‘Stop giving street children handouts’

Brothers in Arms, an organisation that works with street-connected children, says Malawi cannot deal with the problem of homeless youth in the streets unless people  stop giving them handouts.

The organisation’s executive director Asante Masanche said this on Friday during the incorporation of at least 60 street-connected  children into their Hope Centre in Blantyre, where they will be rehabilitated, educated and given psychosocial support.

“Handouts make the streets attractive to children. As a result, they continue to roam the streets and fall prey to bad-mannered people, who use them to commit various crimes such as robbery,” he said.

Moses Wyson, a former street-connected child turned panel beater through the organisation, said handouts make street children comfortable and care less about their future.

Brothers in Arms launched its operations in 2020 and has since assisted over 150 youths.