Interim Care Centre

Programme Outline

A 6 month residential centre for the most abused and vulnerable street boys who cannot immediately rejoin their families. 20-25 boys are recruited every six months through referrals from a combination of our Outreach Programmes, the District Children's Office, Municipal Council and other community stakeholders. On the streets, these children have experiences drugs and other substances and suffered from many forms of neglect, exploitation and abuse. By carrying out intensive rehabilitation, non-formal education, counselling and family reintegration work, our social workers prepare these boys for re-integration into society and pave the way for a successful and sustainable return home and into education.

Activities

Intensive Non formal education timetable to prepare the children for re-entry into mainstream school Individual & Group counselling to enable children to address their feelings and experiences about home and living on the streets Creative Art Therapy Hear Our Voice Performing Arts Project Sports & Recreational Activities (Acrobatics, Football, Table Tennis, Running Club) Community Service (cleaning the police station weekly) to build relations between the children and the police Household duties (cooking, cleaning the compound, washing clothes) to enable the children to assist their families when they return home Agricultural activities (clearing, planting seeds, tending to plants) Community events & activities - raising the profile of our work and the talented, worthy children that we work with

Achievements

Since June 2005 we have assisted 241 children to successfully re-enter society and return to their families, school and the community.

Between January & July 2008 we undertook rehabilitation for 25 children, of these:

• 16 have been successfully settled at home and are in school
• 3 have been successfully referred and entered into children's homes locally (one a specialist centre for those who are HIV+)
• 1 is in a boarding special school for the deaf and mute, but has been successfully placed at home during the holidays
• 2 have returned to our care after continued problems at home and we are trying new strategies to assist them and their families

"The ICC is helping me so I can go back to school. All of the staff are very nice and I am learning lots from the classes. I wake up in the morning and go to the dining hall where I get good food. I also get to go to running club in the morning which makes me feel good! My family still has problems but I hope we can sort them out and I can go home soon." (Edwin, 12 years)