NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 7 — Second Lady Dorcas Gachagua has promised to mobilize efforts for an institutional framework to rehabilitate and train street children in a bid to end rampant abuse of drugs and substances particularly among boys.
Dorcas, a theologian who has identified empowerment of boys as her initiative of choice, said there is need to create facilities to support vulnerable homeless children.
Speaking to Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in the United States, noted thousands of young boys who leave rural areas in search of jobs risk sinking into drug addition.
‘’Currently we have a crisis in Kenya where young men are in the streets taking drugs, taking alcohol and they are dying in numbers,’’ she said.
She singled out medical rehab facilities, counselling and vocational training centres as key to supporting rehabilitation efforts.
‘’With the availability of these facilities, they will get engaged to redirect their energies to something that is more fruitful,’’ she added.
Economic hardships
She noted most of those affected are from single parent settings trying to make a living to support themselves and their mothers.
‘’Jobs are not guaranteed in the cities and after they lack jobs, they get frustrated because they do not have money, housing and no access to food. They end up in drugs,’’ she said.
The Second Lady added that most of the street boys are taken advantage of by some wealthy people to be their drug vendors.
‘’This is the reason I feel as a mother to rescue the boy child from this madness of drugs, violence and also to move them from the street,’’ she stated.
Dorcas recalled the loss of a young sister after pneumonia-related complications while they were homeless in their childhood.
‘’I have been there, I know how it feels to be in the cold. My young sister died of pneumonia because it was too cold,’’ she said.
