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International Day of African Child looks at street children
Streets Ahead
June 16, 2004

Street children will be the focus of an art exhibition to commemorate the International Day of the African Child on Wednesday in Harare.

Running for two weeks, the exhibition titled "On the Street Where We Live" is being held by Streets Ahead, an organisation that looks after the interests and welfare of street children, in conjunction with UNICEF and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

"Our aim is to show the community a different perspective on what we usually imagine to be the life of a child. Life on the streets, as opposed to a life of safety at home and school, is a harsh reality for many children in Africa," said Hazel Parsons, Chairperson of the Board of Streets Ahead.

The works on display at the exhibition all relate to the street children of Zimbabwe and were produced by children living and working on the streets of Harare as well as six established artists including Charles Kamangwana, Tanyaradzwa Chihota and Alice Tavaya.

"The exhibition is just one example of a Streets Ahead activity for children with artistic interests. It is also an opportunity for us to create awareness in the local community about street children and to highlight that not all street children are beggars and thieves," said Mrs. Parsons. She added that many street children were talented and would respond well to responsibility if given the opportunity.

"To be accepted as a "normal" child and treated with respect is a powerful motivator for someone in a disadvantaged position. We believe that it is important for the greater Harare community to recognise that these are our children, Zimbabwean children, and collectively we all have a responsibility towards their welfare," Mrs. Parsons emphasised.

Earlier this year, street children were for the first time formally included in HIFA where they were responsible for car parking and security as well as street patrols. This idea was a brainchild of Maria Wilson, Executive Director of HIFA. who said she wanted street youths to be the "first face" of HIFA so that the public could see that street children were people with potential.

"There were one or two disappointments but taking into account that we employed 60 youths who had never been given positions of responsibility before, that was to be expected," Mrs. Wilson said commenting about the exercise.

Besides involving street children in HIFA and holding the upcoming art exhibition, Streets Ahead runs several other projects including a drop-in centre in the city, a foster care home in Tafara, and an outreach service on the streets of Harare. In addition, it has various programmes including a successful reunification scheme across the country through which children can return to their families. Its other programmes centre around providing disadvantaged children with access to formal and informal education, life skills training (including HIV/AIDS), health care, counselling, sports and music.

View more pictures of the art exhibited

Visit the Streets Ahead fact sheet

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