Our Child Help Desk in Tanzania's busy bus terminal is a lifeline for children arriving alone. We are there when children are most at risk and can ensure they escape a life of trauma and abuse and help them find brighter futures. These desks are particularly crucial in reaching girls before they are lost to street life, where they are often forced to turn to sex work in order to survive. Your support will help us expand our bus terminal work and protect more children before it's too late.
In Mwanza, Tanzania's second biggest city, our recent study found at least 880 children living and working on the streets, where their lives are typified by abuse, trauma and neglect. Many come from poor villages outside the city, drawn by the potential of earning a few shillings, washing buses or carrying passengers' luggage. They arrive in their 100s at bus terminal, which are magnets, not only for children looking for opportunities, but also those looking for children to exploit and abuse.
In order to prevent childhoods from being lost to the streets, it is vital to find and support them as quickly as possible. Our Child Help Desk at the bus terminal will be a physical space which will function as the first point of contact for children arriving alone - a safe place for children to receive support and protection when they need it most. By working with the community in and around the bus terminal we will create a network of eyes and earls looking out for and protecting children.
By reaching and protecting children before they fall into a life on the streets, they will be protected from the abuse and trauma that often comes hand in hand with being on the streets. We work with the child and whole family to get to the root of the issue so the whole family can move onto a a better, brighter future. By working with the community in and around the bus terminal we are changing attitudes towards children at risk and ensuring they are reached and protected as soon as possible.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
