News from the Streets
Since 2015, we have supported children on the streets of Jinja to write their very own newspaper.
“News From The Streets” is Uganda’s only newspaper that is written entirely by street-connected children.
It is released every year on the International Day for Street Children, and links in with the theme of the day for that year.
‘News from the Streets’, is published to give the children a chance to share their views on the realities of life on the streets.
The newspaper showcases a wealth of poetry, journalism and story-telling, created by children who are currently or were formerly on the streets of Jinja.
The children often talk about how much they would like to overcome the public’s misconceptions and bad feelings about them, and work with the authorities and community to improve the streets.
By creating their own newspaper, the children have been able to demonstrate their commitment to creating positive change in the community.
Read previous editions here
On the day
S.A.L.V.E. organises a march down the main street of Jinja. We invite officials, police and government to come, allowing us to challenge their misconceptions. It also gives the children a chance to tell their stories so that people can learn more about the reality of life on the streets for children in Uganda.
After the march, we organise some games and give the children the opportunity to have some fun and celebrate themselves! As well as this, it shows people that they are just like all children who deserve to play and be themselves.
In the past, we have also done radio interviews in both the UK and Uganda. The children were able to share their views with people and make their voices heard.
The theme
Every year there is a new theme. We organise activities based on the theme, allowing people to see how complex of an issue children living on the street can be. For example, the 2016 theme was ‘Identity’ so we were able to look at how basic needs such as education and healthcare is denied to children who lack ID. We also looked at identity in term of how street children define their own identities, how they see themselves and also how societies in general perceive them.