International Day for Street Children - 12 April 2016

Former street children in southern Nepal are reaching out to other street children in their area to share their life experiences.

For International Street Children Day on April 12, the boys from Our Sansar's children's home are going out into the streets in Birgunj and chat to other street children and youth about their own past lives and the challenges they had to face.

As part of the global 'Identity' campaign, organised by the Consortium for Street Children, our children have decided to hold a 'Reach Out Workshop' and will tell those they approach about the changes they have gone through, what they have managed to achieve and what they want to become in the future. They will also distribute food and clothes.

There are still children living and working on the streets which Our Sansarhas not been able to accommodate in its home yet, however, we are working with the local authorities to provide emergency assistance and hopefully will be able to accommodate more and more children in the near future.

As another part of the International Street Children Day, Our Sansar volunteers and staff are organising a 'Sports on the Streets' activity, for our and other street children in the area. These include a football game, cricket game and relay races. The kids are forming combined teams and enjoying the day together.

As part of the the Consortium for Street Children's campaign, we are documenting the whole day on social media, with the goal of breaking down stereotypes and raising awareness of the challenges facing street children.

As our boys are encouraging street children to look to the future, we would like you to do the same on a global level, by joining the campaign using the handle #TweetForTheStreet .

The general assumption is that children end up on the street due to misconduct and delinquency, but a recent global study showed 39 per cent of children report poverty as the main reason, followed closely by abuse and family problems.

By sharing Our Sansar's posts, images and tweets you will be informing the community and changing approaches about how we perceive street children and the need to help them.

Get involved:

· Share our posts (facebook.com/oursansarNGO, @oursansar) and #TweetForTheStreet

Or use:

· Can you see more? Break stereotypes about street children. #TweetForTheStreet

· Street children are victims not perpetrators. Call for action in your community! #TweetForTheStreet

· You can change their future. Children on the streets need your voice! #TweetForTheStreet