NEWS / IT: UNICEF gets mobile IT van for street kids program

MANILA, Philippines – Eight-year-old Christian seems like an ordinary child who should be in school like many children of his age.

But the boy only finished Grade 1, and spends most of his time at the wet market either carrying sacks of vegetables or peeling onions to earn some money.

“Huminto kasi ako. Pinahinto ako ng nanay ko,” he said, referring to his grandmother.

His usual routine at the wet market starts at 12 midnight and ends around 7 in the morning.

“Minsan P80, minsan P100. Pinambibili ng pangkain. Nagsasaing kami,” he said, when asked about how much he gets paid from his jobs.

Christian is just one of the hundreds of thousands of street and street-working children in major cities in the country.

“We estimate 250,000 street children at the moment, scattered throughout cities and 50,000 of them highly visible, spending most of their days and nights on the streets,” according to Vanessa Tobin, country representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Tobin said hunger, sickness, deprivation of a home and education are just some of the things that children on the streets have to deal with.

“This situation puts them at risk of substance abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, violence and exploitation, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and AIDS, street fights and gang brawls,” Tobin said.

Mobile education, child protection

On Tuesday afternoon, mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson, its sister company Ericsson, and SM Supermalls, presented UNICEF with a mobile IT van to support its Mobile Education and Child Protection Program for Children on the streets of Manila.

Like Efren Peñaflorida’s pushcart classroom, the mobile IT van contains teaching materials. It is also equipped with a laptop and mobile broadband access and other communication tools. Sessions can be conducted right where the children and their families can be reached.

“The Mobile Education and Child Protection Program for Street Children is very innovative and involves the local government and non-government partners (NGOs) working together to give these children a second chance. The partners target areas with a high incidence of street children and provide direct services to street children and their families,” Tobin said.

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