/ Bayti for Street Children in Essaouira
In the metropolitan regions and tourist centers of Morocco, the number of children who must fend for themselves is growing. They survive by polishing shoes, cleaning windscreens and selling cigarettes, with prostitution, begging and theft. The health of these children is severely impaired by economic and sexual exploitation, and by the violence that they experience in the public domain. Many are addicted to drugs, most are ill and suffer extreme anxiety. Bayti is an organisation that engages in street work, housing projects, schooling for children and parent counseling. It is committed to improving the lives of children in Casablanca, Meknes and Essaouira. With information campaigns and lobbying, the organisation insists that the rights of children should be respected. cfd supports the work of Bayti in Essaouira.
Street Work and a Day Center
The local population hardly benefits from the tourist boom in the seaside resort of Essaouira. As more and more families battle to survive; their children are left to fend for themselves, or else they must contribute to the earnings of the family by taking on some work in the informal economic sector. Street workers in Bayti approach the street children as quickly as possible and support them with their daily lives. If the child is willing, it is invited to spend time in the day center. Every day, social workers look after about 100 girls and boys. In the studios, the children can paint, play music and theatre, and learn photography. They can also do sports or join discussion groups. Every child is encouraged to develop an individual 'Projet de vie' (project of life). Small children that are destitute are given a home.
Schooling and Job Prospects
Beginning school or returning to school is the focus of the rehabilitation program for younger children. Older children can learn to read and write in the day center, so that they can attend regular schools later on, or else prepare for some form of training. Bayti helps adolescents to find some form of internship or apprenticeship, and supports them while they are being trained in catering, hair dressing, crafts, tailoring, information technology, carpentry, fishing or photography. The scarcity of regular training positions is a continual problem. For this reason, Bayti plans to open a vocational school.
Parent Participation and Involving Authorities
If a child agrees, members of Bayti will contact the parents in order to discuss a possible return to the family. The aim of involving the parents is to create a partnership based on parental responsibility. Bayti helps parents to sort out the legal aspects of their situation, and to find economic alternatives to child labour. Since it is important to support both the parents and the children, rather than giving blame, members of Bayti work closely with the municipal authorities, the police, social services, schools and hospitals.
