Project for Street Children

A project for Street Children of Tonj, South Sudan.

Tonj is one of the towns in Warrap state, it’s on the highway for travelers of Juba to Wau and those from Wau to Juba via Rumbek.
As you walk around in the town you would find many children with bottles in their hands sipping whatever is inside which is a mixture of petrol, some stones and some other unknown substances, for the purpose of becoming numb and high. Most probably to help them get through the day. These children sleep on the door steps of the shops at night and in the morning they move in different directions, looking for survival. Many of them become victims of sexual abuse. There are approximately 42 of them, aged between 6 years and 23 years old.

Mrs. Agnes Kivumbi, who is a medical officer, and was based in Tonj, was touched by the situation of those children and young adults. One day she was in the market buying airtime, when she came across a young boy called Mayom Aguek. He came by begging for money. Being a TB officer as well Mrs. Kivumbi suspected that he had Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis and when she asked him, his fellow street children informed her that he was deaf and had no relatives around. That he was from Makuac in Tonj East County and has been on the street for over 2 years.

Mrs. Kivumbi Immediately took him to be started on TB treatment. This was very challenging, since he had to be tracked down almost every day in order to take his tablets. Some days he goes without treatment if they fail to find him.

We presume that other children may also suffer from Tuberculosis as well as other possibly treatable conditions.

Mrs. Kivumbi said: When I spoke to those children they told me that (most of them) were sent away by their parents because they had no way of feeding them, some had no parents and others were influenced by friends. They live by begging and some steal for a living.

Our goal:

• Provide a shelter for them
• Assign workers to supervise them, counsel them, etc.
• Provide rehabilitation programs
• Send them back to school, apprenticeship or help the older ones to get jobs to support themselves.

Find sponsors / guardians for each and everyone of them, who will support them financially on a monthly basis and also clothing at least once a year. The monthly sponsorship would cover their direct basic needs such as food, hygiene supplies, little medical supplies, etc.

What we have already achieved so far:

• Tracked down 23 of the street children and young adults and listed their names and ages.
• We found 7 guardians so far who will donate EUR 20 monthly
• We have endorced with a local south Sudanese NGO called Lulu Care to help conduct the project together
• Lulu Care was given a building facility by the ministry of education that would suit as their shelter.
• We have spoken to a local priest who is in charge of a school. The priest informed us, that those kids would need rehabilitation before being considered for admission to school
• Mrs. Kivumbi offered to be the supervisor at the facility, which would be brilliant, since she can not only supervise the kids, but also being a Medical Officer, can attend to their medical needs.

We are in desperate need for:

• Endorsement by a churchal body, to increase the chances of finding donors, since it’s not possible for a private and small initiative like ourselves to find donors for such a project
• Find more guardians to sponsor the kids
• A steady income of approx. 6000 USD monthly to pay for rent, possible school fees and salaries of the staff
• A start off budget of approx. 15000 USD

God bless you all, when you help one in need God gives you more.