"FISCH"ers of Men

The Future for Iringa Street Children (FISCH) program is a grass-roots program designed to give the street kids around the Iringa region a safe place to go and get a good meal, as well as possibly a new lease on life. Anyone that spends a decent length of time in Iringa cannot help but notice the large proportion of street kids in and around the town center. They are especially visible to wazungu because they often will come up and beg when they see a foreigner, for two reasons, one, foreigners tend to have a lot of money and two, foreigners tend to feel pity for these very obviously deprived children and thus are likely to give money. This has been a challenge for me ever since I got here, because it is difficult to say no to a group of kids wearing dirty tattered clothes and asking for food when I have a basket full of food right in my hand. I usually tend to give the kids a few bananas or mangoes instead of giving money. This is because many of the kids are addicted to various substances, from alcohol to drugs to glue, and will not use the money in a constructive manner. The other reason for not giving money is that they become dependant on these handouts and will actually make more begging then they would if they got a job.

A few months into my time here I found a better outlet for helping these kids and started volunteering with FISCH. A friend of mine in partnership with a couple of NGO’s and some local Tanzanians had started the FISCH program; it began with what we call the “Saturday Program” in which every weekend we organize a good nutritious meal for the kids and then play games or do other activities. This program quickly caught on and soon we had days of up to 70 children from around the area coming to the program. Some of the activities the kids like to do include playing soccer, playing basketball, drawing and acrobatics.

Each child has his forte and some of them are very good at what they do. In the acrobatics these kids look like professionals and will be seen running and leaping into a myriad of cartwheels, flips, and spin maneuvers; they are incredibly athletic. It is like those street runner people you see on TV back home – really amazing. For the drawing we sometimes vote on the best pictures and give prizes. After a while the program extended and now we take the names and general information about each child who comes. As a group we then identify the needs of the child and this can go from buying them a pair of shoes to actually determining a solution for his living arrangement. I should mention that all of the children are boys. The reason usually cited for this is that the girls will tend to have a relatives house to stay in and are essentially used as a slave by that family to do housework and work in the shamba (farm plot).

Anyhow, if the child is found to have parents or other relatives some of the Tanzanian staff including a social worker will try and determine if it is plausible to get the child back in with the family. Sometimes this is successful and sometimes it isn’t. We have had cases where the kids have reconciled and gone back and are still living at home, and we have had other cases where the kids have run away a few weeks later to go back to the streets. If the child is deemed to have no relatives then we look into the option of sending them to a foster home, which again has had some successes and some failures. When the kids do integrate back into home life the FISCH program will often cover their school fees and get them back into the education system. I have really seen some amazing progress here with kids begging one week and the next walking around in school uniforms with books and a smile on their faces.

One really great story is that of Alex, a 17 year old who was the leader of one of the street kids’ gangs when we got here. He was pretty hostile and aggressive in his begging but he always remembered our names and I often saw him in the market leading a pack of kids around begging for money and food. Since he has been attending the FISCH program he has been placed in a foster home and began going to school. I saw him and he was much happier and would proudly show us his tests with lines of red check marks down the columns. When I returned from Thailand I had begun teaching one of my health classes at Amani and was very surprised to see Alex walk into the class of the first year vocational students. It turns out he had the dream of being a carpenter and the FISCH program agreed to pay his room, board and tuition at Amani in the carpentry program. Now he is a great student and is involved in all aspects of life here at Amani. It is amazing to see him with a smile on his face looking healthy running around in the football field with myself and the other students, laughing and joking and generally enjoying life. It is such a contrast between how he was when I first met him. When I ask him about his new life he credits God for making it possible for him to change and have hope for the future. I can see through his example that if he can make such a complete 180 degree change in life, anyone can with a bit of hard work and determination.