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WHO ARE THEY?
These children don't like to be called "street children".
Often very young and completely ostracised from their families, they
live, or rather struggle to survive, in garbage dumps, in railway
stations or under bridges in most major cities of developing countries
around the world. One must expect that, just as other minorities have
coined a particular expression for referring to themselves, these
children will choose their own term of reference. What is clear is
that they exist, and unless we choose to ignore their plight, we can
do something for these children.
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A street child
is a young person,
under the age of 15,
who lives and sleeps in the street,
whose family ties are broken
and who can't or won't return home.
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A street child is not a child who plays in the street during the
day. A street child is not someone who is "lucky" enough
to be a child labourer. A child beggar is not necessarily a street
child nor a poor child.
In fact, perhaps the best definition would be this:
A street child is someone who is recognized as such by other street
children.
Taking care of "street children" does not mean that one
does not have to look after the other children in extremely difficult
situations as well. But because unfortunately one cannot take care
of all the unhappy children in the world at once, maybe one should
start by giving priority to the street children?
 Updated
on 15 november, 2007 |
