History

Tikondane was established in response to a new development in Malawi during the 1990’s, namely a growing number of children living and begging on the streets of Lilongwe. The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) felt called to respond to this challenge. The members of MSOLA are also commonly known as The White Sisters and they have been in Malawi since 1911. In collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Lilongwe, they appointed Sister Rita Hieble to undertake research on the problem and develop a relevant response. In January 1998, Sister Rita started spending her evenings and early mornings visiting children who were sleeping on the street. At that time there were no organizations reaching out to children on the streets. There had been an NGO which had promised to improve the lives of the children, but after raising money in their name, they disappeared.

Initially, when Tikondane started its operations, there was resistance. Among those who were hesitant were even the  children that were begging in town. When asked whether they had gone to the Social Welfare Office or to the Police for help, these children would answer that they did but that they were not helped, which resulted in their apprehension. Building a trusting relationship with them was a key factor, but this clearly took much time. Given the need for an organisation such as Tikondane in the area, the Sisters persisted in their patience and kept an on-going dialogue with all stakeholders.

To facilitate the activities of Tikondane, the Diocese of Lilongwe offered a building. The building is situated in the Lilongwe Old Town area 2 near the bus-depot, the main market and the shopping area, which makes it easily reachable for the children in the street. The name Tikondane was chosen by the first group of children, and it means ‘let us love each other’. The reason they chose this name was because they said that, if their parents had loved each other and had loved them, they wouldn’t be on the streets. In addition, if there was more love among the street children, their lives would be better, too.

At around the same time that Tikondane was established, the Police Victim Support Unit was introduced. This marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the two which has continued to grow from strength to strength. In 2001, Chisomo Children’s Club of Blantyre which also addressed the issues of children in the street established a branch in Lilongwe, and in between several other small organizations focusing on children on the streets appeared and disappeared. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare is the key government institution that Tikondane has been working with since its launch.

When Tikondane started in 1998, our target-group was those children who spent not only their days but also their nights on the streets. In recent years, we have also focused increasingly on newcomers in town, including mothers whose children are in danger, children who have been abused, children in need of care and protection as well as children in conflict with the law. This approach of ‘providing a last safety-net’ for children who are in danger of being exposed to and absorbed into street-life has continued to characterize our work. Tikondane has kept a focus on both groups of children (those already sleeping on the streets and those at risk) and has furthermore persistently invested in follow-up visits to children that have returned to their families through our services. As such, Tikondane has remained the most stable, trustworthy and reliable service provider for children in, on and off the streets of Lilongwe since 1998.