Experience of Child Drivers of the Blind: Cases Observed on the Streets of the City of Kisangani in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Abstract

Child drivers of the blind are the concern of many pioneers in social paediatrics. These children live a life dependent on the blind. Less publicised and more difficult to count in official reports, the exploitation of children by their parents is a real scourge in Africa. Begging on the streets for the benefit of adults involves major risks for the hygiene and health of minors - sometimes newborns - and keeps them further away from school. This is a situation that should worry the political and administrative authorities. This work proposes to determine the experiences child drivers of the blind in the city of Kisangani with a view to promoting the right of the child. To collect the data, this qualitative study used unstructured interviews with a casual sample of six child drivers of the blind available and accessible. We found that child drivers of the blind are forced to beg for their livelihoods. Their schooling and the satisfaction of their basic needs as well as those of their families depend on the income they find in begging. Thus, the need to put into perspective the living conditions of child drivers of the blind in order to determine the most appropriate responses to their socio-economic conditions.