Over 200 Street Children In WBGS Demand Protection The recent conflict in the Northern parts of South Sudan drove 295 children to the street in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, WBGS capital, Wau. The 138 male and 157 female street families survive through selling empty bottles as Raik Dor told Gurtong.26 June 2011 Street Children in Suq Hajar Wau [©Gurtong]By James Deng Dimo WAU, 26th June 2011 [Gurtong] – The recent conflict in the Northern parts of South Sudan drove 295 children to the street in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, WBGS capital, Wau. The 138 male and 157 female street families survive through selling empty bottles as Raik Dor told Gurtong.
“We survive through scavenging left foods from dumping sites disposed off by hotels and restaurants,” Dor said. Another member of the family, Marko Madhieu said that his parents died when he was very young. He finally made his way to the street where he said to have grown up. “I have no food to eat as you can see, I used to take drugs before because it was the only way I could forget my problems,” Madhieu said. Just like Madhieu, the displaced children called on the State Government to provide them with shelter and allow them to access schools; “Sometimes we do advise ourselves and have dreams we can’t achieve, we just keep wandering on the streets… our new nation will not benefit us in any way,” Madhieu revealed. “We need to be cared for like others and contribute in the development of the new State, we can become constructors, mechanics or professionals if the government of Southern Sudan could provide us with proper education,” Madhieu added. They complained how the society despises them; accuse them of being thieves and so on. They claimed that poverty drove them to the streets. Madhieu called on the community in Wau not to associate them with notorious groups like the famous Manyang gangs. He added that they need the government of the new Republic of Southern Sudan to make plans to return them back to their homes. Some of them belong to different States, the street family fear that if something is not done to repatriate them, they would face humiliation after the 9th July Independence scheduled in less than two weeks time. Madhieu recalled how the State government, under Governor Rizik Zackarai Hussan promised to implement last month’s promise to assist street Children who are not in schools by providing them with clothes, tuition fees, stationery, footballs and other basic needs; but nothing has been done yet. Another young boy from the same street told Gurtong that the young and the old in the streets find themselves cast out of the society. They tend to form new families among themselves to survive. He pointing to an elderly man seated nearby, who is a leper, “this man is my father but not my real father, because we all stay on the street with him.” Posted in: Home, Humanitarian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
