I met Delphin for the first time this morning. She is five and has experienced life in a way that no child should. Her entire estate comprises a dirty old smock. No shoes. Nothing but the smock.

The effects of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo have led to the deaths of more than 2.7 million children under the age of five. The social fabric that would normally protect children has unraveled and the economy has dissolved.

Delphin's mother has died and her father, no longer able to cope, has abandoned her.

Delphin's sister, Anna, is seven and has shown great courage in supporting her. Both children have been living in one of Kinshasa's many markets, scraping for vegetable debris in the rubbish around trestle tables, helping traders in return for food while keeping a wary out eye for older children, the police and those who would beat them for living on the street.

Over the past two years War Child has been working with local groups of people who have recognised the suffering of children like Delphin and Anna. We have trained them to work with the community of street children – there are 20,000 in Kinshasa alone – by establishing listening posts. It is through these listening posts that Delphin and Anna were referred to us.

They arrived this morning at one of the street children's centres we support. Both girls were eating a healthy meal of fish, beans and fufu by the time I got there. War Child has trained and invested in the staff at the centre, which is one of our local partner organisations.

Through this training the staff at the centre have learned how to gradually build a case profile of all the children in their care, which they use as a basis for tracing their families and mediating their reintegration: a long and involved process. But for now, there are a series of games they will use to help Delphin and Anna build friendships with the other children and, I hope, bring a smile to Delphin's face.

All our partner organisations have been established by local people, and they have achieved this with few resources. War Child has assisted them by rehabilitating the street child centres they run: building clean toilets and showers, kitchen and play areas, and by providing furniture, especially beds, for the children. The training in child care, and health and hygiene has led to a very significant improvement in the health and well being of the children at our partner centres.

War Child also covers food costs for the children and their school fees. Schooling is a vital socialising process. And it keeps the children engaged positively with the local community through their relationships with other children and parents, teachers and supporters of the school.