LOST CHILDHOOD
I sit back in my seat, enjoying the refreshing air conditioning as the car crawls through the bustling traffic of New Delhi. I roll down the window and gaze out at the landscape moving by as the wind ruffles my hair, before I roll it back up again. As the red light looms up ahead, the car slows to a stop, settling down amidst the other honking vehicles, all maneuvering for a more advanced spot in the frenzy. I start to tell my grandmother about my art with technology class in school when I hear a slow, hopeful knock. I turn, and see a thin, young face with hopeful eyes, pressed against the window. He cups his hand and holds them out, then moves it towards his mouth to ask for something to eat. On the side of the road, I can see another young man lounging, watching greedily, anticipation in his eyes. I need to give the boy something, but what? “We can’t give him money,” my grandmother tells me, “because that man will snatch it from him.” I rummage through my mother’s purse and finally lay eyes on a Kit -Kat. I roll down the window, and place the candy in the boy’s cupped hands. As the car pulls away, I look back, and see the boy jogging to the side of the road. He furtively glances over to see whether the man is watching, and when he is sure that he is not, he splits the wrapper, and bites into the candy. At the next stop light, a girl knocks on the window, ‘le, lo, le, lo … me khana khaoengee’ she chants. My mother tells me that this means, “take it, take it, I’ll eat some food.” She looks as if she should be going to 3rd grade, and her face is grimy, her hair matted. She too has the spark of hope in her eyes. I try to look down, and think about other things, for I have nothing to give her. That night, even though my stomach is full, and my body tired, I can’t quite sleep.
This picture is from Lost Childhood
As I lay awake in bed I wonder: who are these children, why are they on the streets, breathing in the fumes, and risking their lives among the cars, and why should somebody forceably take things from them? These, my mother tells me are, the street children.
UNICEF says that street children is a term for boys and girls under the age of eighteen for whom the streets are both their home, and the place where they earn money to live. They live either on their own, or with some adults, and are not protected or supervised by adults.
According to “Surviving the Streets,’ a report by the Institute for Human Development and Save the Children, there were 50,923 street children below 18 in Delhi in 2010. That’s almost .4 % of the total population, and nearly 1 % of children below 18 in Delhi. 36.6 % of the street children are part of street families, while 29.05 of the children work on the the streets. About 2 out of three street children are 7-14 years old, while 23 % are 15-18 years old. Out of all of the street children 50.5 % are illiterate, 23 have a non-formal education, and 23 % have a formal education (13 % up to only pre primary, 4 % to primary, and only 2.4 % up to middle school).
One fifth of the street children pick rags for a living, while 15.8 % are involved in street vending. Close behind, 15 % beg, 12.9 % work in roadside stalls, and 6.24 % work for hotels. A few street children (1.22 %) work in factories. Street children work for many reasons – mainly in order to survive. 1/3 of the street children (34 %) are on the street due to poverty and hunger. Another 30 % are on the street in hope of finding a job. 17.7 % have come by themselves, while 12.6 % are sent by their parents. 9 % run away from home, either to escape from abuse, or because they have been kidnapped, or orphaned.
Living conditions for street children are very poor. 39 % sleep in slums, while 46 % sleep in open and/or public places. Only 4 % of street children sleep in shelters provided by the government, non-government organizations, or individuals. The majority of the street children (63 %), stay with family, while something like 14 % stay with friends. 4 % stay with people who employ them, and another 11 % sleep alone. Almost 92% know about their families and where they come from. About 70% have families in Delhi that they know about. Just 30% of the children say that their families are outside of Delhi. 88.5% of the children who leave home actually still keep in touch with their family, while 10% have no contact at all.
87% of street children are involved in some kind of work to earn money. The average work hours of street children are 6.6 hours a day, 6 days a week. The average monthly earnings of a street child is Rs. 2240. That’s just $36 (US) dollars a month. Out of this, 45.1% of street children give 49% of their earnings to parents. 3.5% of street children gave that money to supervisors, who are similar to gang leaders, while 0.4% of children give 49% of their earnings to police. Street children usually spend 37.4% of their earnings on food. Also, almost 22% of street children use drugs, mostly tobacco and pan masala (helps to suppress hunger.) 50% of street children are daily consumers, and many more use it weekly and monthly.
Save the Children
The list of human rights violations of these children is far too numerous to to list. If one followed The Universal Declaration of Human Rights then it is clear that these children:
1. Do not have the right to life, liberty, and security of person (Article 3)
2. Are forced to give many of their earnings to ‘supervisors’ who give them nothing in return. This violates their right to be free of slavery or servitude. (Article 4)
3. Are often abused and mutilated by supervisors so that they appear more pitiful, when they are sent out to beg. This supposedly helps the children earn more money, which all goes to the supervisor. This violates their right not to be subject to torture, or ‘inhuman or cruel punishment’. (Article 5)
4. Have no homes, wear ripped, torn and filthy clothes, have little to eat, and are often sick. This violates the children’s right to food, clothing, housing, medical care, and social services (Article 25)
5. Have not received a proper education. 50.5% of street children are illiterate. This violates the children’s right to a free education. (Article 26)
Who’s to blame for this travesty, these lost childhoods, and what can we do to help the street children? Although there are many government and non-government organizations devoted to helping these children, I feel that that this system still has much room for improvement. Very few of the children actually receive help from these organizations. I believe that we need to take more action to help these children, to give them food, shelter, medicine, and educations. These children, who are the next generation of Delhi, live on the streets, and it is their right to live well, and to inherit a city where their children will not have to live on the streets. I believe that we must protect these children from abuse, and that any and all abuse should be punished. Hopefully, if the government upholds the rights of these children, and the people of Delhi are willing to help this cause, and protect these children, then these children might be able to have and enjoy a childhood.
NOTE: I have deliberately chosen not to include a photograph in this post because I feel that doing so would invade the privacy of the children in the picture. However, I do include a link to several pictures.
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