Over the past few years, the small Québec-based NGO Children’s Care International (CCI) has built a solid expertise on welcoming and educating rural children living in India. The organization now wishes to intervene in Cameroon, where street kids’ needs are tremendous. CCI will, however, have to adapt its approach: young Cameroonians who live on the streets of large cities cannot be helped using the same methods as those used for rural Indian children.

In Cameroon’s large cities, many children live on the street. Each day, as they struggle to survive, they are exposed to violence. Many factors contribute to this reality.

“In poor Cameroonian families, children must work to provide the household with an additional income. When families are torn apart, children often find themselves in difficult situations. For example, the mother’s new spouse can mistreat the child or send him away. Once a child earns enough to ensure her survival on the street, she may also choose to leave home so as not to have to share the income earned with the family", deplores Cindy Medina-Labrecque, Project Manager for Children’s Care International.

Once on the street, children keep on working. They have enough money to eat, but their situation remains precarious. “They live in gangs and there is much violence. Of course, even if they are 13 or 14, they don’t go to school”, she adds.

First Contact
CCI has recently made contact with Cameroon. Cindy Medina-Labrecque spent one month there to assess the possibility of starting an intervention program.

“I met with two local organizations that work with street kids; one in Douala, the other in Yaoundé. Both work in a similar fashion. They have a resource centre where they welcome street children and a safe house giving them a chance to go back to school. When we step into Cameroon, we will work with one of these organizations, because they know the local population. What’s more, their interventions much resemble the ones we have undertaken in India”, she explains.

The Rainbow Centre
In 2003, CCI opened its first Rainbow Centre in Andra Pradesh, India. A second one was opened last year. Together, they are home to about 60 children. These children often come from the fishermen’s villages near the town of Vizianagaram. Families are extremely poor and must send their young children off to work in order to pay the family’s debts.

“Boys often become fishermen. Many are wounded at work, others drown. We get girls out of shrimp plants, where they clean reservoirs with their bare hands, using very corrosive chemicals that burn their lungs. Those girls have a life expectancy of 19”, says Ms. Medina-Labrecque.

As well as providing a home, the Rainbow Centre allows children to go to school. They get basic instruction, but also specialized education targeting creativity: theatre, games, dance and singing. These classes allow the children to work through the psychological trauma brought on by forced labour.

“Since our organization is small and since we have decided to accept a limited number of children, to help them in depth and with no time limit, we have the chance of getting very close to them. We see them progress. For example, we are very proud of Dhana, a 14-year old teen who recently got the best grades among 182 students at regional exams. Four years ago, Dhana worked in a shrimp processing plant; now, she can become a doctor or a lawyer”, says Ms. Medina-Labrecque.

Adaptation
CCI’s projects in Cameroon are not yet defined, but the organization will go beyond the Rainbow Centre’s model. “In cities, reality is different. Street children often have behavioural problems. When they rebel, it is harder to bring them into a home. They must first be listened to, their trust won, and we have to wait until they are ready to follow. It will be very different from India, where we literally bring children out of slavery”, she points out.

The approach will be different, but the needs are real. “There is much to do in Cameroon. We must emphasize the fight against poverty. To reach that goal, we must provide the population with tools. We shouldn’t give anyone fish: we should teach them how to fish. Access to education is the key. How can anyone get a job good enough to fulfill his needs, without education?”, says the Project Manager.

CCI's team will also have to examine other issues over the next few weeks. “In India, we also work to support the families of the children who live at the Rainbow Centre. For a 13 year old child, education is not everything. He also needs his family. With street kids in Cameroon, however, I don’t know if that will be possible. We’ll have to see. In the end, the needs are so numerous that the project opportunities are endless. What we want is to give back some innocence to these youths, to allow them to play, to dream, without constantly having to worry about having enough money to eat.”