MdM France Street Children Project

Of all the medical/psycho-social programs for street children in St Petersburg, the Médecins du Monde France project is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging. MdM Frances' links with the health authorities and hospitals, their networks and agreements with epidemeological institutes; the social services coupled with their links with international and local NGOs provide a strong framework within which to conduct activities. The commitment of their social workers, psychologists and physicians both on the street and in the various medical centres is extremely high and their institutional knowledge unparalleled.

The focal point of Médecins du Monde Frances activities is carried out at Lakhtinskaya Street No.7. A team of doctors, assistants, nurses, psychologists and social workers offer a variety of services and material support to children from 16.00-21.00, 7 days a week.

In addition to this Medical Centre, "street interventions" are carried out 6 times per week in the Tousovkas: the metro and railway stations where the street children gather.

"Street interventions" are carried out by doctors, social workers and psychologists, providing social and medical services which build relationships built on trust and encourage the children to enter into less harmful environments.

Médecins du Monde France also operates a medical service at the state operated "Social Hotel" in the Petrogradskiy district and have developed a fixed point clinic at a lodging hotel for children run by a Christian organisation at Rasstayania Street No.19. The clinics provide primary health care as well as health education and awareness campaigns.

MdM France are planning to construct a night centre with partial funding from UNICEF. This will provide a link for the children with 2 to 3 good shelters that operate in the city. The main problem with shelters is that they have quite rigid rules. Children who are taken straight off the streets often have behavioural problems which make it extremely difficult for them to abide by the rules of the shelter. This results in an extremely high "drop out" rate, with street children leaving the shelters less than 3 weeks after they have arrived.

Scene from the clinic

The aim of the night centre is to provide a safe environment with certain conditions attached - no drugs, no sex, etc, but which is nevertheless not as rigid in nature as the shelters are perceived to be by the children. The night centre would be staffed by trusted MdM France staff with whom the children have built trust from their work in the Medical Centre and on the street. UNICEF will provide a proportion of the funding for this night centre which will be built on municipal property in order to avoid paying rent with the intention of one day transitioning the structure to the municipal authorities via a local NGO.

The diagram below illustrates how Médecins du Monde France structures, current and proposed are designed to encourage the flow of children off the streets and into more secure environments.