Street children are now a major
social problem in Hargeisa
Sahra Kiin Abdirhaman Ahmed -- University of Hargeisa
Children are
one of the most precious gift that ALLAH gives to the
human beings -- both girls and boys or female and male.
There are
many African children who live in distressful
conditions. Among these are street children of Hargeisa
the capital city of the Republic of Somaliland. They do
not have all the necessary things such as, education,
health, sanitation, clean water, shelter, food.
The main
problems that make these children to live in such
conditions are, some do not have parents, others have
parents but they are too poor to take care of their
children. In some cases the poor parents are also
beggars on the streets.
Street
children are one of the crises facing the Republic of
Somaliland. Everywhere and every time in the city
children stand the whole day under the hot sun and
among piles of garbage. At night they sleep by the
walls in the center city, on bridges or flooded places
where some catch a cold because of the weather.
When I was
working in the city center I saw many street children
just sitting with no food and no shelter. I would call
then for a conversation in which I asked them about
their situation. The children told me they did not have
anyone to take care of them. They also said they got not
much help from the government or from any of the NGOs
based in Hargeisa. One of the street kids, named Omar
was taking drugs and sniffing glue. When I asked him
why he took drugs and glue he said it helped him forget
his problems and hardships. He said he had no parents
and no relatives to take care of him.
Girls are
increasingly becoming part of the street children. This
poses a health risk from sexually transmitted diseases
and HIV/AIDS because they easily engage in sexual
intercourse with the boys. Also, street children have
started nowadays to rob, especially, women who work.
There is need
for more help from the government, politicians,
business, religious elders or women’s organization for
the street children, the majority of whom migrated from
the neighboring regions like southern Somalia and
Ethiopia
There is an
orphanage center called Hargeisa Orphanage through which
the government cares for many children with their
education, health, water and other necessities of life.
Some of the UN agencies and local NGOs as well as
rich persons also help the street children.
It is very
important that we all increase our help to these
street children. They are our future.
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