The re-integration of homeless street children through football in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

My original contribution to the body of knowledge was a response to the main objective of my study, which was to assess the potential of using football to help facilitate the reintegration of the homeless street children in Harare. This qualitative action research study involved more than thirty homeless street children, who joined the project at different intervals between September 2014 and December 2016, and was an attempt to examine the possibilities of changing the children’s behaviours and attitudes before re-integration. Data for my study was collected through individual interviews, focus group discussions, observations, questionnaires and a conference. It was appropriate to have such a number of the children, given how volatile street life is, which meant that it was impractical to retain the same faces over a period of time. Such numbers did not prove a threat to my findings, since I also engaged a non-governmental organisation, a number of assistants, one person who played football at the highest level in Zimbabwe and one who has worked and written extensively on the street child phenomenon. The difference in the background to the majority of the homeless street children also called for a holistic approach, which my study attempted to provide by all means possible.