Street Children, Latin America

Street Children

It is estimated that throughout Latin America there are over 40 million children, aged between 3 and 18, living and working on the streets. 75% of these children work to supplement the family income where parents earn well below a living wage. They beg, sell trinkets, shine shoes and wash cars to bridge the gap between impossible poverty and survival. Due to this burden these children rarely continue their education beyond age 9.

The remaining 25 % are homeless. With no family they sleep in abandoned buildings, under bridges, in shop doorways and in city parks. On the streets life is lonely and dangerous. Homeless children are subjected to violence, sexual exploitation and chemical addiction.

To escape hunger and loneliness street children commonly turn to solvent abuse. Inhaling glue numbs your ability to feel pain and hunger. It is dangerous and continuous misuse frequently leads to pulmonary edema, kidney failure, and brain damage.

In Columbia and Brazil - as well as many other Latin American countries - a policy of 'social cleansing' is practised against street children. To eradicate a perceived nuisance, street children are targeted for extreme violence and summary execution. The perpetrators are often the police or former police members, but also the general public.