About The Project:

An estimated 100 million children in the world live and work on the streets – begging, peddling fruit, cigarettes or trinkets, shinning shoes, often resorting to petty theft and prostitution to survive. Some of them have family links, and return home periodically, but many others have been abandoned, rejected or orphaned, or have run away from home because of abuse or poverty. These children sleep in parks or doorways, under bridges or in abandoned buildings. They are increasingly being targeted by international paedophile and pornography rings. Many are addicted to drugs;  begging, petty crime or prostitution, activities which bring them regularly to the attention of the police. Some detained and ill-treated simply because they are easy prey; others are arrested under laws which make destitution, vagrancy and begging criminal offences.,

Street children often fall victims to “social cleansing” campaigns, in which local business owners pay to have them chased away or even killed. Many are victims of torture and ill-treatment, and sometimes murder, by police and other authorities. Because of their traumatic situation, they have embrace societal shun activities as escape device.

In Cameroon, we can distinguish the following categories of these children:

1. Street Children – i.e. those children who have family ties, hence they come to the strict for income generating activities be it through positive or negative means and return home periodically.
2. Children in the Street – i.e. those children whose family is the street, their relation and survival depends on the street. We call them here “Nanga Boko”.
3. Exceptionally, we have another category of children we term “Witch Children”  i.e. children rejected because of parents or guardian religious/traditional affiliation to be the beginning of all the malice the family is facing, hence they are driven away.

Whatever the category they fall under, AHURTOD believe there is a diamond in each of these children. Holding and supporting the slogan “Let Children Be Children” we would realize that we were like them yesterday hence they need our attention and support as children. It is high time we be there for them and not them being there for us all the time.

Some of these children are destined ministers, presidents, administrators, businessmen, economist, etc, but at their destitute state, they cannto become the afore. They need your support, they need your encouragement, they need your love, they need your concern, and more especially, they need your sacrifice and time.

LET CHILDREN BE CHILDREN is a project of AHURTOD dedicated in raising awareness of the ills our children face both in their homes and in the streets. It is a project which puts the interest of the child in front for debate and positive action for the positive human development of the child.