Socio-economic facts and issues

Orphans particularly those who live in rural areas enter into child labour to support themselves and their families.
They work on neighbours’ farms, fetching and selling firewood or farm produce, or making bricks whereby they earn between TZS 500 (€ 0.2) and TZS 1000 (€ 0.4) per day.
Some of the double orphans become heads of household assuming the role of chief breadwinner to support their younger siblings.
Girl orphans are subjected to child marriage (married off) in order to relieve their mothers / caretakers from the burden of caring for them.
Orphans who live with relatives may be treated as second-class family members, being discriminated against in the food allocation, or in the distribution of work (over worked) or physically abused.
Some of the orphans fall into the hands of criminal gangs (child prostitution, substance abuse, violent crimes, human trafficking) in exchange for basic needs such as food, shelter and other necessities or to satisfy emotional needs like a sense of belonging.