Challenges Facing Street Children In Kenya: A Case Of Nairobi County

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study sought to establish the challenges faced by street children in Nairobi County. It was guided by the following three specific objectives. First to examine the lifestyle of street children secondly to identify challenges faced by street children and thirdly to assess their survival and coping mechanism they employ to overcome the challenges they face. Chapter two comprised of the literature review which covered the lifestyle of the street children, challenges they face on the streets and their survival and coping mechanism they employ to overcome the challenges they face. The theoretical framework and conceptual framework are also given in this section. Chapter three presents the research methodology and the research design was descriptive which targeted street children, social workers from NGOs rehabilitating street children and officers from department of Children in the four constituencies. Data was collected using questionnaires for 25 street children, and key informant interviews were conducted with 4 children officers and 5 social workers. The statistical Package for Social Science was used for quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. Study findings showed that street children in Nairobi County face myriad challenges which included health problems; access to basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing; psychological and social problems; abuse (physical, sexual, verbal); water and sanitation problems. The severity of these challenges varied depending with age and one’s sex.