|  | Street children- Outreach Network, Serbia
The H. Stepic CEE Charity initiated a project in Novi Sad, Serbia in cooperation with the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organisation (EHO), a local NGO that helps socially disadvantaged people by preparing them for a life of economic independence. EHO, which also cooperates with Caritas, has built an advisory centre to help street children. Novi Sad is home to about 10% of the ca. 500 street children that live in Serbia, according to UNICEF estimates. Many of these children are orphans, others have suffered from violence within their families, dismal children’s institutions or from the fact that their families are in financial
difficulties. As a result of all these negative experiences, these children see living on the street as the only chance they have to escape their difficult situation. Living in so-called “hot spots” (city centre parking lot, railway station and city park), the street children try to survive by
begging, stealing, washing cars, dealing drugs or by prostituting themselves. The H. Stepic CEE Charity's project helps to find ways of contacting institutions in which these children can receive adequate help. To that end, the project mobilizes qualified people who have been
carefully selected and trained by our project partners. This pool of “outreach workers” consists not only of accomplished psychologists, but also of students with a medical, psychological or legal background. The students work on a voluntary basis in three hot spots, are perfectly suited to understanding and responding to the street children, as they are not much older than them. Our ambition is to improve the quality of life of the neglected street children in Novi Sad through education, outreach counselling and emergency aid. Furthermore, we want to include these children in the health and welfare systems as quickly
as possible.
A drop- in centre that distributes clothing and meals to street children and advices and instructs them has already been established. The “street children outreach network” is designed to develop on a sustainable basis. |
|
|
|
|
|