The role of Networks of Relations among Street Children in Kenya: Evidence from Eldoret Municipality

The menace of street children has not only attracted public concern but has also become a matter of priority to governments, non-governmental organizations and the community at large. However, their attempts to alleviate the street children phenomenon have remained fruitless due to the complex network structures that street children develop on the streets. This partly explains why most of the existing interventions towards street children either fail or have little impact than intended. It is within this background that this paper examines the networks that exist among street children. The paper sheds light on how social relationships, inter and intra base relationships, leadership and perceived opportunities enhance street children networks. The authors argue that most children who are coming into the streets are not ignorant of what they will meet, they access information about the outside world through their social networks. Street children networks, which they create through their interactions, are important for their continued survival on the streets. The establish networks help the children to be strongly connected to their social identity, feelings of self-worth and self-confidence on the streets. Thus, making it difficult for interventions to penetrate and succeed in removing them from the streets. The paper recommends that for interventions targeting street children to succeed, they need to understand the impact and extent to which the networks street children create, guarantee them continued stay on the streets and even a return to the streets after reintegration. Interventions also need to understand the perceived benefits that motivate street children to maintain links among themselves, even after reintegration and therefore, devise appropriate strategies that can help to remove them successfully from the streets