Research Report No.

45

Lives of Street-connected Children in

Bangladesh

Rehnuma Rahman
Zion Rabbi Samadder

November 2015

Research and Evaluation Division (RED), BRAC, 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Telephone: (88-02) 9881265, 9846448, 9848566 Fax: (88-02) 9843614
E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.brac.net/research
Research Report No. 45

Copyright © 2015 BRAC

November 2015

Editing:
Iftekhar A Chaudhury

Printing and publication

Altamas Pasha

Cover design
Md Abdur Razzaque

Design and layout

Md Akram Hossain

Published by:

Research and Evaluation Division

BRAC
BRAC Centre
75 Mohakhali
Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Telephone: (88-02) 9881265, 9846448, 9848566
Fax: (88-02) 9843614
Website: www.brac.net/research

BRAC/RED publishes research reports, scientific papers, monographs, working

papers, research compendium in Bangla (Nirjash), proceedings, manuals and other
publications on subjects relating to poverty, social development and human rights,
health and nutrition, education, gender, environment and governance

Printed by -----------------------, -----------, --------------------------), Dhaka 0000.

Contents

Acknowledgments vi
Abstract vii
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Context 1
1.2 BRAC Initiative to address vulnerability 2
1.3 Study objective 3
2. Methodology 4
2.1 Methods 4
2.2 Data collection process and preparation 4
2.3 Data management and analysis 4
3. Characteristics of Street Connected Children 6
3.1 Basic demographics 6
3.2 Context of the study areas 6
3.3 Reason behind ending up in the street 7
3.4 Street livelihoods 9
4. Violence and Insecurity 12
4.1 Verbal abuse 12
4.2 Physical abuse 13
4.3 Burglary 13
4.4 Sexual abuse 14
4.5 Police harassments 15
5. Street Family: On-street support networks 16
5.1 Profession 16
5.2 Dwelling places 17
5.3 Gender 18
5.4 Husband-wife, girlfriend-boyfriend relation 18
5.5 Age 19
5.6 Bonding through drugs 19
6. Health and hygiene seeking behaviour 22
6.1 Health seeking behaviour 22
6.2 Hygiene 23

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh iii

7. Prevalence of substance abuse 25
8. Education and aspiration 27
8.1 Education 27
8.2 Aspirations among street-connected children 28
9. Roles of centres and challenges 30
Conclusion 34
References 35

iv Research Report No. 45

Acronyms

Mazar A Muslim shrine or enshrined tomb

Bhangari Plastic, metal and paper scraps or left-over
Bhangarir dokan Scrap shop
Bhangariwala Owner of a scrap shop
Tokkai Scrap picker
Coolie Porter
Bhabaghure Stroller, vagabond, homeless or floating person
Bhabakhana Temporary shelter or residence for homeless people
Lagoona A type of human hauler (mode of transport)
Ganja Cannabis
Dandy A solvent or glue used for shoes and leather
Paijama A kind of Trouser
Boro bhai Literally means elder brother. But for street-connected children it
refers to a local influential political leader or activist
Pongu A disabled person
Madrasa A school where young people go to learn especially on Islamic
religion.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh v

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the officials of BRAC Urban
Street Children Programme (USCP) for giving us this great opportunity and
supporting us all through to accomplish this study. Especial thanks goes to Rozina
Haque, Sagarika Indu and all field staffs of USCP for their constant cordial support
and suggestion. We are deeply indebted to our respondents who shared patiently
their valuable time and their own experiences with us. We are thankful to our field
assistants for their hard work and sincerity in the field. We are deeply grateful to
Professor Abdul Bayes, Director, BRAC Research and Evaluation Division, Dr Fedous
Jahan, Consultant, Abu Ahasan Mishu, Research Fellow and Narayan Chandra Das,
Unit Coordinator of Development Economics Unit, RED for their continuous
encouragement, guidance and valuable feedbacks that helped us to overcome many
limitations. The report was carefully edited by Mr Iftekhar Ahmed Chaudhury,
Coordinator, Editing and Publications, RED, BRAC. We thank him for his
contribution. We also owe a debt to Mr Altamas Pasha for final proofing and editing
the manuscript and to Mr Md Akram Hossain for formatting the report for publication.

vi Research Report No. 45

Abstract

Street connected children, children who live/or spend time on the streets, are a
vulnerable group of considerable concern. The aim of this study is to gain a detail
understanding about lives of children living and working in the streets of Dhaka,
Bangladesh, to help develop an effective and informed intervention that can
contribute to improved outcomes for this vulnerable group. In order to understand
the overall situation and structural violence in which street connected children spend
their lives, the study explored their (children) reasons for street migration, primary
livelihood, daily struggles, vulnerabilities and other issues which are distinctively
associated with street connected children. The study indicates a range of “push” and
“pull” factors leading and keeping the children on the street. It also includes a detail
analysis of the dimensions of challenges and risks experienced by children living in
the streets and the meaning and significance of a shelter to them as well as the
factors that draw and prevent them from joining street children shelter.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh vii

1. Introduction

1.1 Context

Bangladesh is home to around 42 million children aged 5-17 years, 32.2% of its total
population (Ahmed et al. 2003). More than 400,000 children live in the streets of
major cities of Bangladesh (de Benítez ST 2007). Dhaka city alone is home to nearly
249,200 street connected children (UNICEF 2009). Most street children are living in a
situation of multifaceted vulnerability regarding their inaccessibility to basic
socioeconomic amenities of life such as proper food and nutrition, permanent and
safe shelter, access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation, sufficient clothes,
medical facilities, education and training, family environment, etc. Surrounded by
poverty and other hardships of life these street children are often engaged in different
low waged as well as hazardous income earning activities. Moreover, according to
research findings this group is often subjected to regular incidences of physical and
sexual abuse, drug abuse and violence (Koehlmoos et al. 2009, Abdullah et al. 2014).

Not all street children are orphans and homeless. There is not yet an international
agreement on the definition of ‘street children.’ The categorisation of street children
as being ‘of’ or ‘on’ the streets became popular in the 1980s literature: the former
term refers to ‘street-living’ children, the latter means children who work on the
streets during the daytime and return home to their families at night or ‘street-
working’ children (UNICEF 1986). The world of the street children cannot be
distinguished by a simple division between ‘home’ and ‘street’ but rather with respect
to numerous private and public ‘domains’ (Lucchini 1996). To capture diverse
situations, experiences and fluidity of children’s relationships to street, Criança (2007)
defined ‘street-children’ as children for whom the street is a reference point and has
a central role in their lives and who experience a combination of multiple deprivations
and ‘street-connectedness.’ Therefore, in this paper we use the phrase ‘street-
connected children’ as a synonym of ‘street children.’

There are children who work on streets in day time and return back to their families at
night, there are also children who migrated to cities to support their family back
home. Many slum dwelling children spend most of their day time in public places like
bazaars, terminals in the countryside, streets, interact with people from various
backgrounds, work as apprentices and spend most of their waking hours away from
their families. Thus, the term street-child is a complex phenomenon. As per our data
there is prevalence of various kinds of street children in Dhaka city, the categories
include:

1. Orphan children living in the streets;

2. Slum dwelling children who spend most of their day time playing or working in
the street away from their home but return to their families at night.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 1

3. Street children without guardian (lost, abandoned, eloped and separated): these
children are separated from their families. In some cases children have a loose tie
with the family. But most of these children do not live with their parents and live
on their own. They earn their living by themselves and spend nights in public
places such as streets, bus terminals, under/overpass, in private garages or in
stairs of office buildings etc.
4. Street children with guardian: children under this category become street-
connected due to their parent’s migration to the street. This is one of the
common consequences of rural-urban migration and slum eviction in
Bangladesh.

Recognising the vulnerabilities of these children, BRAC initiated a pilot programme in

May 2013 named “Urban Street Children Programme” under its urban poverty
programme. The primary objective of this programme is to provide nurturing services
to children living on the streets through its two main children centres located in
Sadarghat and Mirpur and 16 other sub-centres located in adjacent areas of the
main centres. Subsequent sections of this introductory chapter provide an overview
of the Urban Street Children Programme along with the study objectives.

1.2 BRAC initiative to address the vulnerability

The main goal of BRAC Urban Street Children Programme (USCP) is to improve the
lives of marginalised street connected children suffering from violence and other
hardship through its various interventions like: literacy, life skills, livelihood, extra
circular activities and psycho social support etc.

The BRAC urban street children programme is working with street connected
children in the areas mentioned above. These children aged 6-15 years can be
grouped into the following categories:

1. Street children without guardian (lost, abandoned, escaped, separated);

2. Slum dwelling working children who spent most of their time on street;
3. Children who got migrated to street with their guardian.

USCP has the following primary objectives:

1. Livelihood development of street children through job placement by giving them

non-formal primary education and vocational training.
2. Building hope and confidence among these children by equipping them with
knowledge and skill through life skill training and confidence/aspiration building
training.

2 Research Report No. 45

Basically, the USCP wants to equip these children with the means to govern
themselves through self-expression, personal growth and professional development.
In addition, the programme also seeks to transform them into well-balanced,
empowered and productive member of society.

1.3 Study objective

Research and evaluation division has been an integral part of each and every BRAC
innovation. BRAC has monitoring and evaluation built into each of its programme to
assist its programme personnel with constant update about the effectiveness of the
interventions. Thus, for an evidence based programme intervention evaluation of the
pilot phase of USCP is necessary. Following this a baseline study was conducted in
2014 to aid in later evaluation of the programme. Thus, the objective of this report is
to provide a detailed profile of the targeted street connected children from the
baseline and also to compare them with other non targeted street children residing in
the same area. This report mainly attempts to answer the following specific
questions:

 What are the profiles of children living in street and shelter?

 What are the dimension of challenges and risks experienced by children living in
the street?
 What is the meaning and significance of shelter to street connected children?
 What are the factors that draw and prevent them from joining a shelter?

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 3

2. Methodology

2.1 Methods

Qualitative techniques were used to understand the lives of street connected

children. Fieldwork for the study was conducted from December 2013 to February
2014 in Mirpur-1 and Sadarghat. Data were collected through triangulation of in-
depth interviews, case studies and focus group discussions.

In-depth interview (IDI) was the primary tool for collecting data from these children. All
the interviews were conducted in an informal and open-ended manner, following a
semi-structured interview checklist. For the key informant interviews (KII) a semi-
structured checklist was developed. Day long participant observation based
ethnographic accounts were also conducted both inside and outside the centre in
Mirpur and Sadarghat in four separate days.

We contacted the responsible centre manager to set up a convenient time to meet

the targeted children. To identify children for the comparison group, we applied the
snowball method. Children in the centre mainly worked as a primary index case for
locating children for the comparison group. In some cases programme staff also
helped us to locate children for the comparison group.

To maintain data triangulation as well as to capture different perspectives on lives of

street connected children, we also conducted interviews with some key actors who
are in some way related to street-connected children. This aided us to see a broader
picture of street-connected children and their relationships with different actors in the
society. The selected key informants were various staff in the centres (i.e. centre
manager, field organiser, care giver, teacher, cook, savings officer, job replacement
programme organiser), parents, employers, etc.

2.2 Data collection process and preparation

Five Field Research Assistants trained in Anthropology was appointed for data
collection. Prior to data collection the research assistants were trained in the use of
PRA, RRA and other participatory research technique by an experienced facilitator.

2.3 Data management and analysis

The collected data were transcribed in Bengali by the research assistants. The first
task was to translate the datasets into English and check for any type of discrepancy
without interfering with the actual narrative to make it more appropriate for academic
use. The next task was to identify the reoccurrence or common themes across the
datasets for further analysis. In order to complete this process each of the transcripts

4 Research Report No. 45

was thoroughly analysed using a thematic indexing system. Some of the reoccurring
themes were substance abuse, violence, insecurity, daily survival struggles, past
lives, future aspirations etc.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 5

3. Characteristics of street connected
children

3.1 Basic demographics

Data were collected from 36 (21 boys and 15 girls) street-connected children. We
planned to keep the male-female ratio equal; however due to absence as well as
reluctance of street connected girls in Sadarghat area to participate in the interview
we could not survey the required number of girls in this area. Regarding age of the
children we followed the segregation method used by the programme. We divided
the study samples into two groups; one group with children aged 6-10 years and the
other group with children aged 11-15. All the children we talked with were Muslims.
The majority of children came from Barisal division, mostly from Barisal, Bhola,
Barguna, Patuakhali, followed by Kishoreganj, Faridpur, Chandpur, Noakhali, Comilla,
Chittagong, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Jessore, Saidpur and Rangpur districts. Two
respondents in Mirpur informed us that they were born and brought up in Mirpur
area. About fifty per cent of the respondent had exposure to formal schooling at the
very basic level. Most of the children we interviewed were found to be engaged with
various informal occupations: scrap collection, begging, pushing motor vans, etc.

3.2 Context of the study areas

Mirpur and Sadarghat were selected for the pilot study due to their size, location,
high commercial activities and the fact that they serve as transit point to other towns
and cities in Bangladesh. Significant numbers of street-connected children were
found concentrated in both areas.

Hazrat Shah Ali Mazar in Mirpur-1 is the central place for earning, roaming and
sleeping for a significant number of street-connected children of Mirpur area. Some
of the older street boys (10+) work as day labourers at Mirpur-1 market just next to
the mazar. Mazar committee prepares and distributes free lunch to economically
marginal people who stay at mazar or visit mazar for food. Every Thursday dinner is
also cooked at the mazar for poor and needy people. Moreover, as a sacred place,
everyday many visitors come to the mazar premises from various parts of
Bangladesh. This frequent gathering of people in the mazar premises, allows children
with opportunity for begging and stealing. Thus, for the street children of Mirpur area
the mazar has been a source of food, accommodation and livelihood. Moreover,
Gabtoli Bus Terminal, one of the largest inter-district bus terminals in Dhaka, is also
quite close to the mazar area. Thus, some street children staying at the mazar area
work as assistants in public vehicles like bus and human haulers. Most of the street
children of Mirpur area sleep at the mazar premises, some sleep under the foot-over

6 Research Report No. 45

bridge and others the corridors of local shopping malls and local cinema halls. Table
3.1 below shows the dwelling places of our respondents from mirpur area:

Table 3.1 Dwelling places of the respondents in Mirpur area:

Girls Boys
Places Total
6-10 11-15 6-10 11-15 Percentage
Shah Ali Mazar, Mirpur-1 2 5 2 2 11 52.4
BRAC Children Centre 3 - 3 - 6 28.6
Shah Ali Mazar and under the
foot-over bridge of Mirpur-1 - - - 3 3 14.3
Local slum (with family) - - - 1 1 4.8
Total 21

Sadargaht and its neighbourhoods have ferry terminal for facilitating communication
mainly with many districts of Bangladesh. Based on this river front, different factories
and wholesale markets have been established, making this area economically
significant. Picking plastic, metal and paper scrap is a very common occupation for
the street-connected children of this area. Moreover, Sadarghat ferry terminal
provides various other work opportunities for street-connected children like (begging,
carrying baggages of travelers, arranging passengers etc.). Most of the street
children of Sadarghat area sleep either at the Sadarghat launch terminal or inside
local scrap shops. Few of our respondents were found sleeping at NGO shelters and
in local slums with their families. Table 3.2 below shows the dwelling places of the
respondents of Sadarghat area:

Table 3.2 Dwelling places of the respondent of Sadarghat area

Girls Boys
Occupation Total
6-10 11-15 6-10 11-15 Percentage
Sadarghat Launch/Boat terminal - 1 2 2 5 33.3
Local slum (with family) 2 2 - - 4 26.7
Local Scrap shop (Bhangarir dokan
in Bengali) - - 2 1 3 20.0
NGO night centres in Sadarghat
(other than BRAC centres) - - 1 1 2 13.3
Alternately sleeps between Local
Scrap shop and Sadarghat Launch/ - - - 1 1 6.7
Boat terminal
Total 15

3.3 Reason behind ending up in the street

A dominant prevailing notion is that children end up on the streets due to poverty.
Conticini and Hulme (2007) challenge this notion, arguing that domestic violence also
plays a significant role in pushing children into the street. Findings from this study

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 7

indicate that poverty – understood in terms of material deprivation- as well as
domestic violence are some of the larger range of both push and pull factors which
result in children moving into a street.

Material insufficiency such as food, clothing and shelter is intensified through the
deprivation of care and affection, pushing children to cross the boundary of home
and family and to live their own life. Children in a street context have often dropped
out of families where adults have failed to fulfill their material and emotional needs.
Children in these families are sent to earn or leave their family in order to pursue a
better life. Some of our respondents said that they send money to their family living in
Dhaka or outside Dhaka. However, even if children don’t share their income with their
families, children working outside can still help the family members, as the adults do
not need to bear any expenses for the working children. Even sometimes cooking for
working children becomes needless, since most of them are able to source their own
food. Thus, children eating and earning money on the street whether they bring home
food and money or not, provide economic relief to their families; according to our
findings this is a common scenario for low income families of Mirpur and Sadarghat.

There are other drivers that amplify the state of poverty and push children to cities
and to the street. Many of these boys and girls are from female headed families losing
their prime male earners of the family (meaning father/husband) due to divorce,
abandonment or death. In south Asia and other parts of the world, among
households based on any criteria, female-headed households tend to be the poorest.
Female-headed households are more vulnerable to increased unemployment and
reductions in social services from the state (Sen 1991, Chant 1997 & 2004, and
Buvinić 1997). Similar scenario is seen in the case of street children of countries like
Angola, Kenya and Ethiopia (Moberly 1999, Onyango et al. 1991 and Lalor 1999).
Moreover, another prominent push factor is domestic violence and arguments with
parents or step-parents and even corporal punishment. So, the situation gets worse
for children when deprivation of care and affection is added with the insufficiency of
basic material needs (food, clothing and shelter) and this mishmash pushes children
to cross the boundary of home and family and to live their own life (Seymour 2012).

On the other hand, the street of Dhaka offers children various informal opportunities.
Pull factors that came out of this include livelihood scope or opportunities to earn
money, autonomy from adults and the freedom of street life. These findings are
consistent with that of Blanchet (1996). To most street connected children, having
some money in their hand, hanging out with friends, talking about any topic, roaming
all over the city and even country, smoking cigarette and taking different drugs,
playing video games, watching films, sleeping and waking up anytime are more
rational than having proper clothes, food, shelter, education etc. They are even
ignorant about the existing threats on the streets such as the likelihood of being
abused (physically and sexually), kidnapped, infected with severe diseases or the
possibility of jeopardizing their future perspectives. Table 3.3 lists the reasons for
street migration of our respondents:

8 Research Report No. 45

Table 3.3. Reasons behind Street Migration

Girls Boys
Push and Pull Factors Total
6-10 11-15 6-10 11-15 Percentage
Female headed households/Poverty 3 4 4 3 14 38.9
Broken family (Divorce, remarriage
of both or either one of the parents) 3 2 3 2 10 27.8
Lost, abandoned, escaped,
separated from parents or primary 1 2 3 6 16.7
care giver
Dispute with family or primary
caregiver 1 3 4 11.1
Domestic abuse 1 1 2 5.6
Total 36

3.4 Street Livelihoods

The notion of livelihoods in relation to street connected children is contrary to the

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Childhood is seen as a period
of nurturing and education within the family, school and society that builds a path for
children’s future career and lives. Unfortunately, all the street-connected children
included in this study were deprived of these opportunities. Some street children
even migrated to Dhaka in order to earn money for the family. Others had to be
involved in an income-generating activity so that they could survive since they were
far away from their family and there was no one who would pay for their food and
shelter. Thus, livelihood becomes a must for most of the street-connected children to
stand against all odds and survive in the streets of big cities.

Street-connected children’s livelihood and its trajectory is a prominent factor in order

to understand the streets and their connectivity with children. We draw a livelihood
Table (Table 3.4) based on street connected children’s age and gender.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 9

Table 3.4 Street Livelihoods

Age Gender division Usual working time and

Type of profession range schedule Average
Day Afternoon Income
Begging 6-12 Both boys and girls 8 am–12 pm 3 pm – 6 pm 100 – 150 Tk.
(daily)
Selling various 6-12 Mainly girls, but also
commodities on younger boys 9 am – 5 pm 100 – 150 Tk.
street (i.e. flowers (daily)
and candies)
Carrying goods 6-12 Predominantly boys 8 am – 12 5 pm – 8 pm 100 – 150 Tk.
(Carrying baggage in pm (daily)
bazaars and
warehouses)
Collecting and selling 6-12 Both boys and girls 5 am – 12 _ 100 – 150 Tk.
Vegetables pm (daily)
Selling drinking water 6-12 Both boys and girls - 4 pm – 10 pm 200 – 300 Tk.
(daily)
Working as a porter 9-12 Predominantly boys 5 am – 10 4 pm – 10 pm 100 – 200
at Sadarghat Launch am (daily)
Terminal)
Selling Newspapers 9-15 Predominantly boys 7 am – 1 am - 70-80 Tk.
(daily)
Scrap picking 6-15 Mostly boys, girls of 6 am – 10 3 pm – 6 am 200 – 300 Tk.
6-9 years old also am (daily)
do this
Scrap sorting 10 + Mostly girls and 9/10am – 4/5 pm (with a 1000-1500
women; boys who lunch break at 2 pm.) Tk. (weekly)
pick scraps also do
this
Washing dishes in 9-15 Predominantly boys 2 am – 7 am 10 pm – 3 am 250-300 Tk.
restaurants (daily)
Working as a waiter 9-15 Predominantly boys - 5 pm – 12 pm 150-200 Tk.
in restaurants (daily)
Pushing three- 12-15 Predominantly boys 9 am – 1 pm 3 pm – 9 pm 200 – 300 Tk.
wheeler vans (daily)
“Helper” or Assisting 12-15 Predominantly boys 7 am – 1 pm 4 pm – 11 pm 500 – 700 Tk.
in human hauler (daily)
(known as Lagoona
or Maxi)
“Helper” or Assisting 9-15 Predominantly boys One can get a single trip of 400 – 500 Tk.
in cargo trucks 3-4 days a week (per trip)

Pick-pocketing 15-15 Predominantly n/a n/a 2000 – 3000

boys, but also done Tk. (monthly)
by older girls

10 Research Report No. 45

From all the professions mentioned in Table 3.4, we can outline some significant
features: Children are the primary and cheapest possible labour in trades like scrap
collection, local transport and newspaper distribution. Nevertheless, in the face of
economic deprivation most of these poverty stricken children are unable to bargain
for fair wage. Besides, all these professions need no or very little academic
qualification (especially knowledge of dealing with money) along with physical and
mental fitness.

Among the jobs done by street-connected children, there are two kinds of job on the
basis of the nature of employment.

a. Employed by others b. relatively independent or self-employed

Most street children were found working under a specific person or party. Such job
includes: working as a helper in human hauler, scrap picking, selling newspaper or
drinking water, cleaning dishes in restaurants, waiter at roadside restaurants etc. In
these jobs, children are usually given a fixed term wage.

Some street connected children work independently. This includes professions like
begging, carrying goods, picking vegetables, pushing vans etc. Though there are no
formal employers in these professions, sometimes children need informal affiliation
with adults. As wages are not predetermined for these jobs, the amount of children’s
income fluctuates. Usually these jobs require no strict time schedule. However, there
are some peak periods when children can earn comparatively more money through
these non conventional jobs.

Most of these jobs give street connected children multifaceted freedom. As most of
these are outdoor based, children can spend more time exploring public spheres.
This gives children the connectivity to street and public spheres as well as freedom of
being outside and enjoys the freedom of mobility. Moreover, some of these jobs even
allow children to work in peer groups where children can roam together and have
fun. The nature of these jobs plays an important role to develop intimacy and
community among themselves. Thus, some of these professions give them freedom
to develop their own world. However, these professions also undermine the
potentials of the children, as none of these jobs requires children to be educated or
help to develop any specific skills that could be an important stepping stone for a
better career.

Lives of street-connected children in Bangladesh 11

4. Violence and insecurity

Experiencing different type of abuse is common among street children. Due to working
and living in streets and public spaces, these children are eventually exposed to various
risks of the outside world. Regarding health and hygiene, street-connected children are
always in a great risk as they work in dust, rain, sun; for collecting scraps they search
into garbage cans and dump yards. Children who work in public vehicles and in busy
streets (paperboys or flower girls) are always at odds of being injured or even killed. In
case of picking scraps, collecting vegetables, carrying baggage, sometimes people
allege children as thief due to the nature of their profession. Children are abused
verbally as well as physically due to their work nature. Predominantly girls, but also boys
fall victim of sexual abuse as they are exposed to public. This study has identified some
common types of abuse faced by children in street on a regular basis.

4.1 Verbal abuse

Children are rebuked by their employers, peers, older children, passers-by for various
reasons. Verbal abuse is a regular experience for the children who beg. Sometimes
people refuse children to give money very rudely. Mostly they ask children to leave them
alone in a very harsh way. One girl in the mazar expressed:

“Lots of people scold me every day”

Besides, some older beggars also behave badly with children using bad words, since
they perceive these child beggars as their competitors. Similar things happen to
children who work as porters in Sadarghat Launch terminal. Senior porters often try to
dominate and demean them through continuous practice of scolding and rebuking.
Some passengers also behave rudely, suspecting that children may steal or drop their
baggage.

Children who are involved in other informal income earning activities like scrap
collecting; cart pulling etc. also get rebuked by their employers regularly. While picking
scraps from public places like bazaar, near to shopping malls, people, mostly shop-
keepers scold them (children) in advance to avoid vandalism or stealing of goods from
their store. Several scrap picker boys stated that in general people perceive them as a
bunch of thieves. Nevertheless, few street connected children admitted that sometimes
they really steal from shops. Children also get scolded by their employers for not doing
their jobs properly. Drivers of human hauler often rebuke children if they are unable to
gather passenger or make any mistake in calculating collected fare money at the end of
the day. Scrap owners scold children badly if they make too much noise or quarrel and
fight with each other. Some scrap owners verbally abuse children if they are caught
sniffing dandy during work as dandy makes children numb and lethargic preventing
them from being productive. On the other hand many of the scrap shop owners allow

12 Research Report No. 45

children to smoke ganja and cigarette even inside their shop premises as these help
children to be more energetic and speedy. One of our respondent mentioned that the
owner of the scrap shop always tells them:

“Smoke ganja, I’ll make sure that you guys don’t get arrested, but if I ever catch you
smoking dandy I’ll just kick you out of my shop”.

4.2 Physical abuse

Street-connected children are also at risk of being physically abused almost on a daily
basis. A scrap picker (12) in Sadarghat area described,

“While picking scrap in front of shops or stores, we hear comments such as ‘bunch of
thieves’, ‘Dandy addicts’, ‘Ganja addicts’ ‘they intend to steal here, they should be
beaten’. Sometimes they really beat us! We usually leave the place crying”.

Punishing physically for burglary is a general trend among the people. Children who are
caught red-handed while stealing are generally treated with physical punishment. In the
wholesale vegetable market in Jatrabari, children who usually collect thrown away
vegetable, sometimes steal fresh vegetable from the warehouse as fresh vegetables
can be sold at a higher price than the rotten ones. If these children are caught red-
handed, slapping along with verbal abuse is a regular treatment for them. People also
punish them by tying them up with rope for a while. Even during the field research we
found a boy accused of stealing (about 9-10 years old) tied up with a pole and crying.
He was rebuked badly while being tied up and then released from there after a few
hours.

4.3 Burglary

For majority of the children who sleep in public places like: mazar, terminal, streets,
under the foot-over-bridges etc. night is not a peaceful time. Burglary is a major
problem for these street dwelling children. Both adults and other children steal their
money, blankets and cloths while sleeping. Even sometimes people forcefully snatch
from street connected children. So, one of the reasons behind forming groups among
children is to confront this kind of insecurity together. Mostly addicted men and women,
poor and unemployed street dwellers, needy children steal from street-connected
children. Most children who sleep in mazar and terminal pointed out this as one of the
most vital problems of living in public places. One boy in Mirpur said he always wanted
to finish up his daily earning due to the odds of getting robbed. One girl at the mazar in
Mirpur-1; while explaining the reason behind her reluctance to take regular shower
expressed:

“I have only one paijama (kind of pant for women). Once brought some paijamas from
my home village, but they were all stolen from the mazar. If I had those, I would have
bathed daily.”

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 13

4.4 Sexual abuse

A study on 200 street-connected children in West Bengal and Bangladesh showed

70% of the total respondents had experienced sexual abuse while living on the street
(Group Development 2006). According to Farouk (2005) girls become vulnerable to
sexual abuse immediately after attaining puberty. Another study done by Sarma et al.
(2001) showed that street-connected girls were at a greater risk of falling victims to
sexual abuse and some street girls even go through this experience more than once.
Our data also show that street-connected girls were much prone to sexual abuse and
harassment. Most girls who experienced this form of abuse said that it was hard for
them to remember how many times they had been abused sexually. Three respondents
in Mirpur-1 informed about how they and other girls were approached and experienced
varied forms of sexual harassment within the boundary of mazar by men of different
ages and classes. Duli a 11 year old street connected girl stopped staying in mazar at
night due to probable risk of sexual abuse. She said,

“Girls can be spoiled staying in the mazar”.

When we asked her why and how a girl could be spoiled, she answered,

“Usually men in the mazar lay besides girls who sleep there and keep touching them
constantly with bad intention”.

Here perhaps the word “become spoiled/ bad” might be derived from her sense of
insecurity of losing celibacy by sexual abuse and harassment. Blanchet (1996) said that
street girls are always at risk of being labeled as spoiled by their mates and other
people. People from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and different ages approach
street girls with bad intentions. It is not always low income people like beggars, labours,
street vendors, rickshaw-pullers who ask for sex or rape these girls. Just at the end of
our fieldwork, we met a girl in Mirpur centre who had transformed from a very jovial girl
to a demoralised one after being kidnapped from Hazrat Shah Ali Mazar and raped by
some young men at night. This is an example of how sexual abuse can affect children
mentally.

In Sadarghat area, the girls we talked with did not experience any sexual abuse and
harassment so far. It might be because most of them slept with their parents, at least
with their mothers, did not spend their night in public places like park or Sadarghat
terminal.

According to various researchers it was evident that mostly street girls were the victims
of sexual abuse and harassment. Besides, majority of studies emphasised trafficking
and sexual exploitation on women and girls. Available disaggregated data indicate a
somewhat higher prevalence of sexual abuse and violence against girls than boys in
Bangladesh (Breaking the Silence Group, Bangladesh 1997). But it does not mean that
boys are not prone to any sort of sexual abuse and harassment. Rather social
perception over boys can make them more vulnerable to these types of abuse

14 Research Report No. 45

(Frederick 2009, Ali and Sarkar 2006). However, during our fieldwork we did not find or
interacted with any street boy who was a direct victim of sexual abuse. But a 13 years
old scrap picker boy from Sadarghat area told us how he was approached and
harassed by a stranger on one occasion. One night, a middle aged man whom he
never saw before called him in the Sadarghat Launch Terminal. That man took him to a
quiet and shadowy place and asked him to take off his pant. As soon as the boy
refused to do so, the man grabbed his hand and offered him money. However, the boy
somehow was able to escape by biting that man’s hand and ran away immediately
from that place.

4.5 Police harassments

Being abused/harassed/maltreated by authorities especially by police is relatively

frequent among the street-connected boys in Mirpur-1. As our study took place during
the peak period of pre-election political turmoil of 2013-2014, we encountered many
street-connected children who were harassed and even arrested by the law
enforcement authorities. One such street children named Shurjo (13) was arrested
during that time. Police arrested Shurjo from the mazar on false allegation of arson
attack with other boys who were sleeping beside him. However, Shurjo was able to get
out of jail with the help of one of his friend’s father. Since coming back from jail Shurjo
started to sleep under the foot over bridge of Mirpur-1 instead of the mazar premises in
fear of getting arrested again. Some boys who used to sleep below the foot over bridge
at Mirpur-1 also experienced such interrogation frequently since the starting of hartal
(Strike) and aborodh (Blockade). One such boy stated,

“Police always harasses us while gathering Maal (scrap). At night police doesn’t let us
sleep”

Shumon (10) was forced to move from Kamalapur to Mirpur mazar as he was facing
frequent police harassment in that particular area. Another boy named Razzak (14)
shared that he was also arrested and taken to jail thrice. First time he was arrested for
glue sniffing, but he was unsure why he was taken to jail subsequently.

To street connected children in Mirpur, Bhoboghure Punorbashon Kendro

(Rehabilitation Centre for vagrants) popularly known as Bhabokhana is one of the most
frightening phenomena. Some of our girl respondents express their deepest fear about
being sent to Bhabokhana. One of our respondent shared that police sometimes
randomly arrest street connected children from mazar and its adjoining areas and lock
them inside the Bhoboghure for an extended period of time and torture them in various
ways. To them Bhabokhana is nothing but a frightening urban legend. Perhaps they
have exaggerated the notion about Rehabilitation centre for vagrant to create its image
as a world of unknown, less freedom and less mobility in opposition to their real world
of freedom, wider mobility and known.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 15

5. Street family: On-street support networks

The notion of family is fully or partially absent for the street-connected children. Street-
connected children who do not live with parents or relatives in many cases develop an
alternative form of social unit or organisation among them. This can be termed as
“street family” (Cottrell-Boyce 2010). Street connected children who live with parents
partially belong to this kind of social unit. Motives for establishing this form of social
network are following:

 Means of survival in terms of livelihood and safety measures

 Identity on the basis of profession and dwelling place
 Reciprocity
 Creating opportunities for each other

This social network among children is not homogenous and adult persons are also
involved in these units. Usually street family among children can be formed on the basis
of children’s profession, dwelling places, age, gender, prevalence of substance abuse
etc. But all these factors also intersect with each other and various factors work
together to form a unit of street-connected children.

5.1 Profession

Street-connected children’s professions can be a vital reference point for developing

unity or group among them. In Sadarghat and its neighbourhood, every scrap shop
employs children. On average 8-12 children work together in a scrap shops. Primarily
street connected children come close to each other due to working together in a scrap
shop. Children also attain an identity from the scrap shop. For example children are
known and sometimes they introduce themselves as children from A’s scrap shop or
children of B. Often, if the scrap shop owner is relatively older, children call him Abba or
Bupjaan (Bengali word for father) and for younger owner they use Bhai (Bengali word
for Brother). Most scrap shop owners provide children with mental and financial support
and guidance. Rony, a scrap picker of 10 years of age said that his employer
encourages him and his fellow co-workers to save 10-20 Tk. daily with him. In time of
crisis, scrap shop owner often look out for children. A boy named Farhad informed
once when he got severely sick his employer gave him money and sent him to his
mother who lives in Comilla. Another example of how scrap owners aid children in times
of crisis is the case of Raqib. Raqib was severely injured with hand bomb while picking
scraps in Lalbag during the pre-election political turmoil of 2014. His employer not only
took him to a hospital but also took initiatives to collect money for his treatment.

16 Research Report No. 45

If any dispute and even fighting a rise among children in the same shop or between
children of two different scrap shops, owners play the role of mediator. Children often
complain to their owners. So, at a glance, a scrap shop owner often plays the role of:
security provider, problem solver, adviser, confidant and counselor etc.

The nature of work also influences the development of solidarity among street
connected children. In the case of scrap picking, children go to collect scraps in a
group of 3-4, mostly with their closest buddies. Intimacy can be developed by going to
work together. This is common among scrap pickers in Sadarghat and Mirpur. This
kind of intimacy can also be seen among the children who carry baggage at Sadarghat.
There are groups of 4-5 boys who move together and offer passengers to carry their
baggage. They keep an eye on other groups of children and compete to get the chance
of carrying baggage. And these competitions among groups of children often cause
dispute and fighting between the groups. So, solidarity and understanding among
group members is much required to have the chance of earning money. Children who
collect vegetable from warehouse also work together and intimacy grows among them.

5.2 Dwelling Places

Social units of street-connected children can also develop based on their places of
dwelling. Dwelling places play an important role to sustain relations among children. In
Mirpur-1, Hazrat Shah Ali Mazar and the foot over bridge are two common places
where street-connected children sleep at night. Mazar and its neighbourhood,
especially Mirpur-1 bazaar and its nearby places are those places where many street-
connected children pass a considerable amount of time during the day.

Mazar plays a role as a junction for children who migrate or run-away from home.
Children meet with other children, find friends and form groups. Our study shows that
groups are formed with 3-5 closest friends. At night children usually sleep in a group.
Every group has a designated place to sleep. So, forming and maintaining good terms
among friends is necessary in order to ensure the possession of the place to sleep. This
is how a unit of children is formed on the basis of places for sleeping. Similar group
formation can be found among the children who sleep under the foot-over-bridge of
Mirpur-1. So, solidarity among a group ensures places where they sleep together. A
practice of using goods communally can be seen among these groups. For example,
members of some of these groups share blankets and mats with each other. Some
groups buy blankets, pillows and mats collectively. Other forms of reciprocity can also
be seen among them. They share food, lend and borrow money among each other.
Even one, who already has a job like carrying baggage in Mirpur-1 Bazaar or picking
scraps, introduces the job to his other friends.

Similar sorts of group formation can be found among children who work as coolies and
beggars at Sadarghat launch terminal. Many of these children sleep in the Sadarghat
Launch Terminal at night. They also form a group with their closest friend and sleep
together in a particular place. Also a group can be formed among children of different

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 17

professions based on sleeping together at Sadarghat. Like children in Mirpur area,
children of Sadarghat also have identical types of reciprocity among group members.

5.3 Gender

Gender is a common factor that shapes our companionship and spheres. Street
connected children are not beyond this phenomenon. Social units among children are
also segregated based on their gender identity. This type of division is relatively
common among street-connected children in Mirpur-1, as street-connected girls are
more available in and around the mazar area. Even we found more girls at BRAC centre
in Mirpur-1 than at the centre in Sadarghat. At the mazar girls unite among themselves.
Generally, they beg within the boundary of the mazar. Some young boys who are yet to
reach their adolescence also get included in the girls group. They share food, clothes
and ornaments like bangles, hair clips and bands, borrow and lend money among
themselves. But this does not mean that girls do not mix with boys. Every group of girls
has good relation with some boys of their age or who are a bit older.

Sadarghat, is a more male dominated area mainly because of the nature of professions
available in and around the area. Groups of boys are very much visible in this area as
potters and scrap pickers. Street-connected girls can be seen around Sadarghat
begging and selling candy or drinking water. We found two girls in Sadarghat who pick
scraps along with their mothers. However, unlike Mirpur, in the Sadarghat area we were
unable to locate any type of relation or network among girls.

5.4 Husband-wife, girlfriend-boyfriend relation

Most street connected children were found sexually active. Love affair between street
boys and girls was more like replication of adult conjugal relationships. In many
instances street boys and girls were found referring their partners as husband/wife. We
also found boys and girls referring to their committed sexual partners as premik/premika
(lover in Bengali). The gender roles between these street children couple were found
quite similar to mainstream population. The boys in the relationship were found to play
the role of provider by taking care of various necessity of his lover. One girl (15) shared
that her premik (boyfriend) used to give her 10-20 Tk. as allowance every day. The boy
also pampered her with new cloths, cosmetics like nail-polish, lip-stick, ornaments like
bangles, hair band etc. occasionally. Another girl (11) we met in the Mirpur centre told
us that she use to receive 30 Tk. every day from a boy whom she refers as Bhai
(Brother in Bengali) but other girls informed that boy was more like a premik (lover) to
her. The girl looked shy, but did not object. So, some street connected boys and girls
are playing such roles which are commonly played by mature men and women in our
society; where men are prime earners who take responsibility of women economically.
But in cases of street children we are yet to know what role girls usually play in this kind
of relationship. One girl emphasised on the economic gain of love affair. She stated,

“Here (in the mazar) usually all girls have lovers. I have one too. But I don’t love him, I
just pretend. I love to spend the money my lover gives me”.

18 Research Report No. 45

In Sadarghat, a street connected girl (14-15) told us that she stopped stealing (as her
profession) after getting married with another street connected boy, as her “husband”
told her to quit stealing. Moreover, the girl now no longer requires to work for living at all
as her “husband” gives her daily allowance. Other children around her also mentioned
about their marriage and in particular talked about the sweet the boy distributed after
getting married. The centre manager in Mirpur centre also informed that the boy
brought a box of sweets after getting married. So, the tendency of playing some roles
(supporting girls financially) and following rituals like (distributing sweet among other
children) that are generally practiced among adults can be seen among these children
too. However, more research work is required to gain knowledge about longevity of
such marriage and the status of sexual behaviour between street-connected boys and
girls.

5.5 Age

A survey by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (2003) showed that a little
less than half of the street children (49.2%) were around the age group 10 years or less,
while the remaining fell under the age group of 11-19 years. Age is an important
consideration as it is responsible for making sub groups among a broader unit of
children. In a scrap shop at Sadarghat, age based sub groups are visible among
children. Units of younger scrap collectors are usually dominated by groups of older
boys. At the same time older children also lookout for the younger ones. They share
food with younger fellow workers, give loan to them also save them from abusive
behaviour of other older children.

5.6 Bonding through drugs

A study that looked at the role of solvents in the lives of Kenyan street children found
that, solvent works as platform for developing notion of the street family (Cottrell-Boyce
2010). Another study conducted by Sarma et al. (2011) not only found solvent but any
drug that help to develop a fellow-feeling and bonding among children. Moreover,
consuming drugs in groups is also economically feasible for these low-earning children.
A street-connected boy named Razzak (14) said about consuming dandy,

We buy dandy worth 200-300 Tk. to share among our peers.

However, the notion of sharing drug among peers is not only about sharing the cost. A
Girl in the mazar in Mirpur-1 told us that it is common among children to share drugs
with one who did not have sufficient money.

It’s their wish… how could they ignore if their best mate asked for!

Thus, alternative social units are developed among the street-connected children based
on age, gender, profession and even habit of drugs. These demonstrate how these
social organisations and networks help children to survive on the streets and in other
harsh urban settings. But besides these organisations and networks, there are some

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 19

individuals and institutions that provide street-connected children various support
informally which play useful role for these children. For example, Rony (10) at Sadarghat
informed about a Chinese restaurant, he called Nana Chinese (nana means maternal
grandfather in Bangla); every day at 10 am, rice and 1-2 curries were distributed among
50-60 poor children. Food was given in plastic bags. Similar information was given by
another boy in Sadarghat named Farhad.

Tendency of saving money with a reliable person like shopkeepers, seniors, scrap shop
owners were found among street-connected children. Children working in scrap shops
were found saving their hard earn money with their scrap shop owners.

In Mirpur, a few boys informed about their good terms with members of different law
enforcement agencies. Razzak (14) said he had good terms with a police informer who
regularly visited the mazar area. Razzak claimed that he took assistance from that
person in times of trouble like dispute with other groups of children or if other police
caused any trouble. Another boy named Shurjo (13) proudly said that he had a very
good relationship with many police officers. A girl named Duli (11) informed that she and
other members of the group had good terms with some police officers who were in
duty in the mazar area. One of the boy in her group also had a cell number of one of
these police officers. She said,

“I know some police officers. They are good to me and treat me as their daughter. They
would come immediately to recue if I am in any type of trouble”.

One respondent in a FGD with boys of 11-15 in Mirpur informed that a gatekeeper of
the market where he and three of his bosom friends usually slept used to take care of
them. He would give them good advice, ask them to bathe regularly and lead a decent
life. Sometimes in need he would give them loans without any condition. This was one
way support system in which the gatekeeper was the contributor and the children were
the recipients. But the presence of 4-5 loyal and grateful children definitely strengthened
the security measure of the market premises. Besides it lessened the work load and
psychological stress of the gatekeeper.

Lack of care, affection and proper supervision within the family is significantly absent in
the lives of most street-connected children. One primary need for street connected
children is emotional support, sensible guidance and supervision. For this reason,
owners of scrap shops informed us that they always try to handle these kids
emotionally; and seldom scold them. Even staff in shelter homes for street connected
children said that children want care and affection from adults and when they get that
from someone, they become loyal and devoted to that person. This happens not only
due to dysfunctionality in their families, but also due to existing stigmas about street
connected children that make them ignored and ostracised by other people within the
wider society. This is how the notion of boro bhai (Literally big brother) developed
among street connected children; some senior person who does not ignore or hate
them even though he has political power in the area - someone who seeks for them,
loans them money when in need, rescues them from adverse situation such as

20 Research Report No. 45

harassment, abuse etc. And these boro bhais, whom children meet in profession or in
area, can manipulate emotionally-starved children effortlessly, which have been seen in
the reaction of children during FGD at Sadarghat. So, emotional vacuum in children’s
life gives adults chances to manipulate or exploit street connected children as well to
various extents.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 21

6. Health and hygiene seeking behaviour

6.1 Health seeking behaviour

Infectious diseases like tuberculosis, polio and diarrhoea are most common amongst
the street children as well as acute respiratory infections like fever, breathing difficulties
and chest infections (Podymow et al. n.d.; NIPORT 2009). As per our data street-
connected children have limited knowledge about illnesses (i.e. causes, prevention,
names etc). Most of them could only describe very vaguely the experience or
symptoms of their illness. For instance a street connected boy named Razzak (14) said,

“Usually I suffer from fever and weakness. Sometimes I suffer from stomach ache…
heartburn”

Like Razzak most of the boys and girls in Sadarghat and Mirpur-1 could only mention
about symptoms of sickness. Feeling feverish, cold, itchy in different parts of their body,
stomachache and headache, feeling heartburn, bloating, belching/burping are common
experience of illness among the surveyed children.

All the illnesses they usually experience are the result of how they live. Reasons for
cough and cold are due to living mainly in open places. Besides, most occupations
available for children require them to be outside. Most of them cannot afford enough
clothing to protect them from cold and windy weather. In places like Hazrat Shah Ali
Mazar, under the Mirpur foot-over-bridge, Sadarghat Terminal, at night children may
have roof over their head, but have no wall around them. So, they cannot protect
themselves from cold wind. Children also do not own sufficient blankets. Some street-
connected children regularly go to NGO based shelters at night during winter. But there
are still a lot of children who have to sleep outside in the cold and freezing weather.
Children living in scrap shops also suffer from cold and cough, though they live in a
surrounded place. Most of the scrap shops are made of tins and bamboo made fences.
There are some scrap shops that are too small to accommodate children inside. Thus,
sometimes children sleep on the roofs of the shops covering them with blankets. Some
children sleep on three-wheeler vans too with little chance of protecting them from cold
and dust.

Seeking treatment for illness is not a prime priority for them unless it becomes
intolerable. Shurjo (13), a street-connected boy confidently said, “we don’t need any
treatment”. Most of the time, street children wait for their illness to cure naturally.
Children only seek medical treatment.

If the illness causes immediate distress or persists for long period of time, they adopt
some widely practiced initial care or treatment that do not cost money like pouring
water in the head while feeling feverish.

22 Research Report No. 45

Most of the children in Sadarghat and Mirpur-1 told us that usually they seek health
treatment from shopkeeper of any local drug stores. Rony (10) said,

“If I tell shopkeeper in a drug store, “I am feeling feverish, or feeling pain” he will give me
necessary medicine”.

Mostly children seek treatment by themselves, but sometimes if the children are rather
younger or newcomer they ask their employers (Scrap shop owner) or senior co-
workers (Baro Bhai) to know what they should do. In the case of Farhad (13) in
Sadarghat, his employer, the scrap shop owner sent him back to his mother in Comilla,
when he was suffering from high fever and told him to come back when he would feel
better.

Some respondents in Mirpur-1 showed superstition about their illness. One such
respondent said,

“I suffer from fever… sometimes I feel really weak. Feel stomachache… and feel like
something is burning in my chest. Probably someone has cursed me.”

Another girl in the mazar also told us that while suffering from jaundice her mother took
her to an indigenous spiritual healer thinking that he will be able to cure her disease.
Nevertheless not all children were found avoiding modern medicines.

Apart from one respondent in Mirpur none of our interviewed street children needed to
visit hospital for any serious injury. The respondent who was taken to the National
Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) commonly known as
pongu hospital was a street-connected boy of 10/11 years from Mirpur. Three years
ago he was hit by a human hauler near Mirpur-1 Bazaar. People from the bazaar took
him to the hospital. He got hurt mainly on his head and was suffering from occasional
pain on his head.

6.2 Hygiene

Status of hygiene among street connected children is very poor. Most of the street
connected children we interviewed looked grubby with their unclean, ragged clothing,
dirty uncombed hair, grimy teeth and shoeless dirty feet. Perhaps it is because of:

 Lack of basic knowledge on hygiene

 Absence of pressure from adults or peers on hygienic practices due to detachment
from the family or from reluctant and unaware parent or guardian or peer group
 Unhygienic condition of dwelling and work places
 Financial hurdle that are making them incapable of buying soap, shampoo, etc.
 Being habituated with unhygienic living condition and practices

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 23

Some children, who went to school prior to their street connected life, had some basic
idea about practices of hygiene. Though some children were able to show their
knowledge on hand hygiene, children who were not attached to any sorts of
educational institution or any other facilities were not at all found aware or concerned
about any kind of hygienic practices.

But hygiene is not only about knowledge; rather it is mostly about implementation of the
acquired knowledge and developing a hygienic life-style. Primarily family and later
educational institutions teach and monitor whether children are learning and practicing
hygiene properly or not. But this sort of monitoring is almost absent among the street-
connected children. Parents are not conscious and those who are far away from their
family are not monitored by peer groups and even by the adults they are attached to.
Thus, it is really challenging to grow a sense of hygiene among these children.

Moreover, street-connected children cannot help but become dirty because of the
nature of their livelihood and living condition (such as footpaths, under foot-over-bridge,
terminal, vans, benches in parks or mazar compounds). Every scrap shops are filled
with dirty scraps. On the other hand, all the other professions where street connected
children are involved pushes them to work in some of the dirtiest public places like
bazaars, streets, dustbins, and dump yards. Again, for maintaining proper hygiene
people need things like proper houses with latrine, adequate clothing, soap, shampoo,
toothbrush, nail-cutter, cotton-buds etc. that are difficult for street connected children
to afford regularly. Besides, difference between girls and boys in Mirpur in terms of
cleanliness and personal hygiene behaviour was very firm. Most girls looked cleaner
than the boys, wore cleaner clothes, and even some were even seen wearing head
bands, bangles and makeup (i.e. foundation, eyeliner, lipstick etc.). According to staff in
the Mirpur centre, girls took shower more than the boys. In Sadarghat centre, some
boys informed that apart from food and TV, they went to the centre regularly for taking
a proper shower. Some said that they were aware about basic hygiene practices like
hand washing, taking regular shower etc. and tried to practice them regularly.

24 Research Report No. 45

7. Prevalence of substance abuse

Regarding both physical and mental health, one major concern about street-connect
children is their tendency to substance abuse. Embleton et al. (2013) reviewed 27
studies on drug use among homeless children and showed that a homeless child is 60
per cent more likely to use drugs in his or her lifetime compared to a non-homeless
child. As per our findings, factors like disturbing childhood memories and fragile family
relations (separation of parents), autonomy from supervision of adults, availability of
drugs, peer influence are some of the primary reasons for pulling and pushing children
into drugs. The common drugs consumed by street-connected children in Mirpur-1 and
Sadarghat are – Cigarette, Ganja (Cannabis), Dandy (glue for shoe and leather), Gul
(blend of tobacco keeping in mouth), various types of relaxing or sleeping pills. Besides,
one respondent in Mirpur-1 informed that he and his group mates sometimes smoked
Biriani Masala rolling it inside a paper, which helped them to cope with sleep
deprivation. Most street-connected children go through various kinds of bitter
experiences in their lifetime. Experiences like being abandoned by parents, abused in
various forms in the past and in the street life, material and emotional deprivation result
in various level of psychological disturbance and lured them towards substance abuse.

However some street-connected children informed us that they stopped taking drugs
like ganja or dandy after 2-3 years. One boy (11-12) in Mirpur said,

“Now a day’s I only occasionally smoke ganja. It’s been a while since I minimized my
drug consumption. At the moment I am particularly trying to avoid Dandy. Few days ago
I learned that taking Dandy can cause harm to kidney and turn it into black.”

So, children are somewhat aware of the consequences of drug abuse. Children usually
acquire this knowledge from peers, senior brothers and various NGO staff working with
street connected children. For instance, a boy in Sadarghat centre, stopped sniffing
dandy and smoking ganja, after doctor told him what type of physical damage drug
abuse can cause to human body. That doctor brought forward an example of a boy
who died of drug addiction. He cited,

“What would be the gain of taking these (drugs) if these damages my life?”

So, proper information and counseling sometimes work for children.

We also found that a boy or girl can also get motivated to give up drugs under the
influence of their lovers. One street connected boy in Mirpur and a street connected girl
in Sadarghat stopped taking dandy to keep the word of their respective lovers. Thus
emotional motivation from close one can also bring positive changes. On the other
hand, a boy (14) in Mirpur told us that he stopped his habit of glue sniffing (dandy) after
noticing few physical complexities like body ache especially in the chest and stomach

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 25

area, heartburn, headache. Then again, as per our data among the usual drugs
consumed by street-connected children in Dhaka cigarette, ganja and dandy cause
much lesser physical dependence than heroin, alcohol or phensidyl. Thus, these drugs
are comparatively easier to avoid even after long term exposure. Thus, with little
motivation and counseling these children can be assisted to overcome their addictions
to these drugs.

26 Research Report No. 45

8. Education and aspiration

8.1 Education

A study conducted by ICDDR,B on 493 street-children of Dhaka aged between 6-12

years found that 49% of the surveyed children never had access to proper education
(Sarma et al. 2011). The poor status of education among street-connected children in
Dhaka is also reflected in our findings. Table 4 presents the education status of our
respondents.

Table 4. Status of education

Girls Boys
Status of Education Total
6-10 11-15 6-10 11-15 Percentage
Experienced formal schooling
1 5 6 6 18 50.0
(primary level below class 5)
Never Been to School 5 2 3 4 14 38.9
Experienced other type of
schooling (madrasha, non 1 1 1 1 4 11.1
formal NGO schools etc.)
Total 36

As mentioned in the Table, out of the 36 respondents total 18 had exposure to formal
schooling at the very basic level. Different circumstances in these children’s life forced
them to discontinue their education. One of our female respondents who studied up to
class 2 in a government primary school in Mirpur-1 told us that she had to discontinue
her education as she needed to support her working mother with household chores.
Another girl shared that her schooling was stopped at class four as her father moves
from Dhaka to Barisal. After her mother’s death her father got married to another
woman and moved to Barisal where she was forced to live with her abusive step
mother. Later she left Barisal and came to Dhaka to escape from her step mother’s
constant verbal and physical abuse. Another child in Sadarghat informed that he
stopped his education after his father’s sudden death. He migrated to Dhaka to support
his family at home. Children’s education can also discontinue if a marginal family moves
to a bigger city, as most of the family members need to be involved in income
generating activities in order for the family to survive. In case of Shihab (9) in Sadarghat
area, schooling was stopped from the day his family migrated to Dhaka. Shihab who
was previously a primarily school student in his native village now works in a scrap shop
in Dhaka to support his family.

However, sometimes stepping into the street life also makes a child reluctant about
education. To some children the freedom of street life can be much more appealing
than sitting in class room listening, reading, and writing for hours.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 27

The culture of corporal punishment in schools and madrashas is also responsible for
children’s dropout from school. We found two such cases: Abdul (10) stopped going to
school from the very day he was beaten by his primary school teacher in his native
village Char Kukri, Barisal. He was in class one then. His parents insisted him to go
back to school. But he never felt the urge to return to school as he was traumatised by
the incident. Similarly Imran (9/10) fled to Dhaka to escape constant rude behaviour and
physical punishment of his madrasha teachers.

So, according to our findings, the key factors that cause discontinuity in children
education are:

 Migration to street (with family or alone for various reasons)

 Financial hurdle
 Seduction of street-life (autonomy from adults, peer, games, drugs)
 Teachers’ misconduct and abusive behaviour

8.2 Aspirations in street-connected children:

Despite all the hurdles and vulnerabilities of their lives in terms of livelihood, dwelling
places, food and security etc. a significant portion of the interviewed street connected
children shared their future aspirations with us. However, majority of these children
showed more or less sensible future aspiration close to their current condition. Only a
few relatively younger children showed higher aspiration regarding their future career
and livelihood.

It is fascinating to note how these children are fully aware of their limitation and present
condition. Most of the male children aspired either to progress to the next level of their
existing occupation or switch to career that will ensure them economic security through
regular wage and work opportunity. One of our male respondent currently working as a
scrap picker told us that his aspiration in life is to find a job that will provide him a fixed
weekly or monthly wage. Another boy a helper of a human hauler shared that he wants
to become a driver of a human hauler in future. Thus, current job and existing
opportunities can shape children’s aspiration. On the other hand, another boy who also
works as a helper in a human hauler expressed that he wants to shift to a less stressful
occupation than his current job. Other than these few other street connected boys also
expressed their aspiration to become self-employed or take up apprenticeship in local
metal factories or car workshops etc.

Only a few of the male children who were relatively younger in age aspired for careers
that would require them to pursue higher education. One such child expressed his
desire to become a doctor. Another child with similar higher aspiration said that he
wants to become a police officer in future as he gets attracted by the degree of
authority a police officer posses. Other than that two street boys expressed that they
would want to finish their education and become a service holder. They wanted to be

28 Research Report No. 45

educated in order to become eligible for any well salaried job. During the interview one
of them said that he particularly avoids scraps picking as an occupation because he
feels that it is shameful to be addressed as tokkai (scrap picker). It displayed his strong
sense of self-esteem. Interestingly, all centre dwelling girls of 6-10 years expressed
similar aspiration of becoming a readymade garments worker, except for one girl who
wanted to become a car driver. The aspiration of girls to become a readymade
garments worker revealed their knowledge of prevailing prospective jobs. Girls might
have picked up this idea from their socioeconomic context.

So, from the above information of street-connected children in Mirpur and Sadarghat it
is clear that considering aspiration children are not a homogenous group. It differs
based on socioeconomic climate of places children roam and dwell, their gender and
age. Some reflected potential jobs which are relatively available in their context; while
some comments revealed children’s vulnerable condition, especially related to their
current livelihood and some shared their thought of pursuing better lives.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 29

9. Roles of the centre and challenges

The seduction of living a life with freedom is one of the most challenging matters to deal
with while trying to bring a structural change in the lives of street connected children, as
many children have already learned to overlook the need of education, shelter, adults
and “discipline” in life and to live an alternative life with freedom. This section covers the
challenges faced by centre staff with regard to managing these children as well as the
roles that the centre can play in the lives of street children.

Challenges regarding implementation of centre residential facility for older

children: Regarding insecurity and violence in the street, centres can be considered as
the safest place available for street-connected children. Children in both centres also
expressed the same opinion. But most of them did not want to spend much time in the
centre apart from the usual time. There are several pull factors in like freedom,
entertainment (hanging around with friends, playing games or video games) and
opportunities of income that make the street life indispensable to children in spite of
possible threats. Nevertheless, in special occasions centres turn into a safe shelter for
street-connected children. For instance, during the pre-election political turmoil of 2013,
some street-connected children of Sadarghat area who previously did not avail the
night stay opportunity in BRAC centre, started spending their nights at the centre out of
fear of getting arrested by police. Facility of staying in the centre at night is solely
available for boys and girls aged 6-10 at the Mirpur centre. Older boys in Mirpur were
relatively less interested in staying in the centre at night. According to the centre
manager, once older girls were allowed to stay in the Mirpur centre. But problems arose
when some girls did not return to the shelter in due time and few other girls frequently
demanded to go back to the mazar in the middle of the night. After that this facility was
discontinued. In Sadarghat, very few girls were regular in the centre. Those who came
were not interested to spend the night in the centre. Similarly most boys in Sadarghat
preferred sleeping in scrap shops or in launch terminal. Few boys informed that
sometimes they sleep in other NGO based centres which are closer to Sadarghat
launch terminal than the BRAC centre. Thus, proximity of centre from children’s working
or roaming place is a factor that was considered by children to select a centre for night
stay.

Challenges regarding job replacement: As discussed in earlier sections street

connected children are involved with some of the most risky occupations of Dhaka city.
Keeping this in mind Urban Street Children programme decided to provide relatively
safer and formal jobs for street-connected children. Job replacement PO (Programme
Organiser) has been employed to find out suitable jobs for children so that they can
work in a safer environment. Boys in Mirpur were provided jobs in stores like
showrooms, grocery stores, sweet shops as a helping hand. Girls were sent to beauty

30 Research Report No. 45

parlor, tailor shops and different boutique shops. In Sadarghat, boys were sent to
grocery stores and different small scale factories.

However, according to job replacement PO, drop-out rate from given jobs is very high
among children in both areas. The most common causes behind the drop-out tendency
among children from relatively conventional jobs like waiting in tables, working as an
apprentice in a factory were due to: habits of working in free environment with flexible
time schedule and under less supervision.

These free willingness of urban street children are issues that programme staff have to
deal tactfully especially in the case of job replacement for street-connected children.
Job replacement POs in both areas expressed that many children could not stay in their
given job as they were not habituated to follow a strict work schedule. Some drop-out
children opposed against working uninterruptedly. Besides, children could not enjoy
autonomy from adults since they were under the continuous supervision of older
persons.

Apart from unwillingness of children, many employers also showed lack of enthusiasm
in hiring street-connected children. Some even sacked children. The reasons behind
their behaviour or responses are stated below:

 They said that most children from the street were disobedient and hard to control.
 Some children were not punctual and had a habit of coming to work late.
 Some employers did not trust street-connected children and constantly suspected
them for potential theft in their business establishment. Thus, they demanded for
formal guarantee from BRAC to compensate them in cases of occurrence of such
incidence.
 Some factory owner refused to employ children since children were not skilled
enough.
 Usually children were paid daily in most of their previous street-based occupations.
For this reason some children could not keep their patience till the end of the month
or week for getting paid. So, they kept on asking their employers for payment in
advance and even asked for loan which bothered many employers and made them
agitated. For this reason many of the employers showed reluctance towards taking
up more street children.

Roles of the Centre regarding health and hygiene facilities: Majority of the
children expressed disappointment regarding the in-centre medical facilities. Children
claimed that their expectation of getting frequent medical checkup and access to free
medicines (for fever, stomachache, headache and itching) from the centre was not
entirely fulfilled. The centre staff also admitted their weakness in this sector which needs
to be improved considering that there is a higher prevalence of diseases among street-
connected children.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 31

On the other hand, in terms of hygiene practice and facilities centres are playing a very
effective role. Majority of the participant children appreciated centre bathing and locker
facilities. Children shared that they had hardly any chance of having a proper bath using
soap outside in the street. Some children said that they brush their teeth regularly as
they could keep their tooth brush safely in the centre’s locker; otherwise their brushes
would either get lost or stolen in the street. Moreover, majority of the participant children
were found to acquire a minimum knowledge about hygiene. However, it is challenging
for any street-connected children to maintain these hygiene behaviours in the street
context. So, acquiring knowledge cannot always ensure implementation; it needs
appropriate settings and necessary components in order to confirm proper application
of knowledge.

In-street facilities for education and roles of the Centre and challenges: In
NGO-based education programmes, street children are mainly given teaching on
alphabets, numbers, how to write their own names and on some basic things. The main
purpose of these NGO based schooling is to help street children regain their interest in
education and give them some sort of a primary foundation to go to formal school. But
talking with children as well as the programme staff we have come to know that
children are drawn to the centre mainly to have food, watch TV, a sound place to rest
and sleep. Thus, many scrap picking children in Kamalbagh did not liked to attend
BRAC sub-centres that only provided basic education and life skill training, despite that
the centre was near to their dwelling place. These children instead choose to go to
other NGO run centres where the above facilities are available. So, only education may
not attract children to a centre.

Very few children showed their interest in formal education. But some of them showed
interest in learning technical skills like making candles, repairing machinery etc, things
that can immediately contribute in earning. Because some were not quite certain of
whether formal education could provide him/her a good job with good salary as quickly
as they expected; whereas, others were simply unable to skip their jobs for formal
schooling since they needed to survive and even needed to contribute to their family.
Besides to street connected children, education is not as entertaining as watching
cartoons on TV, playing video games, roaming with friends, experiencing pin ink (feeling
after taking drugs). For children who enjoy freedom and maximum autonomy from
adults, sitting quietly and listening for hours in a room is a challenging thing to do and
something that can make them impatient very easily. Perhaps, this may be the reason
why we witnessed chaos in the classes of two the centres we visited.

So, it can be stated that conventional ways of teaching cannot grow interest for
education and education oriented aspiration among most street connected children,
whereas, learning from centres was undermined due to absence of various facilities like
monitoring, follow-up, sufficient tools, proper environment for practice, responsible
adults. But the primary concern of this programme should be how the programme may
bring back children’s interest in education just as they showed their enthusiasm in
watching TV or playing in-door games.

32 Research Report No. 45

So far the pilot programme is playing an important role in the lives of street connected
children. USCP is not only working as a provider of various material facilities, but is also
functioning as a place where children can get care and attention from adults which is
one of the most important missing factors of children’s lives. Most of the participant
children sounded very positive about BRAC children centre, children were particularly
satisfied with the affectionate behaviour of the programme staff. There was no complain
about any staff from the children side and we also observed how patiently staff was
dealing with these children during our field work. Children in the centre seemed to pay
attention to the staff members. Most of these children received us cordially from the
very beginning of our field work. Boys and girls came forward and started to talk with us
enthusiastically. Both the centre managers informed us that children had improved a lot
in terms of behaviour. Earlier most children did not pay any attention and did whatever
they liked to do, mostly quarreled and even fought with each other. However, as per the
programme staff within a very short span of time children become more attentive to
centre activities. But the question appeared if children could carry all these positive
behavioural changes to their street or these changes are only when they are in the
centre. As far as we studied them it can be stated that the context of street hardly
allows these children to implement any positive learning from the centre. However,
positive changes among children aged 6-10 in Mirpur seemed much sustainable as
they did not need to go back to street lives. But still street-connected children’s positive
impression about staff is one of most potential components of this programme that
should be sustained in future to influence the children positively. Now it is time to think
further how this relation between children and staff can be utilised to improve children’s
lives, in a more effective way under the Urban Street Children Programme.

Retention of community health workers in Bangladesh 33

Conclusion

This study enabled us to better understand the lives of street connected children in
terms of their living situation, thought process, values and attitude etc. The study has
thoroughly illustrated the lives and struggles of street-connected children of
Bangladesh. It has revealed the dimensions of challenges and risks experienced by
children living in the streets.

By careful analyses and discussion of situation and various struggles of street children
the study has shown that lives of these street children are significantly different from the
mainstream population. The study has unveiled various exploitation and misuse faced
by street children while living and working in the street. It also identified that lack of
care, affection and proper supervision are significantly absent in the lives of most street-
connected children. Therefore, apart from food, shelter and education one primary
need for street connected children is emotional support and sensible guidance and
supervision from a responsible adult and this is where USCP has potentiality of playing
an active role.

However, it has also showed how the context of street averts children to implement any
positive learning’s from the shelter in their daily lives. Therefore, implementation of any
intervention for improving the lives of street connected children is undoubtedly
challenging for a single agency or organisation. Nevertheless, lives of this vulnerable
group of children can endeavour to be improved by following a collaborative approach
including various stakeholders who are closely connected with the children’s day to day
lives such as law enforcement authorities, employers of the children, social network and
other government agencies responsible for children or vulnerable group along with
various non-government organisations working with street connected children.

34 Research Report No. 45

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