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Their
Homels
the
Street
T
heir clothes are ragged and
dirty. Their bed is a sheet of
cardboard wherever they can
hide from the probing sweeps of
the police. They huddle together
for warmth and protection.
They struggle to survive by their
as young as age 5. Most are boys,
but girls now and then join them.
Most of these girls turn to prostitu–
tion or servitude to survive.
In one degree or another they all
have been abandoned by families
unable or unwilling to take care of
them. Most no longer know regular
farnily life, only neeting parental
ties. Sorne, having been beaten and
abused by parents, chose to leave
them.
T hese scores of thousands of
abandoned children in Latin Amer–
ica are not alone. Their tragic story
is played out in many poverty–
engulfed, economically depressed
cities of the world in Africa and
parts of Asia.
The phenomenal rise of urban
abandoned and ncglected youths in
sorne developing nations (and even
sorne developed nations) has been
caused in large part by the tremen-
Young children, sorne abandoned, sorne dri ven from their homes by economic or otber
problems, struggle for survival in many La tín American cities.
wits- doing menial jobs, running
errands, by begging or thievery.
They pass their leisure time with
fighting, smoking, pulling stunts
and gambling. They are social out–
casts, often looked down upon as
criminals.
Who are they? T hey are the
homeless young in the cities and
towns of Latin Amer ica. Sorne are
4
do us population explosion and
rural-to-urban migration of the past
few decades. l ndustrialization has
not kept pace with this swift popula–
tion shift. The consequence of this
migration has merely transferred
rural poverty to urban areas.
In sorne regions rural politicaJ
violence has forced people to make
the cities their home.
Typically the parents of aban–
doned children in Latín America
have almost no education or prepara–
tion for any specific job. Their
income is not sufficient to cover even
the most primary needs of a child
so they set the children out on the
streets to fend for themselves.
In many homes the natural father
abandons his family and another
man comes to fill his place. But oftcn
the stcpfather also cannot fulfill thc
role that the real father deserted.
The family atmosphere breaks down
finally until , when the domcstic
strife becomes unbearablc, the
mother has to choose between chil–
dren and the partially supporting
stepfather. And too often it's the
children who must go.
A povcrty-stricken single mothcr's
alternativcs are even more unpleas–
ant: if she must go to work she may
have to Jet sorne of her children go
partly or totally to the
streets; but for her not to
work means neitber she nor
her cbildren can survive.
Yarious programs have
been established in Latín
American nations to pro–
vide sorne street childrcn
with housing, regular
meals, a clean change of
clothes on occasion and,
when sought out, a sympa–
thetic ear. Sorne programs
offer schooling and career
training. But these pro–
grams reach relatively fcw
of the abandoned children.
Sorne of these destitute
children are placed in more
traditional bomes , by
adoption, via government
agencies. And sorne indi–
viduals, farnilies or storcs
on their own initiative help
feed and clothe vagrant
children. Again these ef-
forts benefit only a small
fragment of the growing
number of abandoned chi ldren.
This world desperately needs to be
put back on the right track.
lt
will
not be accomplished until the power
of the kingdom of God is established
over all nations and people taught
the true way both to lasting prosper–
ity and right family living-the way
of giving instead of getting.
- Donald
D.
Schroeder
The
PLAIN TRUTH