were brought by the siblings who were already on the streets. During the study one girl said that: I didn’t know anything about going on the streets until one day when I accompanied my elder sister, who also introduce me her friends on the streets, ( and therefore I started coming to the streets slowly and then decided to live here. girl, 13 years) This means that most street children have networks that help them to consciously decide to join street life. This concurs with a study done by (Oino, et al, 2012) which argues that street children gain entry into the streets through social links. The decision of joining street life is a physical, psychological and social process and leaving home is habitually a gradual process. Similarly 11.1 % of the respondents came into the streets to look for employment. The study found that, while on the street, children are involved in various activities that can earn them money for their livelihoods. For instance, some street children were selling polythene bags at the entrance of Eldoret Municipal Market, others especially the older street children carry luggage for passengers and business people within town for a fee. Some street children also reported to have been used by hoteliers to clean food kiosks, fetch water and clean utensils and peeling Irish potatoes and in return they are given food or some money as a wage. During the study it was observed that street children aged between 5-10 years were the majority in the begging and car parking business. From the study 6.7 % of the respondents said that they came into the street because of parental neglect and abuse. Some of the neglect mentioned include; being at home without food the whole day, not schooling, and walking with tattered clothes. Some of the children claimed that they were beaten and harassed by their step mothers and same was done by step fathers particular to the male child. One boy during the study said that: step father told me to return from where I came from…if I don’t know, I can “My ( child, 15 ask my mother. He doesn’t know me I am always a burden to him”. years)
were brought by the siblings who were already on the streets. During the study one girl said that: I didn’t know anything about going on the streets until one day when I accompanied my elder sister, who also introduce me her friends on the streets, and therefore I started coming to the streets slowly and then decided to live here. ( girl, 13 years) This means that most street children have networks that help them to consciously decide to join street life. This concurs with a study done by (Oino, et al, 2012) which argues that street children gain entry into the streets through social links. The decision of joining street life is a physical, psychological and social process and leaving home is habitually a gradual process. Similarly 11.1 % of the respondents came into the streets to look for employment. The study found that, while on the street, children are involved in various activities that can earn them money for their livelihoods. For instance, some street children were selling polythene bags at the entrance of Eldoret Municipal Market, others especially the older street children carry luggage for passengers and business people within town for a fee. Some street children also reported to have been used by hoteliers to clean food kiosks, fetch water and clean utensils and peeling Irish potatoes and in return they are given food or some money as a wage. During the study it was observed that street children aged between 5-10 years were the majority in the begging and car parking business. From the study 6.7 % of the respondents said that they came into the street because of parental neglect and abuse. Some of the neglect mentioned include; being at home without food the whole day, not schooling, and walking with tattered clothes. Some of the children claimed that they were beaten and harassed by their step mothers and same was done by step fathers particular to the male child. One boy during the study said that: “My step father told me to return from where I came from…if I don’t know, I can ask my mother. He doesn’t know me I am always a burden to him”. ( child, 15 years)
Caren%20Projec%20nov%2021%20edited.docx