RAINBOW HOME
Introduction
These are ‘homes’,
not merely night shelters. A home is a place of security and comfort
(very basic!) where one resides permanently whereas “night shelter”
provides shelter only for the night, and takes no responsibility for
the children’s well being in the day time.
These homes are all located in schools. The children
enjoy, therefore, the benefits of being in a school, the activities,
the notice boards, the interaction with the more privileged peer group
in the regular school, the rough and tumble of normal school life
and the friendly interaction with other children of diverse backgrounds,
which enables each child to grow and reach her full potential.
When girls come off the street, there is a period
during which they have to be prepared for regular school. They will
not go to a regular school until they can fit into a class of their
own age group. This normally takes one year or even less, as they
are being taught on a one to one basis by the regular children of
the school, during their Work Education classes.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STREET CHILD COMING
IN FOR THE 1STTIME
A survivor
! These children have been forced to live by their wits on the street,
find food, work or beg to get money, fight for whatever they get, fend
off older bullies and all the time carry a well of emptiness in themselves
because the significant adults in their lives have failed them.
They are extremely resilient
and bounce back even after severe maltreatment. They live in
the present moment and get what joy they can, when they can. Hence the
name “Rainbow” suits them well.
Free spirits.
They do not take kindly to being locked inside the gate, supervised
closely, and corrected constantly.
Self protecting
: They seem at first as if they have created a space around themselves
within which they do not allow others to come - whether it be to play,
to tease, even a slight pat on their shoulder can be the cause of a
row and of tears.
Past memories
- They often carry scars of earlier negative experiences of which they
do not speak until they trust people around them and then only casually,
but these memories often explain their behaviour.
They have quite adult
mentalities - a strange combination of the maturity of adults
coupled with the joy and innocence of childhood.
Self confidence
– they have run away from incest, starvation, cruel step parents,
horrendous massacres, they have seen death and survived. If they did
not have confidence in themselves they could not have done what they
have done, and the new adults in their lives must not undermine that
self confidence, but rather nurture it into maturity.
