Mobile School for Child Street Beggars
Travelling through the streets of Oko Oba in Ebute Meta,
The neighbourhood is home to a large number of Muslim migrants, disabled people and beggars living in squatter settlements. Some of the children are not homeless street children but they have parents who, because of illness and misfortune, cannot support their families.
As our red-coloured bus swerves, honks and moves slowly into the neighbourhood, children run out shouting, "The school has come!" The chorus gets louder as more children join the tumult. The running ends when the bus stops, but the commotion continues until our teachers emerge to hold the classes outdoors.
Initially there were a number of reservations especially on the part of the parents of the children. Since these children beg or work to bring home the much-needed money, the parents were afraid that school and education would deprive them of one of the breadwinners of the family. We also realised that many of the children were not interested in mainstream education. We therefore had to develop a method that would help the children without putting their families into jeopardy. So we came up with the idea of providing education in a different way by reaching out to the children in their own environment.
The school itself is a mobile bus that transports canopies, benches, blackboards and educational materials that give children plenty of room to work on writing, drawing, learning to count and tell time.
The project targets children between the ages of 5-14 who have missed out on school. The aim is to take education to the doorstep of the poor and the marginalized. The goal however is not just to teach them basic reading and writing skills, but also to help them learn that they can obtain a better life. They are given time to develop self-esteem and slowly prepare themselves for a better future.
Gradually the parents are convinced that the mobile school will help their children and enhance their skills to earn more and they encourage them to attend regularly.
As many as 250 child street beggars have benefited from our school-on-wheels programme that commenced in 2007.
bravenet.com