So called problem-free and well to do parents enforce their children to study who in turn do not want. In our country there are so many children who wish to study but can not…. They have to work instead….

Why my parents left me alone, why so many hurt in the world? Why me an orphan, why so many drug users in my city, why no justice in my country, why no happiness in my family?

These are the thoughts of the children living on the street. Look at that boy. He is sitting on the corner of bazaar which became a home for him as he comes here every day despite rain snow or hot sun; and at the same time it is so strange place for him because he hates it and wishes to be in the school or play with the children instead of working here. He is calling people to clean their shoes: “Chip shoes cleaning!” but his thoughts are very far away from these strange people and dirty bazaar, he is thinking about his family: “It is so sad. Father is beating the mom, today he will come drunk again. I am so fed up with all that”.

People on bazaars are busy with their own problems, they do not care these children who walk around and gather the garbage or do another dirty work. Even if the child lives with his family, most of the time he spends on a street. This is the place where he learns to survive and which shapes his values. This is his school.

At the same time the world continues to struggle for the realization of policies and programs which in ideal aim to protect vulnerable children.

From UNICEF report 2006

“The situation with children in the world: socially isolated and hidden”.

Children are of full value members of society if only their rights are implemented and they have access to basic services. Due to forced internal migration, people and families are often deprived of basic life conditions: access to medical and other social services, and access to education at first, they often run the risk to stay with no housing. Almost in all cases children have to work in order to survive. Most of the children have no birth registration.

According to UNICEF statistics, 36% of all children born all over the world in 2003 were not registered. Children who grow up with no identification documents have no right to vote on elections, they can not participate on trials and pretend to property and finally they are not the citizens of their country, which means that they are not included in any statistical data.

According to the statistics, by the end of 2004 children made up nearly 50% of all refuges all over the world. The accurate data regarding street children is unable to determine, there are hundred of millions of them around the world. The same situation with Kyrgyzstan, there is no true statistics due to the absence of monitoring methodologies, or possibly, this happens because one does not care or does not want to admit the existence of such problem?

The less attention to these problems, the more often such children disappear from the sight of well fared citizens. But for a while. A few years later the problem comes to the surface again and people can not just close their eyes anymore. These children are often invisible for us even if we see them everyday on bazaars, in our yards or in City centers. They raise different feelings, which are often ambivalent: pity, compassion, disgust and acute willingness to help.

Prejudiced attitude of the public toward street children is one of first obstacles to solve the problem. People see them as growing criminals or someone with low social status as a result of lack of education and breeding. But in reality, these are the children fully concerned with the survival of their families and their own. These are the children who deserve empathy rather then condemnation.

Most kinds of the work they have to do cause hard physical stress which in turn negatively influences their health. For instance, cart moving, can making or plastic bottles picking. There are many cases (especially in distant regions) when children are exploitated domestically: they do all domestic work and fulfill the work of baby sitters; they work in mines as well.

It is especially destructive for the developing body of the child to fulfill agricultural work. According to the report published in 2003 by International Labor Organization (ILO) on child labor in agricultural work issue, half of all industrial fatal incidents happen in agriculture field. Pesticide exposure can lead to poisoning, death and is a high risk to promote cancer. Sometimes children spray the pesticides with bare hands. Only in one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan (Djalal-Abad region), there are 125 000 children involved in agricultural work. Their working day usually makes up 10-12 hours.

One of the biggest problems when talking about children labor is inability of the children to study. According to the CPC research which is available on our website, among 348 children who were questioned when just entered the project, more than 68% were our of education system. Nearly 18 % of them were out of education system for their last 2-4 years and other 15% had never gone to school! The reasons for that were as follows: “no money for school books”, “no money for uniform and shoes”, “have to earn money instead”.

Although money earned by children makes up in average 30% of the total family budget, only 3% of them are spent for school related expenses! According to UNESCO research, only 58% and 60% of all boys and girls (respectively) in Kyrgyzstan get school education. Even in occupied territory of Palestine, this percentage makes up 80 and 83 percent respectively!

Although the situation worsens with each day, there is a solution to this hard situation. We need to develop unitary system which would protect and provide assistance to internal migrants and socially vulnerable children. The system which would focus on the following: development of a legislation in the best interests of the children which would ensure their access to basic services; and their efficient implementation; open discussions in mass media and on official/governmental level. It is also important to have governmental financial aid and to break prejudiced attitude toward these children.

And again, we all should cooperate or otherwise, 5-10 years later our country will be made of poorly educated, sick and unhappy people- the next generation of street children.

Children should not stay alone in adult world, they need our care and love.