I was lucky enough to have an experience in my early 20s that 'changed my life' and brought me to the world of children's rights. It was when, as a backpacker travelling across Asia, I hooked up with a group of street boys in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. So, as it is International Day for Street Children today I am writing a special post on street children - an issue that is close to my heart! In fact it is also close to Jonathan's heart - he worked with street children in Mexico (JUCONI), I worked with street children in Indonesia (GIRLI) and that's what we talked about when we first met!
There is, of course, a connection between street children and child domestic workers. It's rather a sad and shocking connection. Many child domestic workers are sexually abused by their employers and are kicked out of their jobs/homes onto the street. They are destitute. They often have a baby to care for and the stigma of being an unmarried mother and they turn to selling sex as a survival mechanism. So, child domestic workers make up a large number of children who are 'at risk' of becoming street children and Children Unite is trying to persuade organisations working with street children to look at working with child domestic workers as a prevention strategy.
When Jonathan and I worked with street children in our respective countries we very rarely came across girls...I certainly didn't meet any girls on the street. Actually, I didn't 'work' with street children I 'hung out' with them, listened to their busking band (explaining what the lyrics were to various Rolling Stones or Beatles songs!), drew their portraits, drank iced tea with them - I did attempt to teach the boys English at one point but lessons were quickly abandoned (no paper and pens, different boys turning up to each lesson). One of the reasons why my experience 'hanging out' with street children changed my life was that I so desperately wanted their respect that the whole idea of 'them' (the poor victims who need our help) and 'us' the rich foreigner who offers help and 'saves' the children) was turned on it's head for me. And I'd like to share my favourite story of my time with the boys (there are many!).
I was at the end of my voluntary 'work' and had spent my last day buying lots of handicrafts from the boys (friendship bands etc that they made that I wanted to sell in the UK) and as I was about to leave I couldn't find my wallet, so I searched around a bit. Then a few boys helped me search around a bit more, then all the boys in the 'house' searched for my wallet. I could see them looking a bit embarrassed, there was a slight urgency to their searching but after a while I abandoned the search, and, trying not to show my dejection that an unspoken 'theft' symbolised my departure (I was already getting emotional about leaving), I left the 'house'. I arrived at my home and the leader of the street boys was sitting waiting for me with a slightly damp wallet. He told me the following story. After I had gone the boys had a big discussion which turned into a fight when no-one would own up to stealing my wallet. To calm the boys down, one of the leaders, Harso, said he would consult the resident ghosts of the house (previously two of the street boys had been murdered and their ghosts appeared regularly to staff). The ghosts told him who had taken the wallet and where it was. Harso didn't reveal who the thief was but he went straight to a pile of leather scraps (that the boys were making into bags to sell to tourists) and found my leather wallet, slightly damp, with no money in it! As the fighting and accusations about who had stolen the money continued between the boys, Harso told the boys it was the 'magpie ghost' (who likes shiny things and was responsible for rather a lot of thefts in the house!) who stole my money and that settled it for the boys. And, I was happy, in fact I felt honoured, that they'd cared so much about my feelings that the boys had searched searched and eventually thought it worthwhile to consult the famous 'ghosts'.
There is, of course, a connection between street children and child domestic workers. It's rather a sad and shocking connection. Many child domestic workers are sexually abused by their employers and are kicked out of their jobs/homes onto the street. They are destitute. They often have a baby to care for and the stigma of being an unmarried mother and they turn to selling sex as a survival mechanism. So, child domestic workers make up a large number of children who are 'at risk' of becoming street children and Children Unite is trying to persuade organisations working with street children to look at working with child domestic workers as a prevention strategy.
When Jonathan and I worked with street children in our respective countries we very rarely came across girls...I certainly didn't meet any girls on the street. Actually, I didn't 'work' with street children I 'hung out' with them, listened to their busking band (explaining what the lyrics were to various Rolling Stones or Beatles songs!), drew their portraits, drank iced tea with them - I did attempt to teach the boys English at one point but lessons were quickly abandoned (no paper and pens, different boys turning up to each lesson). One of the reasons why my experience 'hanging out' with street children changed my life was that I so desperately wanted their respect that the whole idea of 'them' (the poor victims who need our help) and 'us' the rich foreigner who offers help and 'saves' the children) was turned on it's head for me. And I'd like to share my favourite story of my time with the boys (there are many!).
I was at the end of my voluntary 'work' and had spent my last day buying lots of handicrafts from the boys (friendship bands etc that they made that I wanted to sell in the UK) and as I was about to leave I couldn't find my wallet, so I searched around a bit. Then a few boys helped me search around a bit more, then all the boys in the 'house' searched for my wallet. I could see them looking a bit embarrassed, there was a slight urgency to their searching but after a while I abandoned the search, and, trying not to show my dejection that an unspoken 'theft' symbolised my departure (I was already getting emotional about leaving), I left the 'house'. I arrived at my home and the leader of the street boys was sitting waiting for me with a slightly damp wallet. He told me the following story. After I had gone the boys had a big discussion which turned into a fight when no-one would own up to stealing my wallet. To calm the boys down, one of the leaders, Harso, said he would consult the resident ghosts of the house (previously two of the street boys had been murdered and their ghosts appeared regularly to staff). The ghosts told him who had taken the wallet and where it was. Harso didn't reveal who the thief was but he went straight to a pile of leather scraps (that the boys were making into bags to sell to tourists) and found my leather wallet, slightly damp, with no money in it! As the fighting and accusations about who had stolen the money continued between the boys, Harso told the boys it was the 'magpie ghost' (who likes shiny things and was responsible for rather a lot of thefts in the house!) who stole my money and that settled it for the boys. And, I was happy, in fact I felt honoured, that they'd cared so much about my feelings that the boys had searched searched and eventually thought it worthwhile to consult the famous 'ghosts'.
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