Street Education

Mwema’s initial work was focused on the informal education of children living in the streets through street visiting, counseling and weekly activities where children used to meet receiving food, bath and a short informal educative session about life-skills. This was called Mwema Day. Through this method Mwema recruited the first bunch of children that were hosted in the centre in 2006 for their rehabilitation. From there most of Mwema efforts were focused and limited to those children and the Memkwa school, while other children kept on arriving and living in the streets of Karatu.

In 2008 Mwema realized about this overburdening situation and reinforced the work of the Mwema Day activities with the support of workers and volunteers that used their extra time to attend the needs of those children living in the streets.

In 2011 Mwema contracted a Street Educator and went a little step further on the street education. His job is based on the field and pretends promoting fluent relationships between the Street Educator and those children still living in the streets, far of parental protection and education opportunities. Once the relationship is built, the Street Educator provides counseling, psychological support and home visiting. This is then linked to the Mwema Social Worker, who keeps on following the case until a decision is taken either of family reintegration, school registration or rehabilitation in the centre. During this follow-up process the District Social Work Department is also involved.

Mwema Day activities and Street Education have provided a meeting space for children for recovering many values as friendship, care, respect and self-confidence. This is also promoted through, sports, games and opportunities for raising their own voices to be heard y adults. In 2011 Mwema team conducted a research work about the situation of children living in the streets , where children themselves where interviewed. The results are still being disseminated and were presented to the local authorities. This was done during the first celebration of the International Day for Street Children last April 2012 in Karatu, with the active participation of most of those children that Mwema works with.