We’ve all looked away from street children

There is a heartrending picture of a boy, about 10 years old, with hands tied at the back.

The story in the rumour mill is that the boy was caught stealing a bicycle. Along with the picture is a story about commemorating International Day for Street Children, which falls on April 12.

In Malawi the streets are often littered with street children who go about begging. Sometimes they can be a nuisance and a real danger to life I have heard stories of how some of them threaten people at night and even robbing them.

I have also heard stories of street children puncturing car tyres if they are not given alms, especially at night in Blantyre.

There are many told and untold stories of street children, but all of them do not paint a rosy picture. The picture of the boy with hands tied at the back shook me to the core.

Firstly, I thought the punishment was too harsh for his age. Then, I remembered that this is merely a symptom of a failed system. I usually get home around 7pm.

I stay in Zomba but work in Blantyre. Every night as I pass by the shops close to Zomba Bus Terminal, I see a family sleeping on the verandah of a shop.

I see this family preparing meals as the children gather around the fire. I am often left wondering if there is anyone else who sees what I see or people see and just choose to look the other way?

It seems even government has chosen to look the other way, hoping that these street children will one day leave the streets.

To Government, which should be looking into the welfare of such people, I feel is not doing enough yet there is a whole ministry that is supposed to be addressing these issues.

The Social Welfare department is either sleeping on the job or it simply doesn’t care about the street kids’ welfare.

Every day I see a visibly mentally ill woman with a baby on her back and other children around her begging at the traffic lights at the Polytechnic.

What I also see from this is a cycle of poverty, street life and I worry about the children being raised by a visibly mentally ill woman. What values does she instill in them?

From all looks, these children will never be productive citizens of nothing is done to rescue them. Government has a duty to ensure that these children are looked after so that they become productive citizens.

I don’t take cognisance of the fact that it’s not going to be a smooth ride, but let’s rescue one child at a time. It’s possible