Who and Where Should they turn to? The Plight of Street Children

This paper was motivated by observation (s) of pathetic scenes of street children looking for food in waste bins; teenage 'street mothers? with their babies strapped onto their backs while they begged for help from motorists at intersections in the city centre. It sought to identify the push/pull factors sending children and teenagers to the street; to determine livelihood challenges faced by street children and to recommend possible solutions for winning the street children back into their families. The presence of street children is a disgrace to ?our city, ? and gives foreign visitors a negative image of Zimbabwe. A descriptive survey was used to collect data from 30 children who have found refuge in the streets of the Central Business District of Zimbabwe's second largest city. Most of the data were collected through interviews with street children. Officials from Government offices, Non Governmental Organizations and counselors provided information through responding to questionnaires. I concluded that a lot still has to be done to address the problem of street children. It is certainly not prudent to turn a blind eye to them.