Street Outreach
Each week there is a meeting for the younger and older street children where they can play soccer, have a meal and listen to teaching about faith and why it is beneficial for them to choose to remove themselves from life on the street. Outreach can also include meeting up with kids or youth one-on-one and spending time with them throughout the week in both Kenya and Uganda. The purpose of street outreach is to build relationships with the children on the street.
Off-the-Street Assistance
When a street kid chooses to leave the street, SOUL is there to assist them. Often a family member or relative is willing to care of them. When that is not the case, in collaboration with the local children’s department, arrangements can be made for a child to live in an orphanage or care facility. The needs of each individual need to be addressed, beginning with examination of what motivated a child to come to the street in the first place. SOUL encourages families to be self-sustaining, but is often able to assist with school, training fee payment or investment in a sustainable livelihood such as farming or bike taxi driving for older youth. SOUL also facilitates transportation home and promotes dialogue between children and families with the aim of promoting understanding from parents about how their children may have affected by their time on the street and how the healing process can play out.
Follow-up Program
Once a child is removed from the street, SOUL staff regularly contact and visit the kids, parents and teachers or employers in order to ensure the child/youth is cared for and adapting to life at home appropriately. Follow-up includes discipleship and informal family counseling.
Prevention
As of August 2014, SOUL is taking initiative to prevent children from coming to the street. The program may include outreach to at risk neighborhoods, erecting road signs with information about street children, speaking in schools and churches as well as combating child labor in cooperation with local police.
Each week there is a meeting for the younger and older street children where they can play soccer, have a meal and listen to teaching about faith and why it is beneficial for them to choose to remove themselves from life on the street. Outreach can also include meeting up with kids or youth one-on-one and spending time with them throughout the week in both Kenya and Uganda. The purpose of street outreach is to build relationships with the children on the street.
Off-the-Street Assistance
When a street kid chooses to leave the street, SOUL is there to assist them. Often a family member or relative is willing to care of them. When that is not the case, in collaboration with the local children’s department, arrangements can be made for a child to live in an orphanage or care facility. The needs of each individual need to be addressed, beginning with examination of what motivated a child to come to the street in the first place. SOUL encourages families to be self-sustaining, but is often able to assist with school, training fee payment or investment in a sustainable livelihood such as farming or bike taxi driving for older youth. SOUL also facilitates transportation home and promotes dialogue between children and families with the aim of promoting understanding from parents about how their children may have affected by their time on the street and how the healing process can play out.
Follow-up Program
Once a child is removed from the street, SOUL staff regularly contact and visit the kids, parents and teachers or employers in order to ensure the child/youth is cared for and adapting to life at home appropriately. Follow-up includes discipleship and informal family counseling.
Prevention
As of August 2014, SOUL is taking initiative to prevent children from coming to the street. The program may include outreach to at risk neighborhoods, erecting road signs with information about street children, speaking in schools and churches as well as combating child labor in cooperation with local police.