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For a girl who is without home or family, there is no school, no games, and very little food of any kind. She doesn’t think about the future beyond where she will sleep tonight. After living only a few days in the sub-culture of the streets, she will know how to beg, she will have learned which garbage cans are likely to have the best food, and she will be street wise enough to know that she risks her life every time she prostitutes herself. The slow death of AIDS seems so very far in her foggy future while the hunger pangs of starvation demand immediate satisfaction.
UNICEF estimates there are more than 75,000 children living on the streets in Zambia. Some of these children are found on the streets only during the day trying to earn money. At night, they return the households of extended family to sleep. Others have no one except other children who also must try to survive on the street. The children beg or do odd jobs such as watching cars, sweeping, and carrying loads; others become involved in prostitution. It is not surprising that life expectancy for a street child is nineteen! Formerly, most of the children living on the street were boys. But that is changing. Increasingly, girls are also spending nights on the street.
There are many reasons why street children may not be able to return home. They may have lost their family to AIDS, been abused, or their extended family may be too poor to care for them. The World Bank estimates that 73% of Zambians live on less than $1 a day. According to a recent study by UNICEF, the number of street children will radically increase in coming years as AIDS claims the lives of their parents. We must do everything possible to rescue these innocent children.
House of Martha
We invite you to provide a safety net of prayer and provision for these street children. Read other stories about House of Martha: Home Was the Police Station Three Sisters Child Bride |
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