Street Children in Brazil

As you look around the streets of major cities of Brazil, you see children living in the streets. Why?

Facts about Poverty:

Sáo Paulo has more people than New York City.

There are 17 million kids, ages 10-14.

Children decide to live on the street, because home life is not good, they need to find other ways to get food, or they are orphans. Before living in the streets, they existed in favellas, the most impoverished of slums, dug in garbage dumps for food, and encountered family violence because of the stress of poverty.

Living on the streets is dangerous. Kids are subject to police brutality, rape, violence, and being forced into prostitution just for food or to stay alive.

Street children face serious health problems ranging from malnourishment to lack of sleep, to no healthcare, to exposure to the elements. They are merely trying to survive so will not have access to education and things we often take for granted in the United States.

In many cases, kids start to do extremely dangerous things, like sniff "glue" -- an easily accessible product-- to help them forget about their situation or stave off the hunger pains.

Who Am I?

(Photo Credit: Diana Barnett, Brazil 1999)

With so many children living on the streets of Brazil and other countries around the world, the problem seems massive. Yet, these children have a right to an identity, to be recognized as children of God, and to basic human rights.

Whose Are They? They are God's children.

Now, put the pieces of the Identity Puzzle together, talk with health experts, educators and justice seekers, and see why an Identity is an important thing. Each child is a child of God.

Take a picture tour of ways that the church is at work with street children throughout Latin America. Answer these questions:

Which of these projects affects you in some way?
What surprises you about this work?
What root causes of poverty does this work address?

Go to the mission maps of United Methodist Women. Explore the map of Latin America. What projects do they support that deal with street children?

The Church at Work with Street Children

Many street children bear the burden of supporting their families. Photo by Leonardo Duarte, a former street child, now age 20.

Want to learn more? Here are a series of articles that will challenge your faith and understanding of how the Church is at work with street children.

Street Children's Rights: The Street Children's Project at Sáo Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Street Children of Angola
United Methodists Send Young Adults Across the Globe

What can I Do?

Support United Methodist projects in Brazil and Latin America.
Help provide community-based healthcare to mothers and children in countries of Latin America.
Write to missionaries in Latin America and ask about their personal experiences with street children or health issues.
Learn as much as you can, then tell others!

Now let's take a look at the environmental issues in Brazil and other parts of Latin America.