A street girl waits for food at a church in Kigali, Rwanda. The church provides meals and shelter for children, enrolls them into school or vocational training, reunites them with their parents and supports their families so the children do not return to the streets. |
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writer: need magazine staff
photographer: paul corbit brown
The following are excerpts from
Paul Corbit Brown's journal entries
while in Rwanda, August 2007.
This is part one of a two part series
about street children. |
Thousands of children wake before the sun rises over Kigali, Rwanda. Each day they walk the streets in search of food, work and shelter — they have no choice, it is their way of life. With no family caring for them and no home, these are street children.
UNICEF estimates that there are 150 million street children worldwide. Some have been orphaned or separated from their parents during conflict, others have escaped abuse and many street children have been born into such severe poverty that their families simply cannot care for them. Now they live and work on the streets.
There is no simple answer for the staggering number of children living on the streets. NEED magazine staff asks the question, “What can we do?” |
 Like shadows street boys wander through the market after dark in search of a safe place to sleep. |
| Someone once said, "Nothing changes until the pain is greater than the fear."
When will the pain be enough? Why do we believe we can allow children to
starve on the streets? Do we think they will eventually go away? |
 Although the boys must be tough to survive on the
streets, they are very protective of one another. |
These boys came to Kigali from a village several hours away in hopes of finding work and the chance for a
better life. Now they sleep near the market.
 This boy lives on the streets in Kigali. |
| Thousands die every day from war, famine, poverty and disease. Thousands more are
born every day into this violence. Those of us who oppose violence cannot afford to rest.
We do not have the luxury of apathy. |
Street children often form their own families and sleep wherever they feel they can be safe. many sleep in garbage piles to
avoid being harassed, arrested, raped or kidnapped. |
After more than an hour of walking,
I find myself at one of two world-class
hotels in Rwanda. Along my walk, I
wondered where I would sleep without
being noticed or disturbed - a nightly
ritual for the thousands of children who
walk the streets of Kigali and countless
other cities around the world.
I am the privileged one - walking by
choice rather than necessity. With the
equivalent of $300 USD in my pocket,
I could easily have my choice of rooms
- a nice bed, clean water, hot shower,
blankets and security. Tonight I choose to
walk. Even sitting here pausing to write
is a privilege many people here will
never know. In six short hours Kigali
will begin to stir again with many others
joining the walk to work, school, play
and their next meal. I need to know
how it feels to have only the streets.
Tonight I will walk because I can,
because I must. |
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