Children on the Streets

From Mumbai to Manila, Rio to La Paz, millions of children in urban centers around the world are growing up on the streets. They sleep in sewers, abandoned buildings and under store-front awnings, often ignored by people passing by. Dirty, hungry, bruised and ashamed, they live without hope for a better tomorrow, doing what they must to survive. They are children without a childhood.

"On the streets you suffer. No one treats you well."

"On the streets, I didn't exist in the world.  People just saw me as a street kid because I robbed and did bad things."

"On the streets I was nothing.  I was just a bum."

These are the voices of children reflecting on their lives on the streets.  Thankfully, the children who shared these quotes are now living in stable and loving homes, receiving help to overcome their experiences on the streets.  However, there are still over 100 million children on the streets around the world who need help, and that number is growing each day.  Some of those children live on the streets full time, while others may have a home they return to at night. Some are babies within families on the street. All of them are exposed to multiple risks and dangers that no child should have to endure.