Life on the Streets:
Reintegrating Young People

Throughout the world, there are children and young people living on the streets, but it is a relatively recent problem for South Africa, because the previous apartheid regime had restricted migration to the cities. In 1987, there were an estimated 5,000 children on the street in South Africa. By 1995, there were an estimated 10,000 such children between the ages of eight and seventeen, of whom 2,000 live in Cape Town.

Government and private initiatives to aid children living on the street, who rely almost exclusively on short-term relief and institutionalization, have been unsuccessful in either reducing the number of such children or meeting their long-term developmental needs. Most children see the institutions as lonely and frightening places. In a prison-like environment, children have their heads shaven and are often put together with older, more hardened children. They learn only to fear adults and respond to commands.

The work of Ashoka Fellow David Fortune, featured here (right), demonstrates a way to move beyond reform schools and traditional relief efforts that provide food and shelter. Fortune has designed social work techniques that effectively help children who live on the streets join with families and communities in understanding and action.

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