Street Child Africa is a UK-based charity that, over the past 13 years, has demonstrated it is small enough to be flexible, but big enough to make a difference. We are committed to a world where all African children are safe, loved, and reach their potential. We currently fund an ambitious programme in support of this goal. We provide funding, training, and advice to 12 partner organisations working with street children in 8 sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Through our partners, we support street children's physical and emotional well-being; foster their skills and learning; encourage them to enjoy and express themselves through arts, sports, music and play; and help them to plan for their long-term needs. We also facilitate collaboration so that our partners can deal with the immediate needs of the children they meet but also tackle the causes pushing children onto the streets in the first place.
St John's Leatherhead School chose Street Child Africa to be its school charity for 2012 and they have been directly supporting our partner project, ‘Friends of the Street Children’ which is based in Kitwe, Zambia. To get this year’s fundraising off to an excellent start, events such as: a mufti-day, Krispy Kreme sales, a sponsored swim and individual initiatives have been held. In addition, each house will be hosting a major fundraising event over the next few weeks.The School Charity fundraising group have also been busy selling Street Child Africa Christmas cards and key rings at the school's Christmas Fayre and they are preparing for a sponsored ‘Sleep Rough’ on the Quad which will take place on 8 March 2012.
Friends of the Street Children (FSC) was formed in 2001 to address the growing number of children living on the streets of Kitwe, Zambia. HIV/AIDS, poverty, alcoholism, family breakdown and domestic abuse force children out of their homes and onto the streets. A lack of educational opportunities and flexible skills training programmes, inaccessible medical care and counselling services, and a shortage of support structures (both emotional and financial) for their families...keeps them there. Children on the streets are marginalised and discriminated against. FSC is committed to changing this – its workers befriend children living and working on the streets, provide opportunities for formal and informal education, access to a drop-in centre, basic medical care, temporary residential care, and family reunification services. Their mission is to help children in street situations realise their potential and ‘become productive, responsible, and happy members of society.’
