EVA Program: Educating for Life and Love!
Street youth, now forming couples and raising children, can build a stable future for themselves and their families—with the right support.
A few years ago, we began witnessing the emergence of the first couples and children among street youth. This raised a vital question: what will become of them? It quickly became necessary and urgent to create a program to prevent the rise of a new marginalised class in our cities, with potentially disastrous consequences.
This growing population needs comprehensive support and education for full personal and social development. We work to strengthen their capacities so they can fulfil their responsibilities as spouses and parents, integrate into society, and manage their resources for the wellbeing of their families.
Our Mission
To support young adult street couples and their children by educating them in parenting, social skills, and economic autonomy.
The EVA Program (Éduquer à la Vie et à l’Amour) supports young adults who grew up on the streets and were unable to reintegrate into stable family structures. Many now live in informal settlements with their partners and children—representing more than 150 children in total.
Our goal is to foster their social reintegration by strengthening parenting, social, and economic skills, while providing access to housing and job opportunities. This enables them to rebuild stable and fulfilling lives for themselves and their families.
Our Method
We combine group sessions, personalised follow-ups, and project-based initiatives to support families in their development.
Our method is based on two complementary approaches: group work and individual follow-up. Each month, we organise psycho-educational group sessions for parents and their adolescent children, providing a space for shared experiences and mutual support.
In parallel, each family receives regular home visits for personalised follow-up, allowing us to identify and address specific challenges. We also propose various small projects to foster family engagement and cohesion.
Understanding each family’s living environment helps us build deeper connections, better understand their context, and tailor our support to their specific needs.
Our Challenges
The main challenges lie in couples’ commitment to our guidance and in the financial limitations that restrict our capacity to provide assistance.
We face two main difficulties. First, encouraging couples to consistently follow and apply our teachings is often a slow process that requires time, persistence, and mutual trust. Commitment and responsibility usually grow gradually, after sustained effort.
Second, financial constraints significantly limit our ability to meet all expressed needs, whether for material support, healthcare, or other forms of essential assistance for family wellbeing.
Our Results
Stronger family bonds, reduced school dropout rates, and improved academic performance among children reflect a growing social awareness.
Human and social awareness is progressing—slowly but steadily. We have observed improved couple stability, with more durable relationships indicating better management of family responsibilities.
School dropout rates have declined, reflecting a heightened awareness of education’s value. Academic performance among children is improving as well—evidence that our efforts in parenting education and parental engagement are beginning to bear fruit.
These results signal a positive transformation over the long term.
Our Impact in Numbers
Year 2024
Les résultats sont impressionnants : stabilité des couples, réduction du décrochage scolaire et amélioration des performances des enfants, preuve de l’impact positif du programme.
