ELIMINATING POVERTY

While poverty con not be completely eliminated we can target problem areas around the world making  improvements that will hopefully inspire others to better themselves and along their journey to a better life helping others.

Donations help provide basic necessities

       

       Haircuts       Soup Day     Art Day For the Kids

THE STREET CHILD AND ABANDONED YOUTH WHO THEY ARE?

According to The United Nations

 the definition of a street child is:

The street population is divided into various groups:

• Children who spend part or all of the day on the street
  to earn money for their family.

• Children who go home every few days from the street.

• Children who go home on weekends from the streets.

• Children who spend their days and nights on the streets
  heading home occasionally.

FAST FACTS

• Brazil has a current population of approximately 170 million people.

• 80% of the population is concentrated in the urban areas.

• 49% of the Brazilian population is under the age of 25.

• An estimated 47% of the population live below the poverty line.

• Of this, 61,385,672 are children under the age of 19 whose families receive less than $36.00 US per month.

• By the age of 14, almost 80% of the children are behind in school or not attending school at all and by 18, this increases to 90%.

• Less than 30% of the population can read or write, or understand simple text.

*Statistics taken from Brazils 2000 census,
*CESPI (Center for Research on Childhood) 1999 research and
*IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and statistics) 1999 research

 

CHILDREN IN THE STREETS OF BRAZIL:

Drug Use, Crime, Violence, and HIV Risks  

The presence of vast numbers of unsupervised and unprotected children is a phenomenon that is common throughout Latin America, and in few places are the street children more visible, and reviled, than in Brazil. Estimates of their numbers in Brazil have ranged from 7 to 17 million, but more informed assessments suggest that between 7 and 8 million children, ages 5 to 18, live and/or work on the streets of urban Brazil. Accounts of drug abuse among street youths in Brazil are commonplace. Numerous scientific studies and media stories have reported the widespread use of inhalants, marijuana and cocaine, and Valium among street children. Also common is the use of coca paste and Rohypnol. Risk of exposure to HIV is rapidly becoming an area of concern because of the large number of street youths engaging in unprotected sexual acts, both remunerated and non-remunerated. Moreover, Brazil's street children are targets of fear. Because of their drug use, predatory crimes, and general unacceptability on urban thoroughfares, they are frequently the targets of local vigilante groups, drug gangs, and police "death squads." Although there have been many proposals and programs for addressing the problems of Brazilian street youth, it would appear that only minimal headway has been achieved.