Beginner's insights into Situation of Street Children

This short yet comprehensive course gives the learners a chance to peek into the lives of children living in street situations. It is spread over 5 sessions, each of an average of 15 to 18 minutes with the overall course time less than 100 minutes. Each session covers an important aspect of street life and what it means for children to be out there.

The first session tries to establish the concept of vulnerability in children, It demonstrates a live comparison of 6 children in different disadvantaged situation to arrive at the fact that street children are the most vulnerable among disadvantaged children as they are vulnerable in almost all aspects that are required for the overall development and well-being of a child.

The second session focuses on the prevalence of the phenomenon of street children and the hurdles in arriving at an exact count of these children in any city, place or country. The session also throws light on how a lack of knowledge leads to lack of effective policies and interventions for them.

The third session delineates the pull and push factors that bring children to the streets, whether they arrive there with their families, or are left there by their families or they themselves have abandoned their families to make a life of their own on the mean streets.

The fourth session details out the effects of street life on children in terms of food, nutrition, health and hygiene, water and sanitation, shelter, safety and security, abuse and neglect, substance abuse, education and the compulsion to work or beg for their survival.

The last session depicts the various laws, policies and schemes that exist in India for children to bring home the point that they are not sufficient to address the issues of children in street situation. The course also briefly talks about the effects of the recent pandemic that will predictably force more and more families to land on the streets and force many more children to get into the work force.

The course has some interesting statistics, real life stories and a lot of in-depth narration that comes from the organization's cumulative experience of several years of working on the ground with these children.

All participants who have successfully completed the course will receive a Certificate from the Rainbow Homes Program!