Amani’s Mission for the Children Of Tanzania

Nick Hall on the terrible reality of child poverty in Tanzania, and how the Amani Children’s Home is fighting against it.

Why are there street-children?
The reasons children go to the streets are unique to their individual situations. Often there isn’t one simple reason why a child is on the streets. Rather, a combination of multiple factors drive children to lives on the streets, including poverty, neglect, the breakdown of the family, losing one or both parents to HIV/AIDS or other prevalent diseases, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.

The rights of women and children are rarely recognized in Tanzanian society. A lack of education and a fear of reprisal actions prohibit them from voicing these rights. Tanzania has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), but has failed to enact a domestic child protection law to uphold the principles in this international treaty.

Local inheritance traditions reinforce women and children’s inferior position to men in the social hierarchy. An increasing divorce rate in Tanzania has contributed to a large number of boys being driven out of their homes by step-mothers who feel they pose a threat to her own children’s inheritance.

What happens to street-children?
Without help from organizations like Amani, street-children are trapped in a cycle of poverty and neglect that few are able to escape. They lack the basic necessities of food, health care, and a safe place to stay. Like many other Tanzanian children, homeless children are unable to afford an education, and they miss out on the important life skills that are usually learned in the home. Children living on the street face the constant prospect of physical, verbal and sexual abuse from peers and adults. Sniffing glue and petrol is a common way to dull hunger pains and blot out the violence they face on a daily basis.

The problems associated with street-children extend beyond the plight of the children themselves. The entire society is impoverished by the lost potential of homeless children and youth. In the long term, street-children end up unskilled and jobless, often resorting to crime.

Amani’s Mission
Amani Children’s Home is committed to reducing the number of children living on the streets in Tanzania by providing a nurturing place for homeless children to heal, grow, and learn. In addition to providing long-term care, Amani aims to reunite children with their relatives when possible and to equip their families with the tools they need to be self-sustainable. Amani is dedicated to creating a path for each child that leads to a future filled with hope.

Nick Hall climbs Killimanjaro on 22nd February for the Amani Children’s Home

Visit Nick’s Donation page now, and help the Amani make a difference.

Advertisement