Identifying new street children as early as possible and directing them away from the street

When a child leaves home for the street, it is a crucial time. It takes only a few hours for the child to become immersed in street culture and behaviour. By encountering children as soon as possible after they arrive on the streets, the risk of them migrating to the street permanently is greatly reduced. The Red Alert programme uses a network of ‘chasquis’ - ‘look-outs’ that operate at the gateways of the big cities – traders, street vendors, social workers, teachers – all looking out for new potential street children coming in to the city. This approach mobilises communities to create a ‘safety net’ for vulnerable children.

An Early Encounter

Once a child is identified as being unaccompanied or without food and a roof over their heads, the chasquis will approach the child, offering food, friendship and shelter. By encountering the child as early as possible, we can dramatically reduce the flow of children migrating to the streets.

The Red Alert Network links lots of small community projects together, enabling them to share resources, knowledge and equipment as well as keeping others informed of children in need of help. By joining together and supporting each other, all the projects in the network can benefit from a sense of community, sharing their experiences, the opportunity to pray together and gaining the knowledge that they are not alone in their efforts. As part of the Red Alert Network, the projects can be part of the wider Toybox family.

City-Wide Strategy

The Red Alert programme enables a complete city-wide approach to reach street children, and through it, children can be directed to the projects and support systems in the network. The Red Alert programme also feeds into the school and training networks, enabling children to continue, or sometimes start their education. The Red Alert look-outs help in identifying key groups of street children, thus linking in with the street teams who will then go out and meet the children already living on the streets.

Go back to: What We Do
Go on to: Rescue - Refuge - Jenifer's Story

Martin

Martin is a dedicated, humble and special man who has committed the last 12 years of his life to helping street children. In the hidden areas of the city, he is a street educator, building friendships with the street children. Something as simple as making a friendship band or colouring in a picture can be the beginning of these children leaving the streets to find a new life of security and hope.

“It is wonderful to see Martin caring for them, sitting with them, doing things with them. They seem to know him and trust him. Fantastic.” Adrian Plass on his visit to Lima

“They treat me with much love and they show they love us. Now I have many friends. I would like to become a lawyer, so I want adult people to help me to study and learn more.” Rosio, Red Alert Lima, Peru