Kontakt 2010, 12(2):185-192 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2010.025

Free-time activities for street children in ZambiaHealth and Social Sciences

Veronika Šimečková

Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, Ústav sociální práce

The scope of the article is knowledge acquired by the author in the course of her stay in Zambia in 2006 to 2009. It concerns problems of so called free-time activities for "Street children". The attention is paid to problems of poverty, which involves the life of children, and inter alia, also affects the structure of their free time.
The targets of the communication presented here is to describe the currently existing health and social situation in Zambia, define basic terms concerning free time and free-time activities, and describe free-time activities in Zambia as related to the social situation. Poverty is one of the biggest problems of Zambian families; 76% of the population of Zambia live under the limit of poverty (more than 69% of children). This is also associated with problems of diseases, particularly malaria and sexually transmissible diseases HIV/AIDS. Poverty is one of the main causes of the presence of many OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children).
The research was performed at three stages - in different years - where methods were developed in the first year, which were subsequently verified by the author over next years. The issue of these proposals is establishing an open system and scope of free-time activities in Zambia. A presentation of results and set of free-time activities documented by photographs is conclusively presented.

Keywords: free time; children; Zambia; poverty; "Street children"

Received: January 26, 2010; Accepted: May 3, 2010; Prepublished online: June 14, 2010; Published: June 14, 2012  Show citation