Tikondane envisions a just, loving, caring and dignifying society in which people are fully involved in the care and protection of children. Our drive is the Gospel of Life which promotes human dignity. This inspires us to invest all our strengths and energy in promoting the rights of children, combatting all forms of abuse, rejection and marginalization. In a nutshell:
Lilongwe is a proportionally fast growing city and will reach 1 million inhabitants in 2015, attracting many people including vulnerable children. We are working per year with 250 new children joining street life due to various pull and push factors. Among them are the consequences of HIV/aids, increasing poverty levels, virtual starvation, domestic violence and other abuse, family breakdown, accusations of witchcraft and problems in accessing social and economic services such as education, health care, employment and other services for holistic development and care.
Apart from the newcomers in the streets, many other children also need protection as they are at risk of becoming a child living in the streets: children commuting to town in order to beg, young girls and boys engaged in commercial sex activities, undersupported children in conflict with the law, former Tikondane children, etc.
The number of children in the streets is likely to increase in the context of HIV and increasing pressure on the aforementioned services given a rapid growth of the Malawian population. Meanwhile, child care and protection efforts continue to be compromised due to weak enforcement of laws protecting children’s rights and a lack of coherent, financed support and protection programs. Exposed to street life without proper care and protection, children continue to experience different kind of violation against their rights, such as the right to protection, education, non-discrimination and participation. Tikondane’s task is therefore likely to remain a large and challenging one.
Street outreach Our social workers frequently go out into the streets to identify children who have recently arrived in the streets or who are commuting. They also offer children who have been living in the streets for some time (the so-called ‘oldtimers’) a one-on-one trusting relationship and education about child rights and the dangers of street life. They interact with the children in search of alternatives to street life.
Police cell visits The Tikondane staff visits the Lilongwe police cells at least twice a weak. They conduct interviews with the children they find there and facilitate a speedy handling of their cases, meanwhile providing them with food if necessary. Tikondane helps the police to identify the family of the child and provides support for re-integration.
Transit shelter We welcome children to stay in our shelter to protect them from the dangers of street life. Our shelter provides a safe environment for assessing the needs of the child, for going deeper into the child’s story and for preparing for reintegration. Stays can be short-term (usually less than three weeks) but they can also become long-term (up to one year). At the shelter, the children receive nutritious meals and, if necessary, clothing, medical support and school materials. Moreover, the children receive psychosocial support and councelling to help them combat both the issues that drove them into the streets and the harmful experiences they have already had while living in the streets.
Skill teaching and informing children While at the shelter, the children can participate in activities such as gardening, briquette making and arts and crafts. As such the children can be diverted from their situation with simple pass-times that help increase their sense of self-efficacy. Tikondane also gives nutrition advice, academic support, information on HIV and support for children on ART, and sessions on how to identify, prevent and report abuse.
Boarding school programme This programme offers a temporary solution for children who cannot be immediately re-integrated into their natural milieu. While in school, both the child and the family are offered education and psycho-social support to deal with what happened and prepare for eventual full re-integration.
Family re-integration programme We believe that children are best brought up in their natural milieu. In collaboration with primary duty bearers, the root causes of the problem that drove the child to the street are addressed and a loving home is saught. After their stay at Tikondane, children are always followed up to ensure successful reintegration with family members. Tikondane staff takes great care to ensure that they do not become rejected or ill-treated again, making follow-up visits and providing family councelling and support as long as needed.
Informing stakeholders and the public Tikondane staff keeps developing an appropriate community response to the problem of street children and commuting children. Out staff invests in networking with relevant stakeholders working on child rights. We produce newsletters and annual reports, we host annual open days and Christmas events, and we hold information sessions with local teachers and parishes. Tikondane also strives for a strong media engagement and conducts issue based community sensitizations.
In Dec. 2013 Tikondane together with Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (St. Denis Parish) held a function in Chinsapo on the issue of commuting children from Chinsapo to town. TA Maliri, chiefs and the MP Bhagwanji joined the function and were engaged towards Cildren’s Rights.
Tikondane Care for Children values and promotes the dignity of every human being and especially the dignity of children who are marginalised, rejected and abandoned, as well as children suffering from different kinds of abuse. TIKONDANE is committed to promoting the safety, welfare and rights of children in consonance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
TIKONDANE will do all in its power to create a safe environment for children in order to secure their protection and enable them to access their rights while TIKONDANE is working with them. TIKONDANE commits to promote the safety and wellbeing of all children in its care protecting them from potential abuse from adults or other children. TIKONDANE will ensure that children are protected from harmful influences.
TIKONDANE will always guarantee that children are re-integrated into a safe environment that provides them with security, happiness, love and understanding. TIKONDANE commits itself to help them to access their right to be raised in a loving family. TIKONDANE hopes to see them develop a sense of self-worth and sensitivity to the worth of others, and gradually achieve full and harmonious human development.
TIKONDANE appreciates the service of the staff, volunteers, partners, sponsors and visitors. TIKONDANE would like to provide all these people with a code of conduct and of good practice in order to safeguard them from allegations that might arise from careless or unwise behaviour towards children. Such behaviours might be interpreted as child abuse.
TIKONDANE is committed to ensuring that children who it sends to programs run by partners (e.g. boarding schools) will be given protection of an acceptable standard. TIKONDANE is committed to creating a safe environment for children. All stakeholders are called to accept responsibility to safeguard children from harm and abuse. This means following procedures for the protection of children and reporting any concerns about their welfare to appropriate authorities.
TIKONDANE agrees with the agenda agreed by the United Nations entitled ‘A World Fit for Children’:“Together, we will build a world in which all girls and boys can enjoy childhood – as a time of playing, learning, in which they are loved, respected and cherished, their rights are promoted, without discrimination of any kind, where their safety and wellbeing are paramount and where they can develop in health, peace and dignity.” (‘A World Fit for Children’ Annex IIIA, UN Special session, 10th May 2002)
TIKONDANE is committed to protect its integrity and its mission, namely to give holistic care, to protect and empower vulnerable, marginalized children, to facilitate their re-integration in their families and school systems, and to advocate for their cause in fostering a spirit of justice, healing and reconciliation.
Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) founded Tikondane. Today, three sisters are working together with the other staff members in order to accomplish Tikondane’s mission.
Moviemiento Nambuma Malawi
This movement provides support to Tikondane in various ways.
