Social Work with Street Children in Iringa, Tanzania : Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract:

There is a large number of children living or spending most of their day on the street. The situation for those children is harsh since they for example do not get their basic needs met. Several organizations’ work includes interventions towards street children in their programmes, but the amount still increases every year. The aim with this study is to examine and explore which challenges the OVC-program face when working with street children, and how these challenges are addressed in their daily work. A qualitative approach was chosen where observations and interviews with personnel were conducted at the OVC- program in Iringa, Tanzania. The result shows that it is hard to know if the program’s goal – to reduce the number of street children in Iringa region – is reached as it is newly implemented. However, the program’s evaluation shows a positive trend. Focus in the work to fulfil the goal is primary the personnel’s attitudes towards the children. The result also shows that an empowerment- based approach is used in the daily work. By combining control and participation the possibility to help the street children to achieve autonomy increases. One challenge in the work is that this control limits the freedom on the street that the children desire. Consequently the relation between control and participation is important to create a successful intervention.