Vienna, December 26, 2023 (KAP) On the occasion of the “Day of Innocent Children” (December 28), the Austrian aid organization “Jugend Eine Welt” reminds of the importance of education in the fight against poverty and child exploitation. “A later life with dignity is only possible with a high-quality school education,” said “Jugend Eine Welt” managing director Reinhard Heiserer in a broadcast on Tuesday. Heiserer cited the “Don Bosco Fambul” project in Sierra Leone, West Africa, as a positive example, through which street children receive a home, a daily meal as well as school and vocational training.
The “Fambul” project, which means “family” in Creole, supports children who have lost their parents due to the Ebola epidemic or who have fled abuse and violence in their families. “Quite a few were sold as slave labor at a young age and escaped from their ‘owners’,” reported Heiserer.
The children usually end up in the slums of Freetown, where there is no running water, electricity or sanitation. Girls in particular are at risk on Freetown’s streets and are often exposed to sexual exploitation, says Heiserer.
According to the aid organization, the educational project with around 100 employees looks after 2,000 children and young people. In addition to apprenticeships, primary school classes and support in finding a job are also offered. “Finding a home, finding food, a school, vocational training – that is the only way to escape this slavery,” said Heiserer.
Street not a place for children
“Life on the street means violence, lawlessness, alcohol, drug abuse, sexual assault. The street is no place for a child,” explained Salesian Piotr Wojnarowski, head of “Don Bosco Fambul”. The social workers of the project supported by “Jugend Eine Welt” would therefore walk through the streets of the slums, talk to homeless children and offer help.
Sometimes the team drives through the city in its own “Don Bosco Mobil,” a converted bus, and distributes medicine to sick children and young people, the religious says. They would also offer children the opportunity to come to the “Don Bosco Fambul”, but not everyone wanted to join right away because the educational project has rules and a fixed daily structure. “This is initially difficult for many who have already spent years on the streets,” said Wojnarowski.
Opportunities for girls
“Without education, these girls have no other way to get money. And without money, they have no way to get education. They are caught in a vicious circle,” explained Heiserer. As a result, many of the girls become pregnant young, and there are also illnesses due to a lack of contraception.
Former child prostitutes receive medical care and psychological support in the “Hope Plus” residential home and training program – a project of “Don Bosco Fambul”. Those affected can also complete a school leaving certificate and an apprenticeship.
(Youth One World donation account: AT66 3600 0000 0002 4000; online donations at www.jugendeinewelt.at/spenden)
2023-12-26 23:28:54
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