A group of third-year Social Work students from the University of the Free State have taken hands with Kidz Care Trust to raise awareness of kids living on the street as well as the working youth in the Bloemfontein community.
According to the students, they chose to get involved with this specific project because Kidz Care Trust has been helping children living on the street for years and because Child Protection Week 2022 is around the corner (29 May to 4 June). “We want to make people aware of the conditions these kids live in and hopefully shine a light on how the community can get involved and assist them.”
The students also want to point out the fact that people should know that sometimes children end up on the street because of their circumstances and that all of them have a story that is unique to them. “Some of them did not choose to live on the street.”
One of the children living on the street shared how this specific project run by Kidz Care Trust has helped him with clothes, an opportunity to take a bath and also a warm meal to eat. The boy said he has been with the organisation for years and he is extremely grateful for the help he gets from them.
Lehlohonolo Motshabi from Kidz Care Trust said the boy is one the children they have helped the longest and he has lived at the shelter in Rodewal as well. He added that Willows is one of the areas the organisations often works in as there are a lot of young boys who live in the streets.
Justine Fortuin
