Eagles Wings - Zambian Kids

Family Program

Helping Children in Crisis

Have you ever imagined what it is like to live on the streets as a child? Unfortunately for millions of African children, this is their reality. It is not something they chose and, for most, nor do their family. Poverty and HIV/AIDS have eroded away the once strong extended family system that cared for orphaned children. BW Family

Now, with no known family surviving or families with insufficient resources to assist, increasing numbers of children have no other option but to forge an existence for themselves on the streets. For some with no hope of escape, it becomes a future destined to life on the streets; a life that encompasses begging, hunger, abuse and a community that misunderstands the realism and suffering experienced.

Working and ministering to street children is diverse and complex. It involves much consideration to restore hope and life back into such a child and their family. We place a major emphasis on empowering existing family so children may be reintegrated, using our children's centre as a last resort for children who have no known existing family or family that, for a variety of reasons, are currently unable to care for their children.

During 2008, we will be working more with local churches, empowering them to become involved through increasing networking efforts and encouraging access to those existing human and financial resources available. Working with churches in Zambia, we hope to be loud advocates, so that many more children can be assisted and community attitudes can be influenced for change. We will also be launching a new documentary on street children that will be used both within Southern Africa and in western countries. We hope that this documentary, Ubuntu, will portray these children in a positive light and bring a more focused community response to these children who suffer tremendously.

OUR DREAM for the next five years:
Our dream is for the church to become involved in these children's lives, speaking out against injustice and creating their own programs to equip and empower local people to effectively assist street children. We hope to become a louder and more influential voice for suffering children both in Africa and abroad so that community perception and attitude towards street children may be changed and community response may become positive.

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