The resurgence of street children in town centres risks taking them back to the old status where insecurity was the order of major towns in Kenya.
According to an official at a charitable organisation in Nakuru County, if the situation is not dealt with immediately, Nakuru is among the towns that will suffer from this comeback.
Peter Ndolo, Sanata Charitable Trust in Gilgil regional coordinator, says the advent of street urchins at different places in town should not be ignored.
“We have a home for street children and we want them to have a secure place they can call home. This idea was born after we saw the need to decongest the town but also to see these children fulfil their dreams,” he said.
The home caters for more than 200 street children, orphans and other vulnerable children.
“We have children ranging from university to baby class. Some of them have come to take this as their only home because they came here as toddlers and now they are big people,” he explained.
He added: “Some of the children we see on the streets are not orphans or vulnerable. It’s interesting that some are sent by their parents to beg while others have just become unruly and don’t want to stay with their parents.”
The centre was founded by the British Charities Foundation under a United Kingdom (UK) based Senate Charitable Trust. It has branches in six other major countries.