The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify but the bulk of them predominantly can be found in developing economies where poverty thrives. You can see them begging on the streets. Their clothes are messy and smelly because they rummage on trash bins for food scraps. Some huddle on street corners, sniffing solvents, some of them are measly selling of anything that they can earn from while others resort to stealing and some other petty crimes.
By just looking at it, one can’t help not to paint a grim picture as to what future of these children can hold. Nonetheless, their future really depends on how well that country protects and allows them to achieve their full potentials and abilities in order to make them the future productive citizens can be, a vital prime mover in nation building. Street children are denied many of life’s basic needs. They depend entirely on their own ability to fend for themselves. To ignore them means admitting to have failed the responsibility to protect and provide a decent future for them.
Unfortunately, most governments in developing economies neither cannot afford to house them nor provide their basic needs due to lack of funds and budgetary constrains. However, some developing economies are fortunate enough, where there are non governmental organisations (NGO) and charitable institutions who are attending to this kind of situation. They are usually financed and they need to be supported all the way for their noble gesture and good programs they envisioned towards the general welfare of these children.
The main objective of their programmes is aimed to provide education, health care and counseling which can obviously give a meaningful difference into the lives of these children. Counseling gives the children the moral revival and renewal to think about on how they shall lead their lives for a better future. Health care provides them the physical and mental conditioning necessary for their well being in order to be productive. Through education they are rebuilding their lives again not only on how to be an asset to society but how they can manage to be the prime contributor to the country’s economic growth, development and prosperity as well.
Sad to say, that the problem of street children is still far from over though. Transforming the developing economies into a fully developed ones is one of the keys to eradicate them. After all, poverty is still the main cause as to why the bulk of these children are still on the streets.
IQRA ZAHID DOGAR
Lahore