| Life on the streets: Children's stories |
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Last Updated: Friday, 19 November, 2004
Saturday 20 November is
Universal Children's Day, a date devoted to "the welfare of the children of the
world", according to organisers the United Nations. To mark the day the BBC's language sites spoke to a
number of homeless or underprivileged children. Included below are some of their stories. They are both alcoholics and they sold their flat so
that they could pay for the booze. Now they are homeless themselves and stay with their
alcoholic friends constantly moving from one place to another. I meet my former neighbours and beg for some food or
a little money. They usually don't sympathise because I am smelly. I smoke and sniff glue.
I don't want to go back to my parents, but also I
don't like hostels for kids like me. You have to do what you are told and wake up at a
certain time. I am used to being free to do what I want. His situation is similar to that of millions of
'street kids' in Latin America. Usually they have a home in poverty stricken areas or
shanty towns, but their desperate economic situation compels them to live in the streets
all day, doing what they can to earn money. We have to eat. I go to school in the morning and
then I come to this corner to juggle with my oranges. I don't have time for lunch, I do
that at 4 pm when there are less cars to get money from. After that I come back here with my brother who is 11
years old. He can't juggle so he dances by my side. We make about 20 bolivianos ($2.50) each day. At
night we go home. It's far away - two hours' journey. Many cars give us money, other drivers get mad at us,
they sound their claxons or start their cars when we are still in front of them, and they
don't give us any money. I came to Delhi with my mother and her second
husband. I was seven then. I am thirteen now. My mother abandoned me at the bus terminal
while I was fast asleep and I have not seen her since. Suddenly, I was an orphan. I met some boys who used
to beg at the station and I joined them in begging to feed myself. I did not have a name,
so friends started calling me Rajan, which means the king. I started wiping cars when they stopped at a red
light. After a while we moved to Connaught Place, the main shopping area in the capital,
where we started picking rag. I also worked in a roadside eatery for a while. While working there I met people working for a
charity that help destitute children, called Jamghat. I work for them now. I am quite happy here. Even if I find out where my
mother is I will not return to her. I am studying. I am also learning sewing, not neatly
but now I can write letters to some extent. I like cricket. I went to Pakistan recently to
play. It was an event called Cricket for Peace. Police have beaten me several times. They beat me
once while I was sleeping. I do mime for the Jamghat in which I portray what the police
do. Whenever I feel like rambling I go to my old
hangouts. I still see my old friends. I take a bus but do not pay the fare. I have seen the whole capital without paying any
fare. I have travelled to many cities without a ticket. I have been to Mumbai, Haridwar
and Dehradun. I am living with kids like myself and I am very
happy. I think I will study well and then help children like myself.
These stories are very sad and can soften even the
most hardened hearts. In my country, Nigeria, such sorry sights stare the citizens
squarely in the eyes. The irony of it all is that some people live in affluence and yet
turn a blind eye on those living in perpetual penury. Sympathy does not come to their
minds, and they are nonchalant about these children's plights. I wish all the kids
worldwide a happy children's day and hope the underprivileged can have cause to put a big
grin on their faces. These stories and others like them are exactly why I
believe that too much focus is put on nationalism and domestic poor. As far as I am
concerned there are very, very few in Canada who are truly poor - poor in the same vein as
these poor souls described in this BBC feature. I get lambasted for it, but I would vastly
prefer to give money to poor elsewhere than those who are poor in Canada. There are many kids in my country who are dirt poor.
It is very sad when you are in your car and you stop at traffic lights, because those kids
will come to ask for a little money from you. Those children that beg at traffic lights
started to appear after the economic crisis happened. What really saddened me when it
happened was I saw a little boy that was wearing a school uniform begging. I always saw
that kid whenever I passed the same traffic light. As time went by, I noticed his
transformation from an innocent looking child to one with a bewildered look. I don't think
he went to school anymore. My friends and I used to give money to as many kids
as we could. But then we read in the newspapers about children who were allegedly
kidnapped and forced to be beggars. Some of them had their body mutilated to make them
appear pitiful so they could earn more. Then we started to doubt whether we should give
money to those children because we never knew if it would help them or it would just make
the kidnappings worse. It was like everything was wrong. Having recently returned from living in Delhi, I can
vouch that there are many children far worse off than these. In Delhi itself there are
huge numbers of children on the street. Some are alone or in gangs of friends. Some are
begging for their parents. Some are begging as part of organised groups, headed by
criminals that use the children. Some of the children have had limbs amputated or large
burns to make them better beggars. At night they are often robbed of what they have been
given during the day. I've regularly taken groups of these children to buy them food as
otherwise for many the money goes on glue or drugs, or back to whoever controls them. What a shame that we spend so much money on ways to
kill one another when there are kids like this that we could help. It really shows what
the majority of us humans are. It amazes me that there are people who will treat a
dog or cat like a jewel for all of their short spoilt lives while hundreds of thousands of
people suffer due to poverty, homelessness, abuse, hunger and disease. I've worked at an
orphanage for babies who are put up for adoption, and it is incredible how the love that
they receive there changes their lives. They are the most loving kids I have ever met.
They receive so much from everyone around them, and they give it back unconditionally.
Guilt does not move people's hearts, but love touches all. There is a need for a concerted effort to help these
kids who are vulnerable on the street. NGOs who help these kids should use more of the
money collected for the upkeep of these kids and not administrative charges. Like the
young lad from India, with help most of these kids would like to be educated and also
learn a trade. I feel very sad for these children and I just hope
that they will be happy, and at least get some food in the future.
When I was 16, I ran away from home. I lived on the
streets off and on for six months. I saw many sad and degrading ways of life. I was lucky,
I had a great father who helped me to get my life together. I have a college degree, and
am a productive member of society. However, those few months learning street survival have
stayed with me all these years. We, as citizens of whatever country we live in, have a
responsibility to protect the children who live on the streets. As a former street kid I
can honestly say that 'survival of the fittest' is the law of the land, and it is not a
place for children. There are some pretty evil people out there who prey on these children
and scar them for life. I know from experience. I think that outsourcing jobs from Canada/US/Europe
to the third world nations is creating these scenes. We export these jobs just for the
bottom line. Maybe if we paid people three times as much or more in the developing
nations, we could give hope to these kids, so they don't have to live like this. The
average Indian helpdesk worker makes USD$40 a month (1,800 rupees a month). If the
outsourcing corporations maybe paid them better, their family could live a better life. I think if people like George Bush and Tony Blair
spend even a fraction of the money they spend on fighting illegal wars like the one in
Iraq, they will have spread freedom and happiness to so many of these deserving children
around the world. I commend you for your work. I wish the world would
be much more aware, of the nightmare homeless kids in big cities face every day. These
children are the ones who pay the highest price of inequality among us. Poor uneducated
people, who are into drugs and alcohol shouldn't be allowed to have children. I think that these three stories deserve more
attention in the mainstream media. I do not know any homeless people although I see many
on my way to and from work every day. But these stories are reminders to us, as humans
living in the Western world, that many of our trivial pre-occupations and worries in life
are just so meaningless. Rajat is an amazing example of courage. |
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The irony of it all is that
some people live in affluence and yet turn a blind eye on those living in perpetual penury
