Abstract

Målet med denne undersøgelse var at undersøge gadebørnenes levede erfaringer i Moshi, Tanzania. Dog findes der gadebørn overalt i Tanzania, og perspektivet kan være forskelligt fra region til region. Hovedformålet med dette studie var at beskrive og indsamle de forskelligartede svar om gadebørnenes erfaringer direkte fra gadebørnenes eget perspektiv og finde frem til en indgriben i form af socialt arbejde, som børnene tror kan støtte dem. I de fleste tilfælde er det de givende instanser, statslige som ikke-statslige institutioner, der definerer fænomenet gadebørn. Men dette studie ønskede at blive direkte involveret i gadebørnenes liv. Jeg tilbragte syv uger på gaden sammen med børn. Studiets teoretiske metodik er guidet af et konstruktivistisk undersøgelsesparadigme og en hermeneutisk fænomenologisk-tilgang. Denne tilgang var passende, da den er beskrivende og forsøger at tage fat om tingene, som de fremstår og så tolke efterfølgende. Børn var mit grundlæggende fokus for indsamling af viden og data igennem hele undersøgelsesprocessen, hvor de bidrog på dataindsamlingsstadiet, som havde til formål at opnå indsigt i deres erfaringer og oplevelser såvel som deres daglige liv på gaden. Det primære værktøj til indsamling af data var semistrukturerede interviews og dokumentation på baggrund af observationer. I alt blev otte (8) børn interviewet, og 3 voksne offentligt ansatte fra socialministeriet i Moshi-regionen, socialpædagoger og en ikke-statsligt ansat. Undersøgelsesresultaterne er ikke meget anderledes end de studier, som er blevet udført på resten af det afrikanske kontinent. Dog blev jeg overrasket over det unikke navn, som bliver ved med at optræde i feltarbejdet: "Masoro". ”Masoro” anvendes af hovedparten af gadebørnene i Moshi. Det er navnet "Masoro” børnene identificerer sig med. Det kan opfattes som, at ”gadebørn” har accepteret, at de er masoro og lever som masoro.

This research aims to investigate the lived experiences of the street children in Moshi- Tanzania, although street children can be found in all over Tanzania, and the perspectives may vary regionally. The main purpose of the study was to describe and get the diversified responses of the street children’s experiences directly from the point of view of the street children themselves, in order to come up with a social work intervention that the children think might support them. In most cases the beneficial agencies, such as government institutions and non-government institutions are to define the phenomenon- street children. But this study wanted to get directly involved to the lives of the street children. The study took place in Moshi- Tanzania. I spent seven weeks on the street with children. The theoretical methodology of the study is guided by a constructivism research paradigm, and hermeneutic phenomenology approach. This approach was appropriate as it is descriptive, and it attempts to take hold of things as they appear, and interpretive. Children were my basic focus for the knowledge and data acquisition during the entire research process through which they contributed to the data collection stage, with the aim being to achieve insight into their experience and perspectives as well as their everyday lives on the street. The primary instrument for the collection of data was a semi-structured interview, and observation documentation. In all, eight (8) children were interviewed, and 3 adults officials from the department of social welfare in Moshi region, a number of social educators, and an official from non-governmental. The research results were shown that poverty, Rural-Urban disparity, cultural practices as well as the effects of Structural Adjustment programs (SAPs), contributed directly or indirectly to the phenomenon of street children. But these research results are common to many other studies, that have been conducted in the rest of African continent. However what surprised me was the unique name, that keeps on reoccurring during the fieldwork. “Masoro.” Masoro is being used by the majority of the street children in Moshi. It is the name “Masoro”, which the children identify with. This could be understood as “street children” have accepted that they are masoro and live like masoro.

A master thesis from Aalborg University

STREET CHILDREN MOSHI: A study of the Phenomenon of street children in Moshi-Tanzania