Street Priests Inc.
Street Priests Human Development Foundation | |
| Motto | Revolutionaries changing the world one street child at a time. |
|---|---|
| Founded | Started in 2014 by James Okina in Nigeria[1] |
| Type | Non-profit NGO[2] |
| Headquarters | Calabar |
| Location | |
| Services | providing education to the street kids, addresses child abuses, human rights promotion & protection. |
| Fields | Child rights, human rights, education |
| James Okina | |
| Website | streetpriests |
Street Priests Inc. is a Calabar,[3] Nigeria-based nonprofit organization,[4] established in 2014, that serves children living and working on the street through volunteerism.[5][6] It has a vision to transform the lives of street children and turn their potential into assets for society.[7] Street Priests is a movement, run by a league of volunteers, partners and sponsors that facilitate programs to positively engage, equip, mentor and rehabilitate street children.[8]
History[edit]
Street Priests[9] was founded in 2014 by James Okina at age fifteen (15).[10][11] Beginning as a one-man band, he believed that every child deserved more than what the hazardous street life offered. Having had his fair share of life on the street after his parents separated, he envisioned the saving and transformation of many more street children. Since then, Street Priests has metamorphosed from a one-man effort to a youth-led movement, impacting the lives of over 4,000 kids and counting.[12]
Before the opening of the community center in 2020 called the Excellence Center, Street Priests held a monthly event at strategic locations in Calabar called Street Corners. The event gathered the kids from various corners of the city to engage them in fun and educative activities. This event brought the children to light as they were given the experience of interaction and participation.
The organization has the following highlights to show for its work over the years;
In 2018, Street Priests in collaboration with PACT, SAFE CHILD AFRICA and BORN EQUAL celebrated the International Day for Street Children through an awareness walk in the streets of Calabar. Joined by almost 100 children, they matched round, calling for equality and equity for street children and enlightening the public of the societal challenges they face.[13]
Street Priests gained more visibility with features on various media outlets. It was captured in the BBC magazine[14] as one of its African Top Stories. It took part in the 2018 Impact Africa Summit in Johannesburg South Africa. Other amazing features were captured in the National Public Radio (NPR),[15] ZoominTV, FAD FM, and HIT FM amongst others.[16] In recognition of its contribution towards the growth and development of the society, Street was honoured with the Community Service Award by the Rotaract Club of Canaan City, Calabar.
In 2019, as an extension of its work, the founder James Okina with a colleague from the Lynn University visited the Dominican Republic to carry out a research on the problem of street children. The research report Street Children; a Focus on the Dominican Republic was compiled, published and presented in Lynn University and the Oxford Said Business School, Oxford University, England.[17]
Aim[edit]
The lifelong goal is to completely rid the streets of children around the world by; discovering and developing their potential through educational programs and scholarship opportunities that will set the stage for a better life, imbibing good social and moral behaviors to improve their reintegration into the society and finally, to ensure that they are not deprived of the care and attention of guardians by making efforts to reunite them with their families.[18]
Work[edit]
To successfully tackle the plight of street children, Street Priests creates a safe space for the kids by providing, a fun and hands-on rehabilitative program that engages them in formal education through unconventional ways, to help reintegrate them back into society. This is done through a rehabilitation program at the community center. This program also involves meeting their basic health and nutritional needs and reuniting the children with their families after careful research of their backgrounds.
It prevents the reoccurrence of the problems faced by enforcing the law on child rights, through partnership with law enforcement agencies and legal authorities, and address child abuse cases which helps in keeping kids out of the streets.
The organization actively advocate for street children by educating and informing the public about the problem of street children in their immediate environment and inspires them on ways to get involved through innovative programs, events and conferences, obliterating misconceptions and brewing empathy.[19]
Street Priests[20] facilitates access to education for at-risk children as a preventive measure from experiencing life on the streets through our online interactive giving platform called “Visible Children“. It holds series of capacity building meetings for volunteers to be adequately trained and hence equipped to serve the children better.[21]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "The teen rescuing street children in Nigeria". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Todo, Agosi (19 April 2020). "Group feeds 100 street kids daily as palliative measure". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Edu, Girl (19 February 2018). "Nigeria – James Okina – Street Priests Inc – Transforming Lives Through Education". Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "Street Priests Inc". Apollo.io. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ Charles, Eyo (1 May 2020). "Succour for Calabar street kids as NGO intervenes". Daily Trust. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "Street Priests". teennationafrica.org. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "The teen rescuing street children in Nigeria". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Aniekan, Aniekan (23 April 2020). "Covid 19: NGO reaches out to hundreds of street kids in C'River". www.oraclenews.ng. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "Street Priests". iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "The fate of millions of forgotten children in the face of a pandemic". www.generationunlimited.org. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "James Okina, The Street Priest of Nigeria". KAMSI. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Meet the Unlimited | James Okina". www.generationunlimited.org. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Magyar, Judith. "SAP BrandVoice: Helping Street Kids Is A Win-Win For The Kids And Society". Forbes. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "The teen rescuing street children in Nigeria". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "How A Typical Teen Did Something Not So Typical To Help Street Kids". NPR.org. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Unah, Linus. "How A Typical Teen Did Something Not So Typical To Help Street Kids". www.capradio.org. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ De Nes, Francesca (22 September 2019). "Bringing Awareness to Invisible Children". iPulse. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "What We Do – Street Priests". Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ Tialobi, Eseoghene (21 May 2019). "Street Priests; finding solutions to the problems faced by street children". tbtm. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ↑ "Street Priests, No. 13, Iso Oqua street,, Calabar (2020)". www.findglocal.com. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ Magyar, Judith. "SAP BrandVoice: Helping Street Kids Is A Win-Win For The Kids And Society". Forbes. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
External link[edit]
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