In December, Hamza and I stopped at Zara, the popular retail store in Casablanca, after a trip to the Consulate.  After a bit of shoufing, we stepped outside, only to be greeted by a very small child with a case of gum.

As most of you know, and others of you might suspect, Morocco has lots of street kids - Magharebia.com estimates that there are about 25,000 in all of Morocco (although as one of my favorite bloggers pointed out, Chicago alone has that many).  Some of these kids, like the one I met above, are “employed,” making a living selling gum, candy, nuts, or other small things.  Others beg by mosques or on busy streets.  Still others get trapped in a life of glue-sniffing, alcohol abuse, or even prostitution.  A film put out a few years ago by Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch called Ali Zaoua, prince de la rue depicts the life of three such street children, one of whom left home to get away from his abusive prostitute mother.

I’ve become somewhat hardened to Meknes’ street kids.  Perhaps because there are about ten of them in Hamrya where I live, and I see them almost every day.  Some of them are terribly aggressive and try to grab the arms of passersby.  But this one particular child in Casa broke my heart for some reason.  We bought a pack of gum from him, then asked him his age.

“Six,” he said in French, “No, cinq.”

I turned to Hamza, “he’s so little!”

“So little!” The child mimicked.

Magharebia points out that groups such as The Moroccan Association for the Protection of Children in Danger (ADIM) and Shemsy are working to combat this problem, working to steer children away from abuse and reintegrate them into the educational system.  Other groups such as Bayti work with street children, working children, abandoned children, juvenile delinquent and sexually exploited children and has successfully reunited quite a few children with their families.

The biggest obstacles to the success of these programs are funding and public apathy.  As I mentioned the other day, a common belief amongst Moroccan youth is: “it’s the government’s responsibility.”  Even when speaking with students about specific programs such as Bayti, they claim “it can’t work.”  Others still (including a few very close friends) have said “Moroccans have their own problems.  It isn’t their job to take care of street kids when they can hardly afford to take care of their own kids.”

Despite all the complaints, however, the government is doing something. In Casablanca, paramedics patrol the streets to help children who need minor medical and psychological assistance.  Additionally, a new initiative in five major cities is a mobile unit dedicated to assisting these children.

So whose responsibility is it really?

Bayti puts it best: “The success of these efforts is contingent not only on financial support, but on a true partnership between the family, the school, the state, the NGO and the private sector.”