Friends of the Family and CPWOs reintegrating street connected children into family

The two are now living in Rutagara 2 Village, Nzove Cell, Kanyinya Sector, Nyarugenge
District in the City of Kigali after being reintegrated by Inshuti z’Umuryango / Friends of
the Family and Child Protection and Welfare Officer (CPWO).
They ran to street in 2018 and 2019 respectively. By then, Sibomana was 9 years old
while Iraguha was 11.

Initially, the children could occasionally stay on the street and return home.
At this point their father tried to beat them into submission and it was not long before
the children decided to flee home.

“It was very difficult to imagine how my children could turn to the street. That’s why I
used to beat them to prevent them from wandering,” the father recalled.
According to the children’s testimonies, battery was one of three major factors that sent
them to live on the street.

“Our father used to beat us. In addition, we could not find basic needs including food.
Therefore, we ran away from home,” Iraguha said.
“Again, we had neighboring children who were always pushing us to go on street with
promise of a better life,” he added.

Running away from home was not without danger, but Sibomana and Iraguha pushed
on, sleeping either in the bush or under bridges on empty stomachs.
Their senior peers also often subjected them to similar beating they had run away from.
They lived off begging on the street and stealing from traders and moving trucks in
Nyabugogo, one of the biggest commercial hubs in Kigali city.

The parents spoke of their frustration over failure to take the children back home and
get them into school.
“I took them back home twice but they immediately went back on street. I was in trouble
as I shielded the blame. Local leaders had warned that if my children returned to the
streets, I would be severely punished,” said their father.
Moved by the plight of many such children in the city, Child Protection and Welfare
Officer is working with Inshuti z’Umuryango to reverse the situation in Nyarugenge
District.

After identifying the challenge, the organization started working with the children and
their parents to ensure that the children returned to their family safely and stayed to be
enrolled back in school.

Samuel Murwanashyaka, a Child Protection and Welfare Officer in Nyarugenge District,
said the process started in May, 2020 when Sibomana and Iraguha were taken into a
temporally shelter to protect them from Covid-19 pandemic.

The two underwent a rehabilitation process before being reintegrated in their families,
where Murwanashyaka monitored their stay through regular visits.
Murwanashyaka worked with Inshuti z’Umuryango of Kanyinya Sector, one of them
being Emmanuel Nshimiyumukiza who often visited the children and their parents, as
part the reunification efforts.

During the visits, Nshimiyumukiza and Murwanashyaka showed the kids the dangers of
being on the street, the benefits of living in a family and going to school. On the other
hand, they coached parents on positive parenting.

“Our discussions focused on the root causes of street children and the best way of
addressing them,” said Nshimyumukiza.

Now, Sibomana and Iraguha are reintegrated in their families.
Since July, 2020, the children have never gone back to the street and they are already
attending their primary education. Iraguha is in Primary 6 while Sibomana is in
Secondary 1.

The family was also supported with basic needs, including food to cater for the
children’s feeding needs.

Iraguha who remembers what he has gone through advises other children against
running to the street. “I would advise street children to go back to their families because
I found the street life tough. I went through a lot of suffering on the street and I know my
peers faced the same. I can't go back there. It is so bad,” he said.

Murwanashyaka and Inshuti z’Umuryango keep visiting Sibonama and Iraguha in their
family to help them handle any issue that could come up and make sure that the
children stay into their family. Sibomana, Iraguha and their parents, expressed their gratitude to Inshuti z’Umuryango
and the Child Protection and Welfare Officer for their invaluable efforts to reunite them.
The father said he has learnt a lot about positive parenting from Inshuti z’Umuryango
and the Child Protection and Welfare Officer.

“From them, I understood that it was important to talk to children and listen to them,
even if you are not able to provide them with everything they need, explain it to them
and help them to be satisfied with the little available,” he said.
“It is very bad to beat children.”

The case of Sibomana and Iraguha is one of many cases of street connected children
who were returned to their families and have never gone back on street. Thanks to the
support of Inshuti z’Umuryango and Child Protection and Welfare Officers.
Note: The names Sibomana and Iraguha have been changed to protect their identity.