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IAMANEH Switzerland Aeschengraben 16 CH-4051 Basel Phone +41 61 205 60 80 Fax +41 61 271 79 00 info@iamaneh.ch Post office account 40-637178-8 |
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A better life for street girls
For social and political reasons , many families have abandoned their region of birth for the growing slums. A large proportion of these are excluded from the employment market and live in misery caused by unemployment or structural adjustment.
This situation has a particularly harsh effect on the children who, having been forced by poverty, negligence or abuse to abandon their homes at a very young age, find themselves living on the streets.
On the street, girls are particularly vulnerable. They are prevented from doing certain jobs reserved for the boys, such as shoe-polishing or car-washing, and often the only resource they have is to sell their bodies for food, money or shelter: thus exposing themselves to infection by the HIV virus. Girls and young women are faced with many other dangers on the streets and are often obliged to seek protection from older boys, again in exchange for sexual favours.
The Centre for Family Support (CAFA) was created in order to help young girls and their children improve their living conditions and find a way to take charge of their future destinies. In keeping with its primary aim of helping young girls living in inhumane conditions to (re)discover their role in society, the project supports street girls in Port-au-Prince in the areas of education, health, nutrition and professional training.