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.
