Substance abuse rife in street children

 Atwelve-year-old street child (name withheld)trawls through stinky rubbish at Lilongwe main dumpsite in Area 38.

He beams at the discovery of a plastic or glass bottle, punching a mud-smeared fist in the air in celebration as if he has won a multi-million lottery.

“I will sell these bottles to raise money for food,” he tells Nation on Sunday at the dumpsite that sits on swathes of land suffocated by all manner of garbage, including metal, dead electronic appliances, bottles and rags.

Asked how he spends his money, he says: “Moyo wathuwu umafunika ziwindi. Ndiye ndimachitapo ndithu. [Surviving in the streets requires courage. So, I take alcohol and illicit substances].”

Dressed in ragged and dirty clothes, the boy exemplifies findings of a study that reveals the prevalence of illicit substance abuse among street children in the country.

Titled Unravelling substance abuse among Malawian street children, it is published on Researchgate website, revealing that the street children use unconventional substances.

It reads in part: “Commonly used substances include marijuana, glue, alcohol, bostic, paraffin and paint.”

The report sampled 15 illicit drugs takers from Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe.

They all admitted involvement in stealing, fighting, robbery and rape.

The researchers are Livingstone Banda and Eretia Mwaene from Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education’s Jane Banda, Chigonjetso Banda of University of Malawi and Nalikule College of Education’s Ceasar Msiska.

Through interviews with the children, the researchers established that their substance abuse is attributed to emotional trauma because of family absence.

Other reasons included peer pressure and economic challenges.

“When hungry and without help, drugs make you forget the pain in your stomach.

“Sometimes it’s boredom. There’s nothing to do and drugs seem like a passtime,” the research quotes the children.

The scientists are calling for interventions to address the plight of the street children.

“The insights advocate for tangible societal change, emphasising the urgency for compassionate and contextually sensitive interventions to ameliorate the plight of street children confronting substance abuse,” it further reads.

Social and Community Affairs Committee of Parliament chairperson Savel Kafwafwa described the substance abuse as unfortunate.

He observed that preventing the children from taking drugs is impossible, but removing them from the streets for rehabilitation.

Kafwafwa said many return to the streets because of poor environment in the centres they are taken to.

“Child rehabilitation facilities are funded through the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare.

“Their funding is at the mercy of the ministry. This leads to underfunding resulting in food shortages among others which force them back to the streets,” he said.

Kafwafwa disclosed that his committee has recommended direct budget allocations to the institutions.

Forensic psychologist Solomon Chomba warned about mental and health complications from drug abuse.

“Addiction is a serious mental health problem that leads to social, behavioural and mental disorders.

“Liver, kidney and heart problems, cancer, HIV infection, and hepatitis are some of the diseases drug users risk getting, especially those using injectable drugs,” he said.

Chomba further said most people believe that drugs and substances help to manage stress and other mental health problems.

“This is the reason we have many youths who have behavioural and social conduct problems.

“Unfortunately these complications are not detected earlier because they are masked by the drugs,” he said.

Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director Victor Mhango said street children are marginalised and forgotten.

“The Department of Social Welfare which is supposed to father them is absent.

“It is, therefore, not surprising that they are involved in drug abuse and causing all sorts of problems,” he said.

He called for investment to construct safe homes for them.

Reacting to the research findings, Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare spokesperson Pauline Kaunde said she was not aware of the study.

“We interact with street connected children in all cities through group therapy sessions and we do not have such reports. “We were supposed to be consulted in the research as a parent ministry. We were not briefed on the exercise or the results and we do not know whether they indeed met the children. So, we will do our own assessment,” she said.