l '
FACTORS THAT LEAD TO THE INFLUX OF STREET
CHILDREN IN URBAN AREAS. A CASE OF
.....;KAKAMEGA TOWN.
, • I }*,-,. • ',; " ~'I'; .~
By
Matende FloranceLwakhU
A thesis submit.ted in partial fulfilment. of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in
Horne Economics at Kenyatta University.
January, 1.997
DECLARATION
This thesis is my original work and has not been
presented for a degree t any other university.
Matend~~orence Wakhu
The thesis has been submitted for examination with our
approval as university supervisors:
Prof. Olive M. Mugenda
Associate Professor,
Department of Consumer and
Family studies,
l<ellyal..La un l.v e r a i.t.y .
Dr. Lucy W. Ngige
Lecturer,
Department of Consumer and
Family Studies,
Kenyatta university.
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
DEDICATION
To my parents, Samuel and Joan whose parental care has
enabled me to reach this far.
To my siblings, Douglas, Goodrich, Peter, Job, Dorcas,
Peninah and Japheth, and my son Brian.
To the glory and honor of God for his sufficient grace
throughout my life.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to
all whose contribution made the completion of this thesis
possible.
First, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof.
Mugenda, Chairman of Consumer and family studies
department, and Dr. Ngige for their scholarly guidance,
tireless efforts, patience and interest throughout all
the stages of my work. My gratitude also goes to Dr.
Judith Waudo and Dr. R. K'Okul for their helpful
suggestion on the revision of the thesis.
Second, I would like to thank all the street
children in Kakamega town, the non-street children, and
selected households who spared time to respond to the
interviews. To most of them, their expectation was that
the output of the exercise would inform people who are in
a position to improve their situation.
Special thanks go to Mr and Mrs Matere for providing
computer time. Finally I wish to thank my parents and
friends whose constant prayers and financial assistance
helped me embark on and complete the study. Many thanks
to my brothers and sisters for their love, interest and
moral support during the entire period of the study.
To all I say, "Thank you".
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS Page
Declaration ------------------------------ ii
Dedication ------------------------------- iii
Acknowledgement --------------------------- iv
Table of contents ------------------------- v
List of tables ----------------------------- ix
List of figures ---------------------------- x
Abstract ---------------------------------- xi
1). INTRODUCTION
Background information --------------------- 1
Statement of problem --------------------- 3
Statement of purpose --------------------- 4
Research objectives --------------------- 5
Significance of the study ------------------ 5
Limitations of the study ------------------- 8
Definition of terms ------------------------ 8
Theoretical framework ---------------------- 9
Conceptual framework ---------------~------- 13
2). REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction 15
15
19
The family system --------------------------
Children ----------------------------------
vi
The needs of children ---------------------- 20
Parent-child interaction ------------------- 24
Children in especially difficult
circumstances 29
3 ). METHODOLOGY
Research design ---------------------------- 33
Target Population -------------------------- 34
Sample ------------------------------------- 34
Data collection techniques ----------------- 36
Pre-testing -------------------------------- 37
Data collection procedures ----------------- 37
Data analysis ------------------------------ 39
4. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESBNTATION
The II home II of street children
Demographic characteristics of respondents--
Age of the children ----------------
Education of the children ----------
Family size of families of the children-
Homes of origin -----------------------
Age of the parents --------------------
Education of parents ------------------
Occupation ----------------------------
Religion of parents -------------------
43
45
46
47
49
51
52
53
55
57
vii
Appearance and Behavior of the children ---- 59
Activities of the children ----------------- 61
Socia-economic background of the respondents-- 65
-Socia economic background of the children-- 65
-Socia-economic background of the parents--- 68
Reasons for being on the streets ------------- 71
-Views of street children ------------------ 71
Freedom for the children--------------- 72
Seeking for money --------------------- 73
Polygamous families ------------------- 74
Family breakdowns --------------------- 76
-Views of non-street children -------------- 77
-Views of parents of street children ------- 80
-Views of parents of non-street children --- 81
Lack of basic needs ------------------- 81
Abandonment --------------------------- 82
Parental behaviour -------------------- 83
Problems faced by the street children ( as
percieved by the street children) ------------ 84
Lack of shelter ----------------------- 85
Harassment by police ------------------ 86
Food and sickness --------------------- 87
Physical environment ------------------ 88
Future goals and aspirations of street
children ------------------------------------- 89
" ·..NY T A
viii
Prevention of the street children phenomenon
-Views of parents of street children ------- 91
Provision of basic needs -------------- 91
Keeping of extended family ties ------- 91
-Views of parents of non-street children---- 92
Training and employment --------------- 92
Population control -------------------- 93
5. SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Summary ------------------------------------
Purpose of the study ------------------
Research objectives -------------------
Methodology ---------------------------
Major findings of the study -----------
Recommendations ----------------------------
Conclusions
Suggestions for further research -----------
REFERENCES --------------------------------------
APPENDICES
Questionnaires i--iii
Start list codes iv
Observation checklist v
95
95
95
96
96
100
102
104
105
ix
LIST OF TABLES Page
Table 4.1 Age of the children ------------------ 46
Table 4.2 Education level of the children ------ 48
Table 4.3 Number of siblings of the children---- 50
Table 4.4 Sex of parents ----------------------- 52
Table 4.5 Age of parents jguardians of children 53
Table 4.6 Education level of the parents ------- 54
Table 4.7 Occupation of the parents ------------ 55
Table 4.8 Religion of the parents -------------- 57
Table 4.9 Activities carried out by street
children ----------------------------- 61
Table 4.10 Activities carried out by non-street
children ----------------------------- 62
Table 4.11 Marital status of the parents -------- 65
Table 4.12 Family type of the children ---------- 66
Table 4.13 Family type -------------------------- 68
Table 4.14 Monthly income of parents ------------ 69
Table 4.15 Parents' property -------------------- 70
Table 4.16 Problems faced while on the streets -- 85
xLIST OF FIGURES Page
Family resource management theory ------ 11
Theory of self-actualization ----------- 13
Conceptual framework ------------------ 13
Theory of self- actualization ---------- 20
The range of parental behavior types
within two major dimensions ------------ 25
Fig 2.3 Details of children's behavior
within two parenting styles ------------ 26
Fig 1.1
Fig 1.2
Fig 1.3
Fig 2.1
Fig 2.2
xi
~BSTRAcT
This was a research with a two-fold purpose. One
purpose was to determine why some children from urban
families take to the streets while others do not. The
other purpose was to fill the gap in knowledge on middle
sized towns as concerns the street children phenomenon
since studies have been carried out in the major towns of
Kenya i.e Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu.
The objectives of the research were to: identify the
basic characteristics of the children dwelling on the
streets of Kakamega town: establish their socio-economic
background; investigate their activities; establish their
future goals and aspirations; and to determine why other
children from similar family backgrounds do not go to the
streets.
Data was collected using interview guides and an
observation checklist from a sample of 44 subjects i.e
street children (20), non-street children (10), parents
of street children (4), and parents of non-street
children (10). This data was analyzed using steps adapted
from Miles and Huberman (1994).
Results showed that the age of children ranged from
8 years to 18 years. All street children were male. No
female child was identified. The non-street children were
both male and female and all of them were in school. On
xii
the other hand, 50% of the street children had not gone
beyond standard four of primary school education, and
none of the street children could read.
The street children were ill-clad~ greasy, dirty and
aggressive. They had skin diseases, suffered muscle
wasting, and appeared too short for their age. While on
the streets, street children involved themselves in
various activities with the aim of looking for money.
Majority (70%) of the children were from polygamous homes
where their needs were not being met. As concerns
religion, 75% of the street children belonged to the
Muslim sect and lived in the slums of Kakamega town.
The reasons for children being on the streets were
many and varied. Children took to the streets because of
poor relations at .home , overcrowded homes, to look for
jobs because there is no money for education, influence
by parents, homes were materially and morally depriving,
while others consider life in town better than that in
the rural areas. There are many family breakdowns due to
instability in the families, eroded extended family ties,
rising costs of living, and social disintegration. These
are some causes of children taking to the streets.
From the findings of this study, the researcher
concluded that the street children phenomenon is a "time
bomb waiting to explode". Preventive initiatives should
xiii
be emphasized because they can intervene before the child
and the family are negatively affected.
1CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The streets of Kenyan towns have acquired a hallmark
which is the growing number of malnourished, ill-clad and
importuning children who live off remains and wastes, and
who frequently threaten the townspeople in various ways.
The problem of street children in Kenya first began
in the early 1950s when the colonial system broke up
families by imprisoning men and women or taking them away
to concentration camps. The children were then left
helpless and they wandered off to the streets of Nairobi
with the hope of finding some means of survival (ANPPCAN,
1994).
There has been an increase in cases of wandering
children both in the rural and urban areas of Kenya as
has been highlighted by researchers and the media. In
1992, it was estimated that there were 4,000 street
children in Nairobi city (Ombaso and Mutuku, 1992).
ANPPCAN (1995) have estimated the number of street
children in Nairobi city as 40,000 and that wandering
children have been identified in small towns such as
Kajiado, Narok and Kapenguria. This growing number of
2
street children poses a major social policy challenge to
all Kenyans.
A search of current literature reveals that most
studies are aiming at getting solutions to the problem of
street children (ANPPCAN, 1995). Continued interest in
street children derives from the fact that their number
is increasing rapidly (Ombaso and Mutuku, 1992; ANPPCAN,
1995). The increasing concern over the street children
provides further impetus for more research. What happens
to these children has important implications to both the
government and society. Thus, these children do not go to
school and have nobody to guide their upbringing. In
their adulthood, they may end up being criminals in order
to earn a living. There is therefore a moral duty for
each individual in Kenya not only to consider possible
personal contributions towards the solution, but also
offer constructive ideas for the formation of suitable
programs and measures for eradicating the phenomenon of
street children. The public agencies concerned with
street children have only a limited capacity and cannot
therefore accommodate all the children there are on the
streets.
There are great disparities between the rich and the
poor; consequently the poorest of the poor have highly
limited access to essential services and to vital social
3
amenities. As a result, many parents and their children
live in slums which lack social amenities, educational
opportunities, health care and leisure. Children living
in such conditions have dr ifted into the streets of
towns, where they remain as street children. Views of
street children, non-street children and parents from
slum areas are a legitimate area of concern if the
problem of homelessness is to be curbed.
Statement of Problem
Researchers maintain that street children are a
serious social problem. Studies have so far tended to
focus on the number of street children there are and the
problems the street children are causing (Agnelli, 1993;
Munyakho, 1992; Ombaso and Mutuku, 1992; Suda, 1994).
Some of the problems they are causing include: crime
commi tted by the children, immoral behavior which is
embarrassing to the public, and harassment of the public.
Street children, like any other children in
especially difficult circumstances undergo various forms
of child abuse and exploitation which interfere with
their normal growth and development. Problems of the most
acute kind - extremes of deprivation and exploitation,
and the inhuman abuse of children in war, work place, on
the street and the home - continue to afflict millions of
4
young people both in the developing and industrialized
countries (Aptekar, 1988). For instance, street girls are
widely seen as being available for sex i.e "females
without protectors" (Onyango, 1991).
Destitution and economic desperation are the
principle economic factors that produce children in
especially difficult circumstances (Manundu, 1991). In
the "Report on a baseline survey on street children in
Nairobi", it was found that street children in Nairobi
city originated from the Mathare, Kibera and Korogocho
slums. Although these children cornefrom slums, there are
other children in the slums who have not decided to live
in the streets. In Kakamega town the street children
originate from the slums and peri-urban region. This
study therefore investigated factors that lead to the
influx of street children in Kakamega town.
Purpose of the Study
There are various factors that lead to the existence
of children in the streets of Kenyan towns. Poverty is
singled out as the main cause of street children
phenomenon (Suda, 1994). It was therefore important to
determine why some children from poor urban families go
to the streets while others in similar circumstances do
not. The study also aimed at filling the gap in knowledge
5
on middle sized towns since studies have been carried out
in only the major towns of Kenya i.e Mombasa, Nairobi and
Kisumu.
Research Objectives
The objectives of the study were:
1) To identify the basic characteristics of the
children dwelling on the streets of Kakamega town
2) To establish the socio-economic background of the
families of the street children
3) To investigate the activities of the street
children
4) To determine why other children in similar family
backgrounds are not street children
5) To establish the future goals and aspirations of
the street children
6) To establish preventive initiatives against the
street children phenomenon
Significance of the study
The findings of this study are to serve as
contributions to the area of family studies in home
economics education and general home economics, and to
general knowledge in the following aspects:
61. This study contributes to understanding the use of
the family resource management theory. The
researcher adopted the conceptual model from
the family resource management system proposed
by Deacon and Firebaugh (1988). The
'theoretical framework shows the relationships
among inputs, throughputs and outputs. The
researcher also used the theory of self-
actualization (Maslow, 1970). The proposed
conceptual model can be adopted or improved
upon for future use in further studies in the
area of resource management.
2. The study also contributes to knowledge of the
street children phenomenon in smaller towns in
Kenya. Studies have been carried out in only
the major towns of Kenya i.e Nairobi, Mombasa
and Kisumu. The researcher identif ied some
socio-economic characteristics of families
under study that influence the influx of
street children in urban areas.
3. Another significant contribution of the study is
that it highlights the fact that parents need
to be educated on the need to have small
manageable families. This is evident from the
study's findings that street children came
7
from large families and that low income
earners also had large families. This can be
done by home economists, family counsellors,
and the Ministry of Health; who can educate
families on family planning and use of birth
control measures. They can also educate
parents on how they can manage their limited
resources, and also meet their needs.
4. The findings of the study will be made available to
the Ministry of Home Affairs and National
Heritage, Ministry of Health, Child Welfare
Society of Kenya, family therapists, NGOs
dealing with women and children. These
findings may be used in rehabilitation and
reintegration of street children back into
their families. The findings will also be made
available to other learning institutions such
as colleges and universities. These
insti tutions may include them in their
learning materials to enrich and further
family studies. It is expected that the study
will help people have a better control over
the factors that lead to the influx of street
children in urban areas. The findings of the
future goals and aspirations of the street
<:~~"fATTAUNIVERSITY LlBRAft
8children if disseminated to organizations that
aim at rehabilitating street children will
help them have programs that will help the
children achieve their goals and aspirations.
These organizations will be in a position to
give to the children different treatment
because all the children have faced different
problems in life.
Limitations of the Study
This study has the following limitations:
1) Because the study was limited to a sample of a
population within Kakamega town, implications and
generalizations of the study findings to other area
in Kenya is not possible since the situations in
Kenyan towns are different and the situation in
urban areas is also different from that in rural
areas.
2) The kind of data in this study is cross-sectional
in that it was collected at one point in time.
Definition of terms
Full - time street children: These are children who live
in the streets i.e they eat and sleep in the streets.
They have no contact with their families.
9Part - time street children: These are children who
leave home in the morning for the streets to beg for
money and food from the public and then go back home in
the evening.
Non - street children: These are children who have not
yet taken to the streets.
Theoretical Background
The theoretical background on which this study was
based is the family resource management theory proposed
by Deacon and Firebaugh (1988), and the theory of self-
actualization proposed by Maslow (1970). In the family
resource management theory, the family is viewed as a
system with two sub-systems namely, the personal. and
managerial sub-systems (Fig 1.1). The personal sub-system
consists of the cognitive, emotional, social and physical
capacities as well as human values. The managerial sub-
system consists of planning, implementing and evaluating
with an aim of meeting set goals (Deacon and Firebaugh,
1988) .
The resource management theory is composed of four
basic concepts which are inputs, throughputs, outputs and
feedback (Fig 1.1). Inputs are the goals, demands,
events, resource~ or values put into a system and are
10
transformed by throughput processes into outputs or
outcomes. Goals are value based objectives or anticipated
outcomes that give direction and orientation to action.
Values are essential meanings related to what is
desirable or has worth. Events are unexpected occurrences
that require some action. Demands are either goals or
events that require some action. Resources are means
capable of meeting demands and may either be material or
human (Deacon and Firebaugh, 1988).
Through.Rut. is the transformation of inputs by a
system to output (Deacon and Firebaugh r , 1988). This
comprises of planning, deciding, implementing and
controlling. Decision making is a process of choosing
between alternatives. Planning involves setting standards
and sequencing action so as to meet the demands.
Implementing is putting plans into effect. Communication
is the process of using messages to produce meanings in
the minds of others. Controlling is checking whether
actions conform to plans and making adjustments when
necessary (Deacon and Firebaugh, 1988).
Outputs are the matter, energy, information or
processed resources produced by a system in response to
input, or transformation. Thus they include demand
responses and resource changes. Demand responses are
outputs related to values and satisfaction. Resource
c.noc::
:;d
C.
t rl
I -
"I /
1-" • / -------->-i I
(D I
~ /~ IOq~:J'
,-,
I-J
'D I00 ~~---I
en J'-~I
\
12
changes are outputs related to human or material
resources and are either increased or decreased (Deacon
and Firebaugh, 1988).
Feedback is the positive or negative response to
action that re-enters a system as input to affect
succeeding output (Deacon and Firebaugh, 1988).
In this study the input component of the family
system consists of socio-economic factors which are the
parents' education, household size, family type, income,
age of parents, age of children, occupation, marital
status of the parents, household head, family life cycle,
and residence. The throughput processes are decision
making and communication. The output is the child's way
of life.
The family resource management theory was developed
in the United States of America. The researcher therefore
applied the theory in the Kenyan situation.
In the theory of self-actualization needs come into
play in a hierarchical sequence, and that only when basic
needs have been met do the higher needs emerge (Maslow,
1970). There are five levels of needs which are, from the
lowest, physiological, safety, belongingness and love,
esteem, and the self-actualization (Fig 1.2). Children
may be taking to the streets because their needs are not
being met.
13
---------~ Self-
actualizatiolleed
------------"') Ksteem needs
. ~) Belonqinqness and
love needs
/- \ ---.----~) Safety needs
. ~»Physiological
needs
Fig: 1.2 Theory of self-actualization
Source: Maslow A, 1970
:INPUTS
Parents' education
Household size
Family type
Income
Age
Occupation
Marital status
Household head
Residence
Family life cycle
THROUGHPUTS--_._--_.,
-ecision making eeds met
ommunication or not
Fig: 1.3 Conceptual Framework
conceptual framework.
OUTPUTS
'ld's way
of life.
The researcher adopted the conceptual model from the
family resource management system proposed by Deacon and
14
Firebaugh (1988). The theoretical framework shows the
relationships among inputs, throughputs and outputs. The
researcher also used the theory of self-actualization
(Maslow, 1970) which advocates that when needs are not
satisfactorily met, there is dissatisfaction.
The study shows preliminary support, of the model in
that the socio-economic factors within a family do affect
the decision making patterns, parental behavior, and
communication within a family. This in turn determines
the provision of needs to the family members. If needs
are not met children may look for other means to have
their needs met. If needs are adequately met, children
may stay with their parents. In this study it was evident
that when needs were not met, then there was
communication breakdown and this resulted in
dissatisfaction and children going to the streets.
15
CHAPTBR TWO
RBVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The literature on children in especially difficult
circumstances is vast and growing daily. The main
objective of this chapter is to review current
theoretical and practical ideas about children in
especially difficult circumstances in Nairobi, Mombasa
and Kisumu and to apply these ideas to the diverse
conditions found in smaller towns of Kenya.
Street children are a part of children in especially
difficult circumstances. The street children are also a
part of the family system which is expected to perform
certain functions for the good of its parts (members).
The Family System
Nurturing children is a primary function of families
throughout the world. Whether nurturing is done by the
natural parent, in an extended family, or in some form of
group care depends on historical, cultural and political-
economic factors within each society.
Since Kenyan towns are now like apartments such that
what affects families and what families do affect us,
16
everyone should help nurture children and improve life
for individuals and families. Knowledge of child
development, education, nutrition, housing, clothing,
family decision making and interpersonal relationships
can be utilized to enhance life for our neighbors as well
as ourselves. To focus on the issue of caring for
children requires looking at the context in which
families in today's world are living and rearing their
children.
The family is an open system that functions in the
following environments: human constructed environment,
natural environment, and the human behavioral environment
(Bulboz et aI, 1979). Thus interaction proceeds from the
family to the environment and from the environment to the
family.
The future of children depends on the ways the
families care for their children and the support the
human constructed environment provides for both the
families and children. Limitations may be placed on the
human constructed environment, with the results that the
families do not receive supportive inputs from it. For
instance, in developing countries like Kenya, there is
lack of resources to construct and operate schools,
hospitals, housing and other social amenities. Families
cannot therefore receive free public education, health
17
care services, and leisure among other things. Only those
that can afford these services can receive them. For
instance, when Structural Adjustment Programs were
implemented in 1992, the public has since had to pay for
medical services. In 1995, the Mungai commission for
higher education proposed payment of fees be introduced
at the university level of education. This was introduced
in (1995) although most of the students cannot afford it.
The Higher Education Loans Board has been set up to
disburse loans to needy students. Despite this, a few
students did not get the loan for the 1995/96 academic
year yet they cannot afford the fees. Such students may
be forced to terminate their education.
Housing is a part of the human constructed
environment. The illegal process by which new city houses
and neighborhoods are constructed has been evident yet
very few governments are prepared to acknowledge it
1
(Hardoy, 1989). Most governments mix indifference with
repression; some illegal settlements are tolerated e.g
'chuom'- the home of street children in the alleys of
Nairobi city - while others are bulldozed e.g Muoroto, a
slum in Nairobi city. Bulldozing leaves people homeless
and children in such situations may end up in the
streets.
Poverty has been singled out as the main cause of
18
street children and other children in especially
difficult circumstances (Onyango, 1991). Many Third World
nations can never achieve a level of development which
allows for the elimination of poverty (Hardoy and
Satterthwaite, 1989)
Poor people in developing countries demonstrate
great ingenuity in developing residential areas, and in
construction of housing even if governments regard them
as illegal. Their ways, their plans and their building
materials are often suited to local needs, local incomes,
local climatic conditions and local resources than the
official standards demanded by the government. This could
be because, the official standards are derived from
western models which have little relevance to local
c~rcumstances and take no account of local climate, local
preference and availability of local building materials.
A slum is only a slum in the eye of some. To the poor who
live there, it is a home. For example, most of the street
children in Nairobi city are from the slums of Korogocho,
Kibera and Mathare (Munyakho, 1992; Suda, 1994; ANPPCAN,
1995) .
The family is therefore a habitat for the child.
This family could be single - parent headed or could be
headed by a married couple. If a family is to remain
together, it is necessary that the family satisfies the
19
basic needs of its members which include shelter, food
and clothing. If this is not done, then parts of the
family, the children, are going to acquire behavior that
they think will help them get what is lacking. Other
functions of the family are: socialization i.e
encouraging, guiding, supporting and rewarding; and for
provision of a support system for parents and their
offspring (Sluckin and Herbert, 1987).
Children
As indicated above, children are a part of the
famil y system. Children are wanted by every marr ied
couple since it is believed to be the bond in a marriage.
Children are also considered a social asset.
In the African tradition, having many children was
geared to offset the high infant mortality rate in the
family. Children belonging to other relatives were
frequently adopted to demonstrate concern and regard for
the relatives of the family. In polygamous households,
children from a man's previous marriage are raised by his
successive wives. These children may suffer neglect which
often arises from apathy, poverty and resentment by step-
mothers and co-wives. This is a quite difficult situation
for them (Ombaso and Mutuku, 1992) i.e the children are
often wretchedly unhappy because of the strain put upon
20
them at home and may end up looking for alternati ve
places where they think they can be happy. These are
children who need more individual attention and concern.
Parents' attitudes towards the children therefore have an
important influence on how the parents and children
relate I and in turn influences the way the children
develop.
Needs of Children
According to Maslow (1970), developmental needs come
into play in a hierarchical sequence, and that only when
basic needs have been satisfactorily met do the higher
needs emerge.
______________~~~self-actualization ~,
need
------------~~~esteemneeds
--i1» safetyneeds
physiological
--+) needs
Fig 2.1: Theory of self-actualization
Source: Maslow A, 1970.
21
The lowest level of needs in this theory are the
physiological needs which are food, air, water, shelter
and clothing. They are the most preponent of all needs.
Any of the physiological needs and the consummatory
behavior involved with them serve as channels for all
sorts of other needs as well i.e the person who thinks is
hungry may actually be seeking more for comfort, or
dependence, than for vitamins or proteins. Conversely, it
is possible to satisfy the hunger in part by other
activities such as drinking water or smoking cigarettes.
If the physiological needs are relatively well met,
there then emer.ges a new set of needs which may be
categorized as safety needs (security, stability,
dependency, pr6tection, freedom from anxiety and chaos,
law and order e.t.c). The human being in such a state may
be described as a safety -seeking mechanism. A child
needs an organized and structured world rather than an
unorganized or unstructured one. The central role of
parents and the family set up are undisputable:
quarreling, physical assault, separation, divorce, or
death within the family may be particularly terrifying
(Schaffer and Collis, 1984). An average child in our
society generally prefers a safe world which he can
count on and in which he has powerful parents or
protectors who shield him from harm (Maslow, 1970). For
22
children who are reared in unthreatening, loving
families, danger reactions are apt to come mostly to
objects or situations that adults too would consider
dangerous (Bigner, 1979).
If both physiological and safety needs are fairly
well met, there will emerge the love and affection needs.
A person will feel keenly, as never before, the absence
of friends. He will hunger for affectionate relations
with people and he will strive with great intensity to
achieve this goals. The thwarting of these needs is the
most commonly found core in cases of mal-adjustment and
more severe pathology like in the case of street children
(Maslow, 1970).
All people in any society (with a few pathological
exceptions) have a need or desire for a stable, firmly
based, usually high evaluation of themselves, for self-
respect, or self-esteem, and for the esteem of others.
Thwarting of these needs produce feeling of inferiority,
of weakness, and of helplessness. These feelings in turn
give rise to either basic discouragement or else
compensatory or neurotic trends (Maslow, 1970).
Even if all the above mentioned needs are satisfied,
we may still often expect that a new discontent and
restlessness will soon develop, unless the individual is
doing what he is fitted for. This need refers to a manls
23
desire for self-fulfillment: the tendency for him to
become actualized in what he is potentially. The clear
emergence of this need usually rests upon some prior
satisfaction of the physiological, safety, love and
esteem needs.
When the human organism is dominated by a certain
need, the whole philosophy of the future tends to change
e.g for a chronically and extremely hungry street child,
utopia can be defined simply as a place where there is
plenty of food i.e if only he is guaranteed food for the
rest of his life , he will be perfectly happy and will
never want anything more. But when the belly is
chronically filled, at once other higher needs emerge.
Thus an organism is dominated by a need and its behavior
organized only by unsatisfied needs (Maslow, 1970).
On the other hand Pringle (1989) suggests that all
human needs are inter-related and interdependent in a
subtle, complex and continuous way e.g an unhappy child
may reject food and, even if he takes it, he may fail to
thrive. That the cognitive and affective aspects of
development are closely interwoven from so early an age
that they are almost indivisible. The essential driving
force of the will to learn has its roots in the quality
of relationships available right from the beginning of
life. Poor family relationships may cause break-ups in
24
the family and children in such families may end up in
the streets (ANPPCAN, 1995).
The needs of children are many and varied. Not the
least are food, clothing, shelter and good health care.
There are other basic needs and some of these are usually
swept under the rug by busy parents. The findings in the
situation analysis of women and children indicate that
parents of street children had jobs to attend to. Most of
them were self-employed or unemployed and about 12% of
the 634 mothers were barmaids (GOR/UNICEF, 1992). This
could make them too busy to provide certain needs for
their children.
Children in the streets, just like those in homes
have their needs which have to be met.
Parent - Child Interaction
The way parents raise children may be divided into
three varieties: authoritarian (restrictive) , firm
(strict), and permissive (easy) (DeMause, 1977). And,
whether parents know it or not, they give strong signals
as to how they want them to behave, believe, and what
kinds of people they want them to be (West, 1967). These
parents have an influence on their children's behavior.
25
Fig 2.2: The range of parental behavior types within the two major
dimensions: autonomy - control/warmth - hostility
HOSTILITY
AUTONOMY
(Permiss'veness)
Detached Freedom
Indifferent Democratic
Neglecting Cooperative
Rejecting Accepting
Authoritarian
dictatorial Overprotective
(Restrictiveness)
CONTROL
LOVE
(Warmth)
Demanding
antagonistic
Over-indulgent
Protective-indulgent
Source: Sluckin and Herbert, 1986
/,-._ •. \;"., [ ·to
26
Fig 2.3: Details of children's behavior within the two parenting
styles.
Restrictiveness Permissiveness
-maximal compliance.
-Active, socially outqoinq,
creati ve,
-Submissive, dependent,
polite, neat, obedient.
-minimal aggression. -successfully aggressive.
-maximum rule enforcement
(boys)
-minimal rule enforcement.
-facilitates adult role
taking.
-miniaal self-aggression.
-dependent, not friendly,
not creative.
-independent, friendly,
creative.
low projective hostility.
-'Neurotic problems.
-more quarrellinq and
shyness with peers. -Delinquency.
-socially withdrawn. -non-ccep liance
-low in adult role takinq. -maximal aggression
-maximal self-aqgression.
Source: Sluckin and Herbert, 1986.
27
There is a happy medium in child rearing
techniques, and extremes of permissiveness and
restrictiveness entail risks as is indicated in Fig 2.2
(Baumrind, 1971).
Parents, as agents of society, exerting social
influence and control on an impressionable, malleable
child, bear an awesome responsibility. The very processes
which help the child adapt to social life can, under
certain circumstances contribute to the development of
deviant, dysfunctional modes of behavior as is indicated
in Fig 2.2 and Fig 2.3. Parents are the crucial and
therefore (potentially) the weak link in the chain of
socialization (Herbert, 1978). Taking care of young
children is likely to be more stressful for some parents
than others, especially in unfavorable circumstances -
poverty or poor housing for instance (Sluckin and
Herbert, 1987). Children initiate approximately fifty
percent of interactions with parents. A childls behavior
can have as much effect on his parents I actions as his
parentsl behavior has on his ( Fig 2.2, Fig 2.3, Bell and
Herper, 1977). Thus parental rejection has certain
effects on the children. For instance, aggressive boys
who suffered a lot of parental rejection show much less
dependent behavior than non-aggressive boys who have been
accepted by their parents (Herbert, 1974). There is an
28
exception if withhold or are sparing with their
attention and care, but do not actually punish behavior,
they are likely to intensify the child's need for
attention and care. The more a child is pushed away, the
more he clings (Herbert, 1985).
Violence towards children in the home also does
influence behavior in the children. The most consistent
features of the history of abusive families is the
repetition from one generation to the next of a pattern
of abuse, neglect and parent loss or deprivation
(Herbert, 1978; Kempe and Kempe, 1978; Sluckin and
Herbert, 1978). Delinquents have more commonly been the
victims of adult assault - often of a vicious, persisterit
nature than the non-delinquents (Herbert, 1978;
Danziger, 1971).
Children in the streets may have taken to the
streets from their homes due to their family background.
While in the streets, these children are quite
aggressive. This could be due to their previous parent-
child interaction and also due to the way the members of
the public treat them. They are harassed by the public
and the police too.
29
Children in especially difficult circumstances
Children have constituted an endangered species in
society today - a yielding target for the frustration,
conflicts, projections, unresolved hatred and smoldering
anger of the adults who often tyrannically bestride their
lives (UNICEF, 1994).
Although child abuse and neglect have only recently
commanded respect - in Kenya by ANPPCAN Kenyan chapter in
1995 the bleak outlook for so many contemporary
children is no new phenomenon. As chronicled by child
historian DeMause (1977), the history is a panorama of
incredible cruelty and exploitation.
In their study, Ombaso and Mutuku (1992) describe
children in especially difficult circumstances as those
whose basic needs such as food, shelter, education,
medical and security are not met due to prevailing
conditions in the society. They undergo various forms of
child abuse and exploitation which interfere with their
normal growth and development. Street children are a part
of the children in especially difficult circumstances.
These children can be found in both rural and urban
centers of Kenya.
Bwibo and Onyango (1985) in their study def ine
street wandering children as the young boys and girls
often seen roaming in town streets, car ports, gambling
30
places, by cinema theaters, e.t.c. Some of these children
are immoral, others vagrant with intention to commit
crime.
The problem of street children in Kenya first began
in the ear 1y 1950s when the colonial system broke up
families by imprisoning men and women or taking them away
to concentration camps (ANPPCAN, 1995). The children were
then left helpless and they wandered off to the streets
of Nairobi with the hope of finding some means of
survival.
Research done by Suda (1994) indicates that there is
a growing number of street children in the country and
that these children have become a serious social problem.
In 1990, there were 4,000 street children in Nairobi
province and 943 in Western province (GOK / UNICEF,
1992). In 1995, there were 40,000 street children in
Nairobi and 500 in Kakamega district. Reasons given by
researchers for children being on the streets are: rapid
urbanization, high unemployment, rising costs of living,
political transformation, social disintegration,
progressive erosion of extended family ties, increased
family breakdowns, global economic recession and
deterioration of the overall economic situation (Suda,
1994).
The children on the streets are in two categories:
31
i). full-time street children and
ii). part time street children (Onyango, 1994).
While on the streets, the children are involved in
various activities such as collecting and selling waste
papers, bottles,or plastics, begging and selling edibles
among others (GOK/UNICEF, 1992). These children face
problems such as harassment, abuse, hunger and thirst,
lack of sleeping places, poor weather conditions, boredom
and poor health (GOK/UNICEF, 1992).
Street children cause certain dangers which include
shame and embarrassment that affects the society, the
aggressive children feel frustrated and no doubt are
facing physical and mental retardation in general besides
the daily risks (Bwibo and Onyango, 1985).
It has been predicted that half of the world's
population will live in the cities by the end of the
century with the majority being young people under 20
years of age (Boyden and Holden, 1991). The urban young
face special problems caused by rapid and uncontrolled
urbanization. Governments tend to focus on the wealthier
residential areas of the city at the expense of countless
people who live in rented or squatter housing (Boyden,
1991).
In Kenya, the government regards human development
as both the goal of social and economic activities. The
32
major binding constraints on human development were
identified in the Sessional paper No 10 of 1965 as
poverty, disease, ignorance, environmental protection and
equity (GOK, 1992). Human development must therefore be
the development of the rural and slum areas of Kenya
where most people live. This will help alleviate poverty
which has already been singled out as the main cause of
street children. It will prevent the influx of children
into the streets of towns.
All in all, there is much that has been done on
street children but there is more that needs to be done.
33
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The qualitative mode of inquiry was the main mode
employed in the research. The assumption which underlies
the approach is the belief that human behavior is
integrally related to the context in which it occurs and
that behavior cannot be understood without knowing its
meaning from the participants (Tarasuk and Maclean,
1990) .
Families present a challenge as to the unit of
analysis. Most survey research takes the individual as
the unit and focuses on that individual's
characteristics, attitudes and behavior. By contrast,
qualitative research can accommodate multiple
perspectives and can better deal with families,
marriages, or sibling relationships as units and enable
richer accounts and closer approximations of lived family
experiences (Handel, 1989).
Although the main mode of inquiry was qualitative,
the quantitative mode was also employed.
34
Target Population
street children in Kakamega town have their homes of
origin in Kambi-somali and Majengo slums, and the peri-
urban region. The population that was used in the study
were street children, their parents, and non-street
children who live in the slums, and their parents. Slums
in the urban center were selected for a follow up of
street children whose homes of origin are the slums: They
were also selected so as to compare information given by
the street children and the non-street children.
Sample
The sample from the population consisted of
children in the streets, some parents of street children,
children who lived in the slums and were not in the
streets, together with their parents. The purposive
sampling technique was used to come up with the sample.
The technique required the researcher to decide to have
a particular informer and then look for that informer.
The purpose of sampling was to discover and describe
categories of phenomenon hence informants were selected'
in order to obtain the fullest possible characteristics
(Achterberg, 1988).
Quali tati ve sampling involves decisions not only
about which people to observe or interview but also about
35
settings, events and social processes (Sandelowski et aI,
1994) .
In the study, the sample size consisted of twenty
(20) street children, four parents or guardians of street
children, and, ten (10) non-street children and parents
or guardians of each child.
The children who were interviewed were those of ages
between five (5) years and eighteen (18) years. For the
street children, only those who had been in the streets
for a period of six months or more were interviewed.
Street children whose homes of origin were the slums
directed the researcher to their parents or guardians.
These were only four children. Therefore, four parents or
guardians were interviewed and ten parents/guardians of
non-street children were interviewed.
Residential buildings in the slum areas were not
planned for by the Kakamega County Council. They are not
well defined. The Kakamega County Council has no map for
these houses. It was therefore not possible to randomly
select the households by use of house numbers. With the
help of the District Officer Kakamega municipality, the
researcher made a list of families meeting the required
criteria and then randomly selected ten households from
the list. In each of the selected household, one child
(preferably the eldest but not one who was over eighteen
36
years of age) was selected for the interview. The
available parent at the time was also interviewed.
Data Collection Techniques
The research instruments that were used in the study
were three sets of semi-structured, in-depth interview
guides and an observation checklist. Thus there was one
interview guide for the street children, one for non-
street children, and one for parents of both categories
of children.
Interviews
The interview guide was developed in both English
and Kiswahili.
Probes from predetermined topics were used to direct
the interview. Silence was used as much as possible to
allow the subjects full expression before probes were
employed. This served to minimize the interviewer's
interference with the natural flow of subjects'
conversation.
Besides the semi-structured interviews and field
observation, taking of field notes were employed. Consent
was sought to audiotape the interviews but none of the
subjects consented. Detailed notes were therefore made
during and after the interview.
37
Pre-testin...Y
A relative small sample was chosen from the
population: 5 subjects from each category of the
population. The subjects selected for pre-testing were
not included in the sample. Each of the selected subjects
was interviewed by the researcher. Important suggestions,
omissions and corrections from the pre-testing exercise
were incorporated in the final questionnaire to improve
it.
Validity is concerned with the extent to which a
technique measures what it is intended to measure. In
this study validity was ensured by contacting experts on
the area of study and by pre-testing. The researcher also
examined the areas to be covered and ensured that the
items in the questionnaire were adequate and represented
the various aspects of the topic which was to be
assessed.
Data Collection procedures
The researcher personally interviewed all the
subjects using the interview guides. By so doing, The
researcher assured the respondents of the conf identiali ty
of their responses.
At the start of the
problems with the street
study, the
children
researcher had
theuntil when
38
researcher went to the streets in the company of a member
of the Good Samaritan World Missionary Association
(GSWMA). That was when the street children became very
co-operative. The nature and purpose of the study was
explained to all the subjects and then consent to
participate in the study was sought. Data was collected
by the researcher using the language best understood by
the respondent. The languages used therefore were
Kiswahili, Luhya and English. During this research
period, the researcher found only female parents at horne
during the day. The researcher therefore had to go back
to homes in the evening so as to interview the male
parents too.
None pf the respondents accepted to have the
interview recorded on tape. The researcher therefore
chose to interview a maximum of three subjects in anyone
day. After interviewing one subject. the researcher would
find a place to sit and go through the field notes so as
to fill in what was left out during the interview. This
was also done to find out if there were any items on the
interview guides that had not been answered adequately.
These were noted down so that the researcher would use
them as a guide to interview the same subject a second
time. Going through the field notes was a way to update
the field notes and this is best done when the interview
39
is still fresh in the researcher's mind. It was also a
way of establishing the truth, especially with the street
children, of the accounts they had given. In some cases,
it took the researcher more than five sessions to get
street children give honest, true answers.
Data Analysis
To analyze the data, raw data (the scribbled field
notes) were converted into write-ups at the end of each
day before they were made available for analysis.
Steps adapted from Miles and Huberman (1994) and
Morse (1994) were used throughout the study period to
analyze the data. These were:
a).contact summary sheet
b).codes and coding
c).pattern coding
d).memoing/synthesizing
e).display format
f).drawing and verifying conclusions.
Besides qualitative data analysis, quantitative data
analysis was also employed. This included means,
frequencies and range.
40
a). Contact summary sheet
A contact summary sheet is a single sheet with some
focusing or summarizing questions about a particular
field contact. The researcher therefore formulated
questions for a contact summary sheet. The researcher
then reviewed the written up field notes and answered
each question briefly to develop an overall summary of
points in the contact.
The contact summary sheet was filled out as soon as
the written-up field notes had been reviewed and
corrected.
b). Codes and Coding
To review a set of field notes transcribed or
synthesized, and dissect them meaningfully while keeping
the relations between the parts intact, is the stuff of
analysis. This part of analysis involved differentiating
and combining the data that had been retrieved and the
reflections that had been made about the information.
Codes are tags or labels for assigning units of
meaning to the descriptive or inferential information
compiled during a study. Codes were used to retrieve and
organize chunks of information.
A provisional 'start list' of codes was prepared
prior to field work. This list came from the theoretical'
41
framework, list of objectives, and key variables that
were taken to the field.
c). Pattern coding
Pattern codes are explanatory or inferential codes,
those that identify an emergent theme, configuration or
explanation. They pull together a lot of material into
more meaningful and parsimonious units of analysis. They
are a sort of meta-code.
d). Memoing/synthesizing
Memos tie together different pieces of data into a
recognizable cluster, often to show that those data are
instances of a general concept.
Memoing helped the researcher move easily from
empirical data to a conceptual, refining and expanding
codes further developing key categories and showing their
relationship.
e). Display format
A display is a visual format that presents
information systematically so that the user can draw
valid conclusions and take needed action. The display
format used in this study consisted of three columns. The
first column was for codes and reflections made by the
42
researcher. The second column contained the write-ups
while the third column contained the observations made.
f). Drawing and verifying conclusions
This involved drawing meaning from a particular
configuration of data in the display by noting patterns,
themes I seeing plausibility and clustering I counting and
making contrasts/comparisons. Thus data in the display
format from the three columns was lapsed together.
43
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to determine the
factors that lead to the influx of street children in
Kakamega town. The study also aimed at filling the gap in
knowledge on middle sized towns as concerns street
children since studies have been carried out in only the
major towns of Kenya i.e Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
A descriptive analysis was done to determine the
frequencies of variables followed by a qualitative
analysis of the open-ended questions. The results are
presented under the following topics:
1). Demographic characteristics of the respondents
2). Basic characteristics of the children
3). Activities of the street children
4). Socio-economic background of the respondents
5). Reasons for being on the streets
6). Prevention of the street children phenomenon
7). Future goals and aspirations of both the street and
non - street children.
The 'home' of street children
Street children include those who live and work
full-time on the streets having little or no contact with
44
their parents as well as those who live and work on the
streets by day but return to their homes and families at
night (Onyango, 1992). In the late 1960s, these children
were referred to as 'parking boys'. This name came as a
result of the activities they used to be involved in.
These children used to direct cars where to park
(Onyango, 1985).
At the moment, wandering children are referred to as
"chokora" by the public. This name originated from some
of their activities which include collecting waste paper,
bot tIes, and plastics from garbage heaps and picking
leftover food from dust bins.
Street children in Kakamega live in 'chuoms'. A
"chuomn is a place where street children live i.e eat,
sleep. This is a name that was coined by the street
children but is also used by the public. It is actually
a damping site for hotels with business located nearby or
it lies hidden between buildings.
At the start of the field study, the street children
thought that the researcher was a "kar ao ' i.e
policewoman. Every time the researcher approached the
street children they ran away. To win their trust, the
researcher had to go to the streets in the company of a
member of the Good Samaritan World Missionary
Association. This Association has organized a feeding and
45
bible teaching program for the street children. The
researcher later learnt that the street children are
friendly and kind if and when they know you and win your
friendship unlike the public image people have of them
being rough and nasty. It took quite a long time before
the children were able to talk about themselves, their
family backgrounds, and the problems that made them run
away from home.
Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents
Street Children And Non-street Children
In the first part of the interview schedule for the
children, the researcher intended to find out their
demographic characteristics.
Of the twenty street children interviewed, all w~re
male. No female was identified. This could be attributed
to the fact that girls who are treated unfairly in their
families are usually given out as housemaids while others
choose marriage as an alternative. For the ten (10) non-
street children, five were male and five were female. The
sample size for the non-street children was set at ten.
The researcher therefore chose to interview five male and
five female so that each sex would have an equal chance.
46
Age of the children
The children interviewed were aged between 8 and 18
years as table 4.1 below shows. The average age of the
street children was 13.9 years. There was no street child
who was below 10 years of age. On the other hand, the
average age of the non-street children was 11.50 years.
Table 4.1: Age of the children
Age (Years) Street Children Non-street children
No. % No. %
8 1 10
9 1 10
10 4 20 3 30
11 2 10
12 1 5 2 20
13 2 10
14 2 10 2 20
15 2 10
16 2 10 1 10
17 2 10
18 3 15
Total 20 100 10 100
x = 13.90 x = 11.50
47
As is depicted from table 4.1, the greatest percentage of
both the street and non-street children were of age ten
years. This majority representation of the street
children in this category is because of the kind of the
activities they are involved in as will be seen later in
this chapter.
Education of the children
On formal education, none of the street children had
gone beyond standard four of primary school education
(Table 4.2). Fifty percent of the children had dropped
out of school but could not read, while the other fifty
had not been to school at all. For the non-street
children, all were attending school at different levels
(Table 4.2). These children may not take to the streets
because they are attending school and have their parents
to provide all their needs and control their character.
48
Table 4.2: Education level of the children.
Education level street children
No. %
non-street children
No. %
No schooling
Primary 1 - 4
Primary 5 - 8
10
10
50
50 7
3
70
30
Total 20 100 10 100
Most of the reasons given by the street children for not
being in school were beyond the childrens' 8 control.
These were:
a) being made to work at home by their· step-parent
while their step-siblings went to school,
b) punishment by teachers for lack of books, pens or
uniform and for not paying school fees,
c) punishment for putting on old or torn school
uniform,
d) teachers being too harsh. They would give very
heavy punishment for even small mistakes or for
mistakes that were not of their own making,
e) severe punishment for absenteeism.
49
There was one boy who gave quite a different reason from
all the other boys. He said:
"I used to live wi th my grandmother on my
mother's side. I knew her as my mother because
she was so good to me. One day I had her
talking to someone. That is when I knew who my
mother was. She was telling the other woman
that my mother was a prostitute. This made me
very angry. When I went to school, I injured
another boy so badly after a fight at games. I
knew I would be expelled or punished very
heavily. So I decided not to go back to that
school again and I was never taken to another
one"
Family size of the families of the children
The average number of siblings in each of the
families of the children was 6.5 ~ 7 (Table 4.3).
Therefore, including the parents the average family size
was eight members. Seventy five percent of the children
had five or more siblings. When families are so large, it
becomes difficult for parents to provide adequately for
their children. Children in such situations may seek
alternative ways to meet their needs, for instance
choosing to beg from the public.
50
Table 4.3: Number of siblings of the children
No. of siblings street children non-street children
No. % No. %
1 2 10
2 1 5
3 1 5
4 1 5 2 20
5 3 15 2 20
6 2 10 1 10
7 2 10 2 20
8 3 15 3 30
9 1 5
10 1 5
11 2 10
12 1 5
Total 20 100 10 100
x = 6.5 x = 6.2
The parents of street children may not have been in a
position to provide for their children and the children
therefore ended up taking to the streets. Although the
51
families of non-street children are equally large,
results show that the parents of these particular
children are better able to provide for their children
because they had some source of income. Some parents
reported to be civil servants while others were self-
employed.
Homes of origin
The street children were asked to state where they
were staying before they got to the streets. Majority of
the children (70%) had their homes of origin in the peri-
urban region of Kakamega town. These results are not in
agreement with what has been documented by other
researchers that street children in towns originate from
the slums. Most of them originate from areas away from
town. Twenty percent came from the slums while 10% came
from other estates within the town. This is an indication
that children can leave all sorts of homes in different
residential areas and take to the streets.
Parents of Street and Non-street children
During the research period, only four street
children were willing to direct the researcher to their
homes of origin. These homes were within the town. Four
parents/guardians of street children were therefore
52
interviewed.
The results indicate that all the parents or
guardians of the street children were female. Those of
non-street children were both male and female (Table
4.4) .
Table 4.4: Sex of parents
Sex Parents of
street children
Parents of
non-street children
No. % No. %
Male
Female 4 100
5
5
50
50
Total 4 100 10 100
All the households from which the street children came
were female headed.
Age of the parents
As concerns age of the parents, most of the parents
were in their mid-life as is indicated in table 4.5.
53
Table 4.5: Age of parents/guardians
Age (Years) Parents of
street children
No. %
Parents of
non-street children
No. %
26 - 30
31 - 35
36 - 40
41 - 45
46 - 50
N/A
1
1
1
1
25
25
25
25
2
2
3
2
1
20
20
30
20
10
Total 4 100 10 100
x = 44.3 x = 33.2
One parent was a grandparent to a street child and could
not tell her age.
Education of parents of the children
On formal education, one parent of a street child
had up to college level education. The grandparent of a
street child had no formal education at all with the rest
having secondary education (Table 4.6). As concerns
54
parents of non-street children, two parents had no formal
education while the rest had attained certain levels of
education (Table 4.6). The two parents with no formal
education were female.
Table 4.6: Education level of parents
Education level Parents of
street children
No. %
Parents of
non-street children
No. %
No schooling
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
1 25
2
1
75
25
2
2
6
20
20
60
Total 4 100 10 100
55
occupation
Table 4.7: Occupation of parents
Occupation Parents of Parents of
street children non-street children
No. % No. %
Civil servants 1 25 3 30
Self-employment 7 70
No employment 3 75
Total 4 100 10 100
All parents of non-street children had some source of
income (Table 4.7). This implies that these parents were
able to meet the needs of their children which include
food, shelter, education and clothing. This could
partially explain why children have not taken to the
streets.
On the other hand, only one parent to a street child
was a civil servant and this was the parent with tertiary
level education. Although this parent was able to provide
adequately for her child who was a last born child, her
child still took to the streets. She said:
56
"My son joined bad boys and he always used to
demand for money. On the occasions I gave him
some money, he came back home drugged wi th
bhang. When I stopped giving him money he
refused to go to school and later went to the
street".
From what this parent said, her son had began using drugs
and therefore sought alternative ways to meet his desires
by going to look for his own money. This boy gets this
money by washing cars, and doing casual work such as
masonry.
One of the respondents, a grandparent who had no
formal education, no source of income and was ill could
not provide for her orphaned grandson. The grandson
therefore had to go to the streets every morning and
bring his collection back home in the evening. He was a
part-time street child. She said:
"I am so old. Even the tube that clears my
bladder is old and dirty and I cannot replace
it. My sons and daughters no longer care about
me. The only one who cared was the father to
this boy who died in a house fire. My grandson
is so young, neighbours cannot share with us
what they have. It is not like the olden days
when neighbors got concerned about each other.
I asked my grandson to and beg from people in
town so that we could survi ve. Sometimes he
comes back with nothing and we have to sleep
like that".
The other two parents of street children who were not
57
employed had secondary education. These parents claimed
that they have never been successful in getting
employment. When asked why they could not engage
themselves in self-employment, they said that they had no
money to start their own income generating activity.
These single, female parents were therefore not able to
provide adequately the needs of their children. Even
their small children who were aged between three years
and seven years were not attending school, had tattered
clothes. For their children who had taken to the streets,
the parents said that their children claimed that life in
the streets was far much better than that in their homes.
Thus their children took off to the streets as an
alternative way to have their needs met.
Religion of parents of street children
Table 4.8: Religion of Parents
Religion Parents of Parents of
street children non-street children
No. % No. %
Muslim 3 75 7 70
Christian 1 25 3 30
Total 4 100 10 100
58
As it is indicated in table 4.8, majority of the
parents were muslims. All the muslim parent lived in the
slums while one parent of a street child who was a
christian lived in Otiende estate. On inquiry as to why
the muslim parents lived in the slums, one of them
answered:
"We do not have money so as to be able to live
in the other estates like Nabongo scheme,
Milimani and Amalemba. They are too
expensive. Again, our religion demands that we
live together as a community and share what we
have. In those estates people do not mix.
Houses have fences, gates, walls and even
dogs. For us, we are supposed to avoid luxury
and things we can do without, and live simple
lives. In this place life is simple and we can
mix wi th fellow muslim easily".
The other parents were in agreement with the above
account. The slums were crowded and with litter allover
the place. The pit latrines used within these slums were
not kept clean neither were they maintained properly.
Such living conditions are unhealthy for human beings.
Children who told their parents that living in the
streets was far much better than living at horne as
indicated previously, may have taken to the streets due
to poor living environment. The residential rooms in the
slums areas were small although they were occupied by
about eight people. When the researcher sought to find
59
out why a family could not rent more than one room, one
subject responded:
"In our religion, men are allowed to be
polygamous. Since we are supposed to Ii ve
together and share as I had told you, the men
do not see the need to separate their wives
and children. That is why most rooms have very
many people".
Appearance and Behaviour Of The Children
a) Street Children
The basic characteristics of the street children
were that these children were generally dirty, greasy and
ill-clad although they were quite clean on certain days
(Thursdays). The dirty, grease look was to win sympathy
from the public. On Thursdays, the Good Samaritan World
Missionary Association (GSWMA) meets the street children,
gives them soap to go take a bath and then provide them
a meal which they take as they listen to a preacher. Thus
on Thursdays the children had to be as clean as was
expected of them by the Association.
The children, appeared to be too small for their
age. One would observe muscle wasting and some had skin
diseases. This may be as a result of inadequate feeding
and low hygienic standards.
The children were also very aggressive. When they
60
beg from a member of the public and he/she does not give
a coin, the children would kick the person and abuse
him/her.
b) Non-street Children
The non-street children were also ill-clad i.e. had
tattered clothes or the clothes were undersize. This'
could be because the parents prioritized their children's
needs and therefore did not take clothing as a priority.
The children also suffered muscle wasting. The food
provided by their parents might not be balanced.
61
Activities of The Children
Table 4.9: Activities carried out by street children
Activity No %
Begging and loitering.
Sweeping outside shops.
Ferrying luggage.
Car washing.
Glue, and petrol sniffing,
drugs, alcohol, cigarettes.
Farm work, slashing, wood
chopping.
Masonry.
Snatching/stealing.
Garbage collection.
Hawking.
Promiscuity
16
12
12
4
80
60
60
20
10 50
10
2
2
6
2
2
50
10
10
30
10
10
Table 4.9 reveals that the major activity engaged in
by the street children is begging and loitering in the
streets. Indeed, eighty percent of the children engaged
in this activity. This suggests that most of the street
children are out to get their own money and spend it like
62
they wish. The boys who did not engage in this activity
felt that they were too old to beg on the streets.
Beg-ging and loitering was for small boys. The other
activities which street children engaged in most were
sweeping outside shops and other buildings and ferrying
luggage. Reasons for engaging in these activities were
that these were jobs readily available, and that the pay
was well. Money obtained from these activities was used
to buy clothes, food and glue.
Boys who sniffed glue or petrol, smoked bhang,
cigarettes, and also took locally brewed alcohol
chang'aa were over fourteen years of age. Use of these
substances made them feel "high", forget about their
problems and not feel hungry, they claimed. They also
claimed that use of these substances made the nights
short and "chased" away the cold. Garbage collection was
unpopular among the children because it brought no money.
There are no industries in Kakamega town that would
require waste paper, bottles or plastics. Only 10% of the
children got involved in the hawking business although
they did not like it. This was because the items to be
sold would sometimes not sellout. If they happened to
sellout, they brought little money and their "bosses"
(those who employed them), paid them badly. The rest of
the activities were done by boys of age 16 - 18 years.
63
This is because they considered the other activities for
younger boys.
All the street children engaged themselves in more
than one activity in a day. The time spent working was
determined by the amount of money collected. If by half
the day they had "enough" money, work would stop until
the next day. The street children did not begin their
activities very early in the morning. They began at about
10.00am. Before then, they claimed it would not be easy
to get any jobs. Street children have engaged in these
activities because of the kind of life they lead. The
children made decisions by themselves. Nobody assigns
them these activities and nobody supervises them.
Table 4.10: Activities carried out by non-street
children
Activity No. %
;'/
Wash dishes 4 10
Feed others and bath them 7 70
Clean the house 6 60
Cook 4 40
Go to school 10 100
Fetch firewood 7 70
Clean compound 4 40
64
All the non-street children interviewed go to school
(Table 4.10). When they get back from school, there are
certain duties they have to carry out while at horne.
Unlike the street children who decide on what to do on
their own, the parents of the non-street children assign
them the above mentioned duties and also supervise them.
Washing of the dishes after meals was done by girls while
cleaning of the compound was done by the boys. Cleaning
of the house was done mainly by girls. Only one boy
responded to cleaning of the house. Washing of the
clothes was done by the big girls who were of age 14 - 16
years. Distribution of these duties such that certain
duties were dominated by a certain gender is as a result
of culture of the Luhya community. Certain jobs like
cooking, washing clothes, washing dishes and cleaning the
house are considered female jobs while cleaning the
compound, chopping wood are considered male jobs. The
non-street children were busy i.e spent a bigger portion
of the day in school and in the evening, busy at horne.
This may be what is keeping them off the streets.
65
Socio-economic Background of The Respondents
Socio-economic background of the children
Table 4.11: Marital status of parents of the children
Marital Status Parents of
street children
Parents of
non-street children
No. % No. %
Separated
Widowed
Married
N/A
12
6
60
30
10 100
2 10
Total 20 100 10 100
Two street children had no idea about their families
since they left home at an early age about 6 years ago.
From table 4.11, all the non-street children had their
parents alive and their parents lived together. For the
street children, 30% were half orphans. The live parent
remarried and the child was therefore brought up by his
parent and a step-parent. The step-parent had no liking
for his step-children. They treated them unfairly: gave
66
them no food nor education, and overworked them. For
instance, Geofrey was born in 1980 two years before his
mother got married. His step-father never accepted him as
his own son. Immediately after the first blood child of
his step-father was born, he was treated differently and
unfairly. His step-father punished him for mistakes he
never made. He says:
"When I was about six years old and my mother
was preparing me to go to school the following
year, my step-father came home for christmas.
He was working and is still working in
Nairobi. He brought very many gifts for my
brother and sister, my mother, his parents,
and even my cousins. He brought me nothing! I
felt very bad and even attempted to run away
to my grandparents but did not know the way.
That christmas was the worst - even worse than
those that have passed while I have been on
the streets. My step-father even made me work
on christmas day - looking after cows, when
everybody else went to church and later to the
celebrations. I could not bear this. As soon
as he left for Nairobi, I also ran away from
home" .
Table 4.12: Family type of the children
Family type Street Children Non-street children
No. % No. %
Monogamous 4 20 4 40
Polygamous 14 70 6 60
N/A 2 10
Total 18 100 10 100
67
Both the street and non-street children belonged to the
two categor ies of family types (Table 4.12). For the
street children, 20% were from monogamous families while
70% were from polygamous families. In these polygamous
families, the father had more than one wife at one time
and then separated with one of them. The father may have
separated with his first wife and married another. Of all
the street children interviewed, 50% lived with a step-
parent before they left home for the streets. During the
separation, the mothers left their children behind and
these children later ran away from home. These children
took to the streets because they were ill-treated by
their step-mothers, suffered apathy and neglect. Family
relations in these families were poor.
For the non-street children, 60% were members of
polygamous households with 20% living with a step-parent.
These children have remained in their homes because the
family relations are not poor. The parents of non-street
children had a source of income and thus were able to
meet the basic needs of their children
68
Socio-economic background of Parents
Table 4.13: Family type
Family type Parents of
street children
Parents of
non-street children
No. % No. %
Monogamous
Polygamous
Single parent
1 25
3 75
3
4
3
30
40
30
Total 4 100 10 100
From table 4.13, the monogamous families for both
categories were few. Forty percent of the parents of non-
street children were polygamous while there were no
polygamous parents of the street children. This is
because all the parents of street children were female
and seventy five percent of these female parents were
single. Only twenty percent of the parents of non-street
children were single.
69
Table 4.14: Monthly income of the parents
Income Parents of
street children
No. %
Parents of
non-street children
No. %
None
< Ksh 100
Ksh 1000-2499
Ksh 2500-5000
> Ksh 5000
3 75
1 25
2
6
1
1
20
60
10
10
Total 4 100 10 100
Only one parent of a street child had a source of income
which could make her provide for her child adequately.
The rest of the parents/guardians of street children had
no source of income (Table 4.14. They were therefore not
able to meet the needs of their children adequately. On
the other hand, all the parents of non-street children
had some source of income and thus could provide their
children with their needs. The income for all parents did
not exceed Ksh 5000 per month which is quite low with the
present economic situation. All the parents use money as
70
it becomes available. This implies that they do not
budget at all. Low income earners have a negative
evaluation towards themselves (Mugenda et al, 1986). That
is why they do not budget nor do they have necessary
adjustment in their money expenditure. Since their income
is low, the parents have chosen to live in slums which
are affordable. The houses are small, made of mud and
roofed with either corrugated sheets, old tins or grass.
Table 4.15: Parents property
Property Parents of
street children
Parents of
non-street
children
No. No. %
No land
Land "less than 1 acre
Land more than 1 acre
Other property
3 75
1 25
8
2
3
80
20
30
Total 4 100 10 100
The parents of street children who had no land at all
h~~'1YArTAUNiVERSiTY LiBRARY
71
were all female. They had no other property. In the Luhya
communi ty, women do not inherit land and that is why
these female parents own no land. The rest of the parents
own some land back in their rural homes. These pieces of
land are used for growing subsistence crops.
Both the parent of street children and the parents
of non-street children have large families i.e more than
four children in each family. This is partly owed to the
Luhya culture where many wives and many children was a
sign of wealth. Despite the present hard times as
concerns the care of families, some men have taken to
doing what was required of them by the tradition. There
are cases of single parent families with the single
parents being female. The children in each of the single
female parent families were not of the same fathers. The
mothers were at one time cohabiting with men, had a child
or two and broke off the relationship. The mothers then
got involved in other relationships that did not lead to
marriage but brought forth children. These mothers have
remained single although they still see some men.
Reasons for Being On The Streets
Views of the street children
All the twenty street children interviewed had been
72
on the streets for a time that ranged from one year to
eight years. When asked to give reasons why they were
living in the streets, the children mentioned a wide and
varied range of factors.
Parents as agents of socialization exerting social
influence and control on an impressionable, malleable
child, bear an awesome responsibility. As was shown by
Sluckin and Herbert (1986), the very processes which help
the child adapt to life can, under certain circumstances
contribute to the development of deviant, dysfunctional
modes of behavior.
Freedom for the children
One of the boys complained that his parents were
treating him unfairly. When asked to explain what he
meant he said that his parents were not giving him money
the way they used to give his elder brothers and sisters
just because he was a last born child. He felt that it
was not his wanting that he was born a last born
therefore his parents ought to have treated him like the
rest of their children. Since his parents were unfair, he
left for the streets so as to make his own money and use
it without being controlled by his parents. The mother to
this particular child claimed that her son took to the
streets after she stopped giving him money. From this
73
reason stated, it can be seen that a child's behavior can
have as much effect on his parents I actions as his
parents' behavior can have on his. The parent must have
been permissive and warm to her son such that she allowed
so much freedom to her son. When she decided to limit the
freedom, her son took to the streets and considers life
in the streets to be better than that at horne.
Seeking for money
There were four boys from the peri-urban region who
were in the streets to make their own money just like the
case above. These boys felt that town life was better
than life in the rural areas. Another boy was out to look
for money and food so that he would go and share it with
his ill grandmother. There is general poverty such that
some homes are materially depriving. This implies that
shelter is poor, there is little or no food at all, poor
bedding and clothing, and parents are not able to send
their children to school. Families are thus under
economic pressure. This is as a result of low or no
education. Parents are thus unemployed or if employed,
are low income earners. Those who are self-employed do
not have a regular income. Coupled with this are the
rising costs of living. With these conditions, the
children are influenced to take to the streets. Children
74
on the streets were thus able to make money. This money
was used for buying food, clothes, cigarettes, glue and
bhang.
Polygamous families
In polygamous households as was the tradition,
children from a man's previous marriage were raised by
his succeeding wives. Children belonging to other
relatives were frequently adopted to demonstrate concern
for the relatives of the family. Presently there are
numerous family breakdowns. When a couple separates, the
man remarries and the woman too. There were children from
broken and polygamous families who were being treated
poorly by their step-parents. When asked why he was in
the streets, 10 year old Rambo said:
"My mother was chased away by my father and
she left me and my small brother. He then
brought another mother who did not like us.
She used to beat me and tell me that I was as
stupid as my mother. She used to ask me to
wash dishes, fetch firewood and even prepare
food. When food got ready, she would send me
somewhere or to do some work and when I
finished the work, I would find when everyone
had finished eating and I'm told to clean the
dishes. Sometimes I ate left-overs on the
plates before washing them. She even removed
me from school. I was her servant. When father
came home she would cheat for me and my father
would beat me with a big stick. Sometimes I
would cry so loudly until neighbors came to
tell him to stop. When my father was around
75
she would make sure that I am chased out of
the house at night. I would sleep in the
neighbors cowshed, old car, or in a grain
store that was unused. When it become too much
for me I just began walking away from home
without knowing where I was going, sleeping by
the roadside at night until I reached this
town. I met some boys who kept talking to me
and I became their friend".
There were other boys who gave similar accounts of
step-parents being too cruel towards them. For instance:
"My father separated with my mother when I was
still very small. My step-mother stayed for a
long time but did not have any child. They
used to quarrel everyday and fight. She then
became a drunkard. After she had taken
chang'aa, she would beat me so much telling me
that I was the cause of all her problems. When
I could not bear it any more, I ran away from
home" .
Besides having cruel step-parents, they also had cruel
step-siblings. The step-siblings always told lies about
them to their parents and these lies would earn them
beatings. They had to go without food, no schooling while
their step-siblings went to school. The clothing and
bedding of these children who ran away from home never
used to be replaced when it wore out. Thus, these street
children found living conditions in their homes too harsh
and therefore sort an alternative place to stay.
76
Family breakdowns
Family breakdowns are a result of poor family/
parental relationships which make families unstable.
Children born in families that break down usually remain
with one of the parents. When the parent with the child
remarries, parent child interaction becomes very
important. There are parents of these children who become
indifferent, others neglect their children while others
reject them. Some step-parents and step-siblings reject
the children and detach themselves from the children.
Some parents become authoritarian and dictatorial.
Children in these kind of situations suffer apathy and
neglect and run away from home. This is a clear evidence
of erosion of extended family ties.
There was one boy who was sent away from home by his
father after his parents separated. His father told him
to go and learn to survive on his own. He left home and
when he met other children in town, he began staying with
them. This is a boy who has been influenced by his father
to live in the streets. Another boy whose parents had
long separated had been left in the custody of his father
had nobody to take care of him after his father's death.
He left home wandering and then ended up in the streets
of Kakamega. He remained in the streets when he found
that there were other children living in the streets.
77
Three boys who lived with their single mothers left
horne because the rooms in which they stayed with their
siblings were too small. At the same time their mothers
brewed and sold chang'aa or were involved in prostitution
as a means to earn a living. On many occasions, some male
patrons spent nights in these single rooms. On such
occasions, the children had to find alternative places to
sleep. When these mothers got drunk, they would deny the
children food and send them out of the house. These boys
left for the streets because they felt that street life
was better than life at horne. Some families are large
such that there is overcrowding in the homes. With such
large families, providing for the members becomes a
difficult task for the parents/guardians. Thus such homes
become materially depriving. It can be noted that these
homes are also morally depriving. Thus the parents are
over-indulgent. Some children therefore leave home
because of poor morals while others leave because they
are usually allowed to do what they want. This has led to
rapid social disintegration.
Reasons For Children Being on the Streets
Views of non-street Children
The non-street children knew who street children
78
were and they referred to them as "chokora". The non-
street children are aware that street children beg from
the public, steal from people, and that they are usually
dirty. The non-street children claimed that some street
children refused to go to school and therefore ran away
from home. Other children ran away because their parents
beat them so much when they made mistakes. One boy gave
the account below:
"You see that house over there, there was a
boy called Nandwa. That Nandwa used to really
disturb his parents and they used to really
beat him. When his father was beating him, he
would lock the house and beat him with a tyre
of a bicycle. Nandwa used to cry very loudly
saying he will not repeat it again but his
father would just continue beating. Neighbors
would shout from outside so that his father
would stop but his father would just continue
beating. When his father got tired he would
open the door then Nandwa would dash out very
quickly running very fast. Some times he would
come out bleeding, or with swollen eyes, his
legs became very black with lines of the tyre.
After some days he disappeared. Then another
day his father came back with him from those
sides of town beating, beating, beating.
Nandwa was crying loudly. As usual his father
entered the house and started beating him
again. When his father opened the door, he ran
away again. We have never seen him again. But
his father, aaaah!"
When asked to comment on the kind of punishment Nandwa
got for making mistakes, this boy said that Nandwa IS
father used to beat his son like a snake instead of
79
beating him like a human being which was very bad. He
claimed that even if Nandwa made a small mistake, the
beating was the same instead of just having his ear
pinched a bit. Nandwa got used to being beaten and he
never stopped making mistakes and later ran away from
home.
All the non-street children were not in favor of
children living in the streets. One of them said:
"Those children in the streets have no food to
eat. They it rubbish from composi te heaps.
Sometimes they stand outside Franka, Merry
Eating. or Pizza begging from people who are
eating in there. You know this is bad manners
begging food. It is like begging food from
visitors when they are eating in your house.
Your mother can really beat you badly. They
also don't have clothes to put on. Their
clothes are black, dirty, and torn. They don't
even sew them and they don't bath. They don't
even sleep in houses, They snatch people
things, kick those who don't give them money
when they beg, sniffing glue, very bad
manners. They should go back home so that they
can become good children. Their mothers and
fathers will teach them good manners if they
go back home. "
The non-street children felt that street children were
lacking so many things. They felt that the parents of
street children should provide for them so that they stop
suffering in the streets.
80
Reasons For Being on the Streets
Views of Parents of Street Children
Parents/guardians of street children were asked to
explain why their children were living in the streets.
One guardian who was an old grandmother said that she had
asked her grandson to go and beg for money or food from
people and bring it home for them to eat. The grandmother
has thus influenced her grandson to take to the streets.
One other parent does not understand why her
youngest son refused to go to school, would demand for so
much money, and later took to the streets.
"I am able to meet all my son's needs because
my older children do send me some money and I
am still earning money from the civil service.
I used to give him some money but he would use
it to buy bhang. This made me stop giving him
money. He then stopped going to school, and
later took to the streets. I have tried to
bring him back home but the boy has refused to
stay at home. The last time I tried to get him
back home, he told me that life in the streets
is better than life in my house. I do not know
what to do".
The remaining two parents could not tell why their
children went to the streets. One of them said:
"I had always done my best to make my children
comfortable. One of the eldest boys just left
81
home telling me that he was going to stay in a
bet ter place. That was a b i t of a relief
because it reduced the number of children I
had to take care of. I cannot trouble myself
going for him. He is a big boy. He will take
care of himself".
Reasons For Children Being on The Streets
Views of Parents of Non-street Children
The parents of non-street children gave a wide range
of factors that made children live in the streets. The
parents felt that majority of the street children had
parents who were in fact responsible for getting them
onto the streets to secure additional financial support
for the family. A case was reported where a mother
stripped naked to protest the rescuing of her child who
was contributing to family survival by working in the
streets. They also reported cases of some mothers
fetching their children from the children's home using
false excuses - only for the children to be found begging
on the streets.
Lack of basic needs
Some children go to the streets due to lack of·
parental love, food, schooling and shelter. Some homes
are overcrowded and therefore provisions are not enough.
82
One parent commented
"When a parent is unable to provide the basic
needs for his or her children, he/she
definitely loses their (children) respect and
hence cannot control them. The parent will
lose confidence and self-esteem. He/she begins
to take cheap drugs and alcohol. This
separates the parent further from his children
and misunderstandings become the order of the
day. Eventually, the children run away from
home" .
Some parents do not train children properly as
concerns discipline such that they become indisciplined.
Some children have bad company and end up being rude.
Such children live for the streets on their own
especially when their parents do not handle them the way
they (children) would want to be handled. This is an
action taken especially by children who want to have
money of their own.
Abandonment
Orphans and other children who do not know their
parents are likely to end up in the streets. For
instance, orphans who have nobody to provide their needs
will seek alternative ways to meet their needs. Taking to
the street may be one of the alternatives. Cases were
reported of infants who have been picked up by policemen
83
by the roadside, or in dustbins. These children are
usually taken to the children's home or given to someone
who will be willing to take care of them. When such
children become big, they run away from their foster
homes.
Some mothers who realize that their children born
out of wedlock may interfere with their marital life in
future, come with them to town and abandon them in the
streets.
Parental behaviour
Behaviour of parents also contributes to children
taking to the streets. According to the interviewees,
many slum women with children are single. Most of them
brew chang'aa so as to make money to support their
children. They live in small rooms. Their patrons do stay
in these rooms. The parents are thus immoral and
drunkards as well. Children find such homes to have poor
living conditions and therefore choose to take to the
streets as an alternative place to stay.
There are cruel step-mothers, step-fathers and step-
siblings who, through the treatment they give to these
children make the children take to the streets.
"In the neighbourhood, there is a family in
84
which the son ran away when he was about six
or seven years old. You know, before he ran
away, his mother died. His father married
another woman who used to mistreat this boy.
He stopped going to school all of a sudden,
used to work so much. He was later taken to
the rural home. When he came back to town
visiting, he would complain of herding cattle,
milking cows very early in the morning and
going to sell the milk, and even weeding in
the shamba during the weeding season. When his
step-mother came visiting with her children,
they treated him like he was the servant in
the home. This used to make him so sad
especially when he would report to his father
who would never intervene. He never understood
why he had to stop going to school when his
brothers and sisters went to school. This was
poor treatment for this boy and I think it
made him run away from home".
Problems faced By Street Children
(As perceived by the street children)
Street children, due to the circumstances in their
homes, found living in the streets a better alternative.
While in the streets, they are involved in certain
activities which help them make some money. These
children like the jobs that give them money because they
can spend their money without being controlled by
anybody. Despite this, the street children face numerous
problems which they listed as is indicated in table 4.16:
"}(I=NVITT4 IlNIVFR~ITV I tRA4AV
85
Table 4.16: Problems faced while on the streets
Problem No. %
Harassment by police, public 20
Lack of shelter (during the rains) 20
Poor health (sickness/disease) 20
Harassment by colleagues 2
Lack of clothing and bedding 15
Lack of money 5
Missing jobs to get money 16
Beg and get nothing 2
Think about the future 4
100
100
100
10
75
25
80
10
20
Lack of shelter
The street children came up with many common
problems. Lack of shelter, especially nights during the
rainy season, some children have to keep changing their
sleeping places. Some slept on verandas of buildings
under vehicles, on top of trees. A group of four children
used to sleep in a big tree that had a wide hole in its
trunk. The tree has since then been cut down, and the
children had problems locating another place to sleep
each night. Children used sacks and sack cloth used to
carry "mitumba" (second hand clothes) as their bedding.
86
These sack clothes were normally stolen from second hand
cloth vendors. Polythene bags wer~ also used as bedding
during the rainy season. They were spread on veranda and
the sack cloth placed on top of the polythene paper (this
happened in places that were wet. Places that the rain
would not reach at night).
Harassment by police
During the day, street children were insulted by
some members of the public. At night, the policemen came
for "msako" (to round up the street children). They would
arrest some children and take them to the cells. After
they had stayed in the cells for a while, they were taken
to the children's home. Sometimes they were beaten up by
the police officers. 12 year old Juma gave an account of
his experience:
"One night, I slept wi th my friends under some
lorries at Midland Emporium. While we were
asleep, there were sharp lights tieer the
lorries with people talking. When I looked, I
saw four of my friends being held by their
shirts. When I tried to run away, a
policewoman saw me and I was caught by the
policemen. We were taken to police cells. We
stayed there for two days and then I was taken
to juvenile. I stayed and stayed. I used to be
taken to the court under police escort. Then
one night, eh! I sneaked out of juvenile and
came back to the streets. Juvenile was bad. We
were sleeping four people on a bed and the
mothers were too harsh".
87
The street children reported that they had a friend in
the police force who always informed them when there
would be a "msako". The children would pass this
information to other children such that all children
would be on the look out at night.
Food and sickness
On some days, some children would find no jobs and
would therefore have no money to buy good food, glue,
petrol, alcohol or bhang. Hunger was a major problem.
Solutions were found by eating from garbage bins, begging
for leftovers or remains from plates in hotels, or asking
their friends to share with them what they had cooked.
The street children, like other human beings,
suffered from diseases such as malaria, chest pains and
venereal diseases. Those who suffered from venereal
diseases were mainly the boys between 16 years and 18
years. When the children got sick, they visited the
Provincial General Hospital where medicine, usually in
form of tablets and injections were administered. The
street children mentioned the Good Samaritan World
Missionary Association as a big help to them when they
fell sick. When one of the children became really sick or
ill, his group attended to him, and brought him food. To
also help the children keep themselves clean, G.s.W.M.A.
88
taught the boys to use the money they collect to buy
bathing soap and second hand clothes.
The children listed their prioritized needs as food,
shelter, and bedding, job, clothes, parents and health-
care. Unlike the non-street children whose needs are met
by their parents, the street children meet their needs by
themselves.
Physical environment
The physical environment where these children live
leaves a lot to be desired. Open sewage systems, stench
from mountains of garbage, litter scattered everywhere,
human faeces, narrow and dusty or muddy roads and paths
are common features in the residential areas of the
street children. These are poor environmental conditions.
However, when asked if they would accept to live in
an alternative place, the street children said that they
would accept on condition that in the new home, they
would be allowed to live the kind of lifestyle they
wanted. When asked if they would go back to their
parents, the responses were varied and interesting.
One said that it would depend on how his parents
treated him. If they should show acceptance and
tolerance, he would try staying with them. Two of the
boys were of the opinion that they would not go back
89
under whatever circumstances.
One said, "1 would rather kill myself". The
other said, "If my parents showed up and I had
a gun, I would kill them. A parent cannot do
what they did to me. They showed me so much
hate and left me to suffer in the cold when
they were comfortable, eating good food and
dressing well. They thought I didn't deserve
to live".
Another said, "1 would go if my parents
stopped being drunkards and leaving me
hungry" .
Others said their parents were dead.
Table 4.16 reveals that harassment by other street
children, lack of money, getting nothing after begging,
and thinking about the future were least common problems
among the street children. The two boys who were harassed
by other children were small, timid and scared of the big
boys. The five who lacked money depended solely on
begging as a means to meet their needs. The four boys
who were worried about their future were of age 18 years
and felt that they were too big to continue staying in
the streets.
Future Goals And Aspirations Of The Street Children
Many street children had no idea of what they would
like to be or do in future. They said that they left
everything to God. This would be attributed to the fact
that they were still young (10 to 15 years of age). There
90
were only four children aged between 16 years and 18
years who thought about their future. These boys had set
goals but did not know how they would achieve these
goals. Each one of them gave a different response:
"I want to become a respectable person, have a
small family and take care of it. You can just
see how big families are difficul t to take
care of. Like my father. He had three wives
and so we were so many at home. Each mother
had to take care of her own children. My
mother and another step-mother just ran away
and went to look for other men. The step
mother who was left did not want to take care
of us. We slept hungry, she mistreated us
because we were too many for her. Father did
not care at all. As long he had drunk his
chang' aa, he would come and just sleep".
Another boy said, "For me all I need is a
small push and I will become self-reliant. I
have learned very good skills (masonry) while
on the streets. If people get to know me and
give me work, I can earn a living and give my
family all, all that they need. Not like my
mother who refused to give me money when I
wanted some".
A third boy said: "I will go for adult
education classes, get a job, and get married,
then make sure that my children do not
suffer" .
The fourth boy said "1 would like to be a
businessman and make so much money and feel
alright. What won't I have?"
From the responses given above, it can be concluded that
none of the four boys would like his family to undergo
the kind of suffering they underwent. They would like to
see their children happy.
t V~MVA TI\ ,,~n"J:R~ITV ltB RV
91
Prevention of The Street Children Phenomenon
Views of Parents of street Children
Provision of basic needs.
Parents of the street children were of the view that
street children should be counselled and then
institutionalized in good institutions. The researcher
felt that this should be supported since it has worked in
several places e.g Undugu society in Nairobi, Shangilia
mtoto wa Africa in Nairobi. There is a danger in doing
this in that the number of street children may increase.
Parents also felt that the government should provide
basic needs (education, food, shelter and clothing) to
the helpless families. That this will make children
comfortable and they will not take to the streets. This
implies that children take to the streets because their
needs are not met. If their needs were met, they would
stay at home and keep off the streets
Keeping of the extended family ties.
The parents also felt that the society should not
allow culture to get eroded. If African culture is
sustained, extended families ties will be built up and
step-parents will accept their step-children. Children
who become orphans will have their relatives to turn to.
Neighbors in anyone community will mind the welfare of
92
one another. Children in the society will thus feel
accepted by the whole community and will therefore not
consider street life as a better alternative to the
hardships they face at home. Parents will also not send
their children to the streets to beg for money and bring
food home.
Prevention of The Street Children Phenomenon
Views of Parents of Non-street Children
Parents of non-street children gave many varied ways
in which the street children phenomenon can be prevented.
Training and employment.
There were parents who suggested that the government
should intervene by training and providing jobs to the
children who are already on the streets. That this will
prevent them from becoming criminals now that they are
not going to the school and have nobody to control their
upbringing. They also suggested that the members of the
public should also give these children jobs so that they
can get to know better, honest ways of getting money.
One parent suggested:
"It is the responsibility of parents to meet
the needs of their children. Parents ought
therefore to provide their children the basic
93
needs. If they do this, the children will not
find a reason to take to the streets. And,
parents who have children on the streets
should be prosecuted and so that other parents
will see to it that their children do not also
take to the streets. This will definitely
prevent children from getting into the
streets"
Population control.
There were some parents who claimed that many
families in the slum areas are very large especially
those headed by single women. They therefore suggested
that family planning should be intensified especially
among the low income earners and the poor. This will help
people have small manageable families. They also claimed
that people in the slums had no access to family planning
information and that is why their families are large.
The parents also suggested that their should be
education on premarital sex to avoid pregnancies by young
girls who normally throwaway the infants. They also felt
that extra-marital sex should be avoided so that there
are no children born out of wedlock who are usually
rejected in families. It is such children who take to the
streets. Besides this, the parents also felt that AIDS
awareness should be intensified so that people do not
involve themselves in premarital and extramarital sex.
With this, incidence of AIDS orphans who normally take to
94
the streets will be reduced.
Another parent gave this suggestion:
"You know, there are some people who marry a
woman then after some time chase her away or
the woman leaves that man. The man will then
marry another woman. For men it is not had to
find a wife. An old man can even marry a small
young girl. A man can even have many wives and
is still keeping women outside the marriage.
Now, in this marriages, children are born.
When the woman leaves her husband, sometimes
she goes away with the children. When she gets
married to somebody else, she goes with the
children because she would not like her
children to be ill-treated by another woman.
So, when these women get
married to somebody else who is not the father
of her children, she should take these
children back to their father without carrying
anyone to her new marriage. I say this
because step-fathers are worse at mistreating
children than step-mothers especially if the
children are boys. Usually the worry is that
the step-sons will require a place to put up a
house one day and that will mean, giving them
land. So you see that. Another thing, when a
man and a woman break up and the man
remarries, this man should treat all his
children equally. Whether it is children he
had wi th his previous wife or his present
wife, treatment should be the same. If he does
this, his present wife will not have a chance
to mistreat her step- children. These children
will not feel unwanted and will therefore not
take to the streets. Let us now look at women.
Women who marry men who already have children
should treat the children like their own.
Relatives of children from broken families
should not just sit back and watch. The should
stop whoever is treating children badly. So
you see it is the responsibili ty of each
person in the whole society".
95
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Summary
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study was to determine the
factors that lead to the influx of street children in
urban areas. The study also aimed at filling the gap in
knowledge on middle - sized towns as concerns street
children since studies have been carried out in only the
major towns of Kenya i.e Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
Research objectives
The study sought to achieve the following
objectives:
1) To identify the basic characteristics of the street
children in Kakamega town
2) To establish the socio-economic characteristics of
the families of the street children
3) To investigate the activities of the street
children
4) To determine why other children in similar family
backgrounds do not go to the streets
96
5) To establish the future goals and aspirations of
the street children
6) To establish preventive measures that can be
initiated to prevent the street children phenomenon
Methodology
The qualitative mode of inquiry was the main mode
employed in this study though the quantitative mode was
also used. The sample consisted of 44 subjects i.e twenty
(20) street children, ten (10) non-street children, ten
(10) parents of non-street children, and four (4) parents
of street children. Interview guides and an observation
checklist were used to collect data. In so doing,
information pertaining to the research objectives was
collected. The data were analyzed by use of means,
frequencies and percentages for the quantitative data,
and steps adapted from Miles and Huberman (1994) were
used for the qualitative data.
Major findings of the study
The results showed that the age of both the street and
non-street children ranged from 8 years to 18 years and
none of the street children was below the age of 10
years. The non-street children were both male and female
while all the street children were male. No female street
97
child was identified. Another finding was that all the
non-street children were in school, and that none of the
street children had gone beyond standard four of primary
school education. Fifty percent of the street children
had not been to school at all and none of the street
children could read.
The age of the parents/guardians of the children
ranged from 26 years to 49 years. Of the parents
interviewed, parents of non-street children were both
male and female while parents of street children were all
female. On formal education, one parent of a street child
had no education while the other three parents had some
formal education. Two parents of non-street children had
no formal education at all while the rest had education
up to the secondary level. For both categories of
parents, the parents with no formal education were
female.
Another difference between the parents of street
children and those of non-street children was
availability of income. Results showed that all parents
of street children except one had no source of income
(they had no employment), while all the parents of non-
street children had a source of income. Thus three of
them who were male were civil servants while the rest
were self-employed.
98
On religion, results showed that seventy percent of
parents of non-street children and seventy five percent
of parents of street children were muslims. All these
muslim parents lived in the Maj engo and Kambi-somali
slums of Kakamega town. These findings showed that slums
are dominated by muslims. The slums are quite congested
with small rooms occupied by many people. Some houses in
the slums are made of mud and roofed with flattened old
tins, while others are made of tins all through.
On marital status, one parent of a street child was
married, one was widowed, while the rest were single. On
the other hand, eighty percent of parents of non-street
children were married while twenty percent were single.
These single parents were female.
Results also showed that street children were ill-
clad, dirty, greasy looking and aggressive. These
children also had skin diseases, suffered muscle wasting,
and appeared too short for their age. The non-street
children were also ill-clad.
Findings indicate that while on the streets, the
street children are involved in various activities with
the aim of making money. The major activities engaged in
by the street children are begging, ferrying luggage,
garbage collection and sweeping outside buildings. The
non-street children are assigned duties at horne by their
99
parents. These duties include washing dishes, fetching
firewood, going to school, cooking food and cleaning the
house among others.
Majority of the street children (70%) were from
polygamous homes. These were homes in which a man had
previously separated with his wife and married other
women. It was also found that all the non-street children
had both their parents living together and that sixty
percent were from polygamous families.
On the socio-economic background of the parents,
results showed that all the parents of street children
were female. One of them was a civil servant while the
rest of the parents/guardians were jobless with no
property and had large families which they could not
provide for adequately.
As concerns the reasons for children taking to the
streets, the results showed that the major reason was
poverty. Parents were of low education level and have not
been able to secure employment. Due to the rising cost of
living, the hOITLS were materially depriving such that
children took to the streets to seek alternative ways to
satisfy their needs. Some homes, especially the female
headed households were morally depriving. The mothers
were quite immoral such that their children were forced
to leave home. It was also found that some families were
100
large such that there was overcrowding in the homes. With
large families, providing for the members becomes a
difficult task for the parents/guardians.
Results also showed that the extended family ties
have been eroded. This has led to poor family
relationships and instability within the families. There
are thus numerous family breakdowns with the children
being the victims of circumstance.
Recommendations
The street children phenomenon is a ...time bomb
waiting to explode I Preventive initiatives should be
emphasized because they intervene before the child and
family are negatively affected. Based on the findings of
this study, the following recommendations are made:-
1. The family planning program and its impact should
be reviewed and the campaign intensified. A
major finding of this study was that family
planning information does not reach most of
the poor people. These poor people bring forth
too many children they are not able to provide
for. This forces them to engage in illegal
activities such as chang'aa brewing and
101
commercial sex to earn a living. These
activities are detrimental to the children.
2. Findings in this study also indicate that most
street children were forced out of school
because of lack of school fees. Therefore
there should be a government policy on cheap
or free and compulsory basic education for all
children. Early childhood education and
vocation skills training should be made
affordable. Affordable basic education will
immensely contribute to the preventive
measures. In addition, basic education will
provide skills which will help in creating
employment.
3. Results show that a lot of money given to street
children is used to purchase glue, cigarettes
in addition to food. The money given is not
used for the purpose the giver intended.
Giving them coins will encourage more children
to get to the streets.
4. There should be networking and collaboration of
organizations working with street children because
all these children have different problems which
should be handled differently. These organizations
should try different methods of rehabilitation. Some
IXENYATTA UNIVERSITY UBRAR~
102
strategies suggested in the study are
institutionalization and reintegration. There is a
danger in that children will get encouraged to leave
their materially deprived homes for the streets so
that they too can be institutionalized. The
organizations should counsel both the child and his
parents i.e. rescue, rehabilitate, and then
reintegrate the children with their families.
5. The staff working with street children should be
retrained (in-serviced) to acquire skills such as
counselling, psychology, financial management, and
communication. Staff in institutions for children
are people who have volunteered to assist and thus
lack knowledge and skill in the mentioned areas. A
program to train staff to work with children in
especially difficult circumstances should be
started.
6. Family therapists/family counsellors should reach
out to families and not wait for family members to
present their problems to them. Very few people are
aware of services offered by family counsellors.
Conclusion
On the basis of the findings, the following
conclusions were derived on the factors that lead to the
104
Suggestion for further researcq
1. A follow-up research need to be carried out using
larger samples in other small towns and in rural
areas Kenya.
2. A quantitative study on this same topic should be
carried out using bigger random samples to test the
family resource management theory and the proposed
conceptual framework.
1.
105
REFERENCES
Achterberg, S. (1988). Qualitative
nutrition education research.
nutrition education.
2. Agnelli, S., (1993). Street children: a growing urban
methods in
Journal of
tragedy. Duke university press, London.
3. ANON, (unpublished). The needs of the urban child in
especially difficult circumstances: A case
study of three Kenyan cities of Nairobi,
Mombasa, Kisumu.
4. ANPPCAN, (1994). Childwatch. The Newsletter of
Anppcan spacesellers Ltd, Nairobi.
5. ANPPCAN, (1995). Hearin~ on street children in
Kenya. Report on a hearing held in Nairobi on
4th and 5th November, 1994. AMREF; Nairobi,
Kenya.
6. Aptekar, L., (1988). Street children of Cali, Durham
and London. Duke university press, London.
7. Baumrind, D., (1971). Current patterns of parental
authority. Development psychology monographs,
4,(1) part 2 pp 1 - 103.
8. Bell, R., and Harper, L., (1977). Child effects on
adults. Erlbaum; Hillsdale, New Jersey.
9. Bernard, H. R., (1994). Research methods in
anthropology. Sage publications: Carlifornia.
106
10. Bigner, J. J, (1974). Parent-child relations: An
introduction to parenting. MacMillan; New
York.
11. Borg, W. R, and Gall, M. D., (1983). Educational
research: an introduction. 4th ed Longman,
London.
12. Boyden, J., and Holden, P., (1991). Children of the
cities Zed books ltd, London.
13. Bulboz, M. et al., (1979). The human ecosystem: A
model journal of Home Economics pp 28 -31
14. Bwibo, N.O., and Onyango, P., (1985). Children in
especially disadvantaged circumstancesL
UNICEF KCO/UON, Kenya
15. Danziger, J., (1971). Socialization. Penguin,
Harmondsworth.
Deacon, R., and Firebaugh,
resource management.
F., (1988). Family
Principles and
16.
application
Allyn and Bacon Inc, New York.
17. DeMause, L., (ed) (1977). The history of childhood
Psychohistory press, New York.
18. Eichler, M., (1988). Families in Canada today. Gage;
Toronto.
19. Galbraith, J.K., (1979). The nature of mass poverty.
107
Howard university press, Massachussetts,
U.S.A.
20. Gilgun. J., Daly, K., and Handel, G., (1992).
Qualitative methods in family research. Sage
publications, London.
21. GOK, (1992). Kenya's programme of action for
children in the 1990JL..Government printers,
Nairobi.
22. GOK/UNICEF, (1992). Children and women in Kenya. A
situation analysis. Government printers,
Nairobi.
23. Handel, G., (1989). Qualitative study of whole
families in a time of great change. Gage
publications, Toronto.
24. Heiss, J., (1976). Family roles and interactions~
anthropology. Rand McNally Co. Chicago.
25. Hardoy, J., and Satterthwaite, D., (1989). Squater
citizen. Earthscan publications Ltd, London.
26. Herbert, M. , (1974). Emotional problems of
development in children. Academic press:
London.
27. Herbert, M., (1978). Conduct disorders of childhood
and adolescents. John Wiley and sons;
Chichester.
28. Herbert, M., (1985). Recent developments in clinical
108
psychol~ John Wiley and sons; Chichester.
29. Kempe, R., and Kempe, C., (1978). Child abuse ._
Fontana, London.
30. Lang, R., and Esterson, A., (1970). Sanity, madness
and the family. Penguin, Harmondsworth.
31. Lang, G., and Heiss, G., (1991). A practical guide to
research methods. 4th ed University press of
America, NY.
32. Lofland, J., (1976). Doing social life. Wiley, New
York.
33. Manundu, M., (1991). Children in especially difficult
circumstances: Kenya case study. UNICEF KCO
Nairobi.
34. Martin, R., (1978).Anthem of bugles: The story of
Starehe boys center and school. Heinmann
books, Nairobi.
35. Maslow, A. H., (1970). Motivation and Personality.
Harper and Row publishers, Inc.
36. Miles, M., and Huberman, M., (1994). Qualitative data
analysis. Sage publication, Carlifornia.
37. Munyakho, D., (1992). Kenya: Child newcomers in the
urban jungle UNICEF; Nairobi.
38. Morse, J., (1994). Critical issues in qualitative
research methods. Sage publications,
Thousand Oaks, Carlofornia.
109
39. Ombaso, M., and Mutuku, F., (1992).
analysis of children and women
Chapter on children in especially
circumstances GOK/UNICEF, Nairobi.
40. Onyango, P. et. al., (1991). Kenyan case study: Urban
child in especially difficult circumstances,
UNICEF, Florence.
41. Patton, M. Q., (1990). Qualitative evaluation and
research method 2nd ed. Sage publications,
Situation
in Kenya:
difficult
London.
42. Pringle, M. K., (1989). The needs of children.
Educational Ltd, Hutchinson.
43. Ramtu, T. C. J., (1985). Report of the civil service
salaries review committee. Government press,
Nairobi.
44. Sandelowski, R. K. et. al., (1989). "Artful design;
writing the research in a naturalistic
paradigm". Research in nursing and health 12
pp 77 - 84.
45. Schaffer, H., and Collis, L., (1984). Adult-child
interaction under dyadic and polyadic
conditions. British journal of developmental
psychology 2, pp 33 - 42.
46. Schulz, D. A., (1972). The changing family: its
i.1JJ}ctiQ.n$..-Sill~'Lf\ltJtre-"_Prentice Hall, Inc, New
110
Jersey.
47. Silverman, D., (1993). Interpreting qualitative data
methods for analysi=n~g~~t=a=l=k~,__~t~e=x~t~~a=n~d
interaction. Sage, London.
48. Sluckin, W. and Herbert, M., (1987). ParentaL
behaviour. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, U.K.
49. Strauss, A.L., (1987). Qualitative analysis for
social scientists. Cambridge university press,
U.K.
50. Suda, A. C., (1994). Report of a baseline survey on
street children in Nairobi. CWSK, Nairobi.
51. Tarasuk, V., and Maclean H (1990). The food problems
of low-income single mothers: an ethnographic
study.Canadian Home Economics Journal 40(2)
Pp 76 - 82
52. UNICEF, (1995). The state of the world's children
1995 Oxford university press; New York,
U.S.A.
53. UNICEF, (1994). The state of the world's children
1994 Oxford university press; New York,
U.S.A.
54. West, D. J., (1969). Parent conduct and future
delinguen~~ Heinmann books, London.
55. Vander Zanden, J. W., (1990). Social psychology.
McGraw - Hill Tne, New York.
APPENDIX .1
FOR STREET CHILDREN ONLY
A. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARECTERISTICS
i). Name (optional) . _
ii). Ethnic group
iii). Residential area (estate)
iv). Age ... years
v). Sex: 1 male 2 female
vi). Number of living siblings: l male 2 female
vii). Birth order in the family __
viii). Do you attend formal school? l yes O__ no
ix). If yes, where do attend school?
x). If not at what level did you leave school?
l__ primary 1-4 2__ primary 5-8 3_secondary 1-4
xi). Why did you leave? (Interactions with teachers, pupils)
xii). Can you read or write? (Show something to read).
B. FAMILY'S SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
i). Do you know both your parents? l__ yes O no
ii). Where is t.he original home of your parents? _
iii). Are both your parents alive? l yes O no 3 i don't
know
vi). If both your parents are alive are they:
i_living together 2_living seperately
3_other(specify).
v). If your parents are alive, where do they live?
vi). If your parents do not stay together, which one of them do
you stay with?
l__mother 2 i stay with friends 3__ i stay alone
4 father 5 i stay with relatives 6__other (specify)
vii). Who brought you up?
l__both parents 2 father alone
4 mother alone 5__grandparents
viii). Who takes care of you now?
l__nobodyjself 2 father alone
4__mother alone 5__both parents
ix). What is the occupation of your parents?
3 friends
relatives6
3 friends
6 relatives
father
mother
x). Does your father have more than one wife?
xi). Describe your interactions with your:
--parents
--sibs
--relatives
C. VIEWS AND PERCEPTIONS
i). When did you join the streets? (How long have you been on
the streets?).
ii). Why did you join the streets?
iii). What do you do while on the streets on a daily basis?
iv). Have you been asked by someone to do it?
v). How long do you work on the streets on anyone given day?
vi). Do you make some money? If so, how much and how do you
use it?
vii). Do you like your work?
viii). What problems do face as you do your work?
ix). Do you like staying on the streets? Give reasons for your
answer.
x). How do the public treat you when they meet you on the
streets?
xi). If you had an alternative place to stay, where would you
rather be? Why?
xii). In order of priority, what do you need most in your life?
xiii). Who do you think can best need these needs?
xiv). What do think should be done to meet your needs?
--food: what they eat; where they find it; how often they
eat in a day; whether they share the food,
--shelter: where they sleep; safety,
--health: any health problems; where they seek treatment;
care.
xv). Do you have a welfare group? How do you help each other?
xvi). What do you plan to do in future (goals, aspiration)?
APPENDIX ii
FOR NON-STREET CHILDREN ONLY
For the non-street children, the sections A and B used in the
interview guide for street children , will be employed.
C. VIEWS AND PERCEPTIONS
The assumption while carrying out this part of the interview
is that a researcher can obtain more realistic accounts of the
views and perceptions of the children if he/she leaves the
discussion of what street children and other children are like
until the end.
i). Have you ever heard about street children?
ii). How did you get to know about them?
iii). What name do you call them.
vi). Why do you think these children stay in the streets?
v). Are you aware of what they do while on the streets? What
do they do?
vi). Do you like what they do while they are on the streets?
Give reasons for your answer.
vii). Do you like the idea of these children staying on the
streets. Give reasons for your answer.
viii). Why are you not on the streets? If you were asked to go
and stay on the streets, would you go? Give reasons for
your answer.
ix). In order of priority, what do you need in life?
x). How are your needs met?
xi). Who can best meet your needs?
xii). What should be done to meet your needs?
• ,' . ~iCHAH\f
APPENDIX iii
FOR PARENTS / GUARDIANS ONLY
i). Age of mother __years. iii). Ethnicity
ii). Age of father __ years. vi). Residence
v). Level of education
1__ none 2__primary 5-8
4__primary 1-4 5__ secondary
vi). Marital status
l__ single 2__married
vii). Religion
viii). Occupation
--How much time do you spent at your place of work?
--How do you fit domestic chores in your time schedule?
--Do you spent some time with your family members?
ix). Net salary per month:
1 <Ksh 1000 2 1000-2499
3__ college
6__university
3__ seperated
3 2500-5000 4 >Ksh 5000
--Do you budget? If so how often?
--Does it work?
--Do you review your budget?
--Do you control the budget?
--Do you save anything? How much?
--Do price changes affect your expenditure? Explain.
--Do get satisfaction out of the budget?
x). Number of children alive: 1__ male 2 female
xi). Home of origin
xii). Do you have land? 1__yes O__ no
If yes, what is the size of your land?
1 <1 acre 2 1-3 acres 3 3-5 acres 4 >5 acres
xiii). Do you have any other property? 1__yes 0 no
If yes, what other property do you have?
Where is this property?
xiv). Current place of residence
xv). Who is the head of the household?
xvi). How many meals do you eat in a day?
Who plans the meals?
What kind of meals are they?
xvii). Do you have any of your children on the streets? If so,
how many of them are on the streets?
xviii). Why are they on the streets?
xix). If you have no children on the streets, what do you think
makes other children go to the streets?
xx). How can they be kept off the streets?
APPENDIX V
What was observed
(children)
OBSERVATION CHECKLIST
1 o
i) ill-clad
ii) muscle wasting
iii) glue sniffing
iv) gabbage collection
v) begging
vi) ferrying luggage
vii) car washing
viii) stay in "chuom"
ix) feeding on wastes
x) aggressive
xi) other (specify)
Note: 1 = Yes 2 = No