave their children unattended during the day, so they drift of to the streets where they get involved with the wrong crowd. We are working at holistic interventions through community awareness raising and parenting skills training in order to prevent children to migrate to the streets as well as the rehabilitation of children who are already on the steets.

We thank you for your life-saving support to the children of Tigray. 

                                                         It takes a village to raise a child!