Family networks of street children and school children of Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

Objective: To study the family networks of “on” the street “of” the street, shelter and school children in Eldoret town. Design: Cross-sectional and multiple group case-control study design. Setting: Eldoret town and Faculty of Health Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret. Subjects: This study was based on 400 children in Eldoret town. The “on” the street children were 87 males, 13 female, “of” the street children were 89 males, 11 females, shelter/institutionalised children were 77 males, 23 females and school children were 72 males, 28 females with a mean age of 13.34. Results: Majority of the street-based children (“of” and “on” the street) did not go further than lower primary school and their current living conditions are based on begging and doing odd jobs in the market and streets. 46% of the “on” the street children live with one parent while 97% of the “of” the street children have lost contact with their parents. Conclusion: The “on” the street children had a higher percentage of family sector network (53.7) than the “of” the street children (47.9%) and shelter/instituionalised children (40.1%). Generally, school children still have strong family ties.