UNIT 8 : SOCIETY AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS

READING

Morroco’s street kids

Morocco’s street children live a difficult life,often filled with narcotics and crime. Efforts to
reintegrzte them into families and schools are small and somewhat successful but experts say the
problem is large and its root lies in poverty and difficult social circumstances.

Othmane left his home and school at the age of 14 to live on the street . He no longer wanted to see
his mother fight the daily battle to get bread for his five little siblings, struggle to lease a shantytown
house and pay for his school expenses. « The street is not more merciful ,» Othman says ‘This is a lie
,but at least she will not have to think about my daily living. In the meantime , I may be able to help
her. « Othman carries bags of vegetables znd other purches for customers at a nearby market .In this
way , he earns a few dirhams a day , enoughto bring a little money back home when he visits once a
week and still be able to buy the cheap narcotics which help him endure his suffering .

Othman is part of the growing number of street children in Morocco . These are the homeless and
marginalized youths without identity or family .The sidewalks are their shelters and the
bakeries’doorsteps are their pillows .

In Casablanca ,these children ‘s main `` residence ``are alleys in the old city ,the port ,the train station
and the fruits and vegetables wholesale market . The port provides them with an opprtunity to
emigrate illegaly . The wholesale market gives them the chance to work as porters and make money
tobuy drugs . At the train station , they can earn a bit from helping passengers or by begging for
handouts from tourists.

According to the most rdcent statistics from Morocco’s Secrdtarit of Stzte for Family , Solidarity and
Social Action , 7,000 street children live in Casablanca Wilaya alone. 8,800 more live in other major
cities such as Marrakesh , Fez , and Meknes. The figures are dated and unreliable , however, because
homeless children do not stay in one place .They move between neighbourhoods and cities in search
of another temporary refuge .They are often fleeing dire poverty where six or 10 family members are
crammed into a single room.

Moroccan civil society has adopted a strategy of building centers to shelter some of these street
children and attempt to rentegrate them into schools and families , but the challenge is
enormous.The number of children usually exceefs the centers’financial capabilities and many are
turned away.

Efforts by Morocco’s few centers and associations dedicated to helping street children seem to be
working . Bayti predident Najat M’jid says `` When we look at the number of children whom we zre
able to reintegrate annually ,whether with families or schools ,we find out that we are progressing
year after year .`` M`jid adds , however,that in terms of addressing this phenomenon as a whole ,
much remains to be done .,We haven`t yet drawn up a specific plan to zddress the real problems that
breed street children : poverty, rural immigration , schooling , and its quality, the rising rate of
unemployment and youths`loss of hope in building their future in their country.`` She says.

ACTIVITY 1 : RECOGNIZING THE TYPE OF TEXT.

The following text is probably taken from :

a) An encyclopedia
 b) A newspaper article
c) An academic research paper

ACTIVITY 2 : TRUE /FALSE

1) Othman spends all the money he earns on drugs.

2) Nearly half of the kingdoms’homeless kids live in the Casablanca Wilaya.
3) Homeless children care centers are still not enough for the increasing number of homeless
kids.

ACTIVITY 3 : COMPREHENSION CHECK.

Answer the following questions about the text.

1) Why did Othman decide to drop out of school and leave home ?
2) What are the main objectives of children refuge centers ?
3) What are , in M’jid’s view , the real causes of street children ?
4) Complete the following chart with the appropriate informqtion from the text ?

The place What does it provide street kids with ?

The port
The wholesale market
The train station

ACTIVITY 4 : IDENTIFYING REFERENTS.

What do the underlined words in the text refer to ?

1) Her

2) Their

3) This phenomenon

4) Their future

ACTIVITY 5 : INFERING MEANING FROM CONTEXT.

1) struggle :…………………….

2) bear and resist to :……………..

3) the sales of goodw in quantity :……………..

4) extremely serious :………………

5) goes beyond :………………….

6) dealing with :……………

ACTIVITY 6 : SENTENCE COMPLETION

Complete the following sentences with information from the text.

1) Strret children are hard to count because …………………………………………

2) The objective of building the homeless children centers is to ……………………………………….

ACTIVITY 7 : DEFINING THE PURPOSE OF THE WRITER

The main purpose of the writer is to :

a) Define the street kids phenomenon .

b) Inform us about the miserable situation of street kids in Morocco .
c) Criticize the role of child care centers.