Street Kids

Last Sunday while I was ordering a sandwich, I noticed a couple of boys maybe 7-8 years old walking down the street. They were dressed pretty poorly and were possibly homeless, maybe without parents. One of them came into the restaurant where I was ordering and I think that someone gave him a sizable piece of a sandwich. He walked out with the sandwich, and began eating it. I wasn't paying too much attention, but a few minutes later, the boys were skirmishing on the sidewalk and in frustration, one kid threw the sandwich into the street and began to cry.

The whole scene gave me a little shock. This boy was probably very happy to get someone else's leftover sandwich and then his happiness turned into frustration and the sandwich ended up in the road. Everyone lost. I felt really sad for him and for all of the kids. They may not have any parents, or much parenting at least, and what parenting they do receive is probably of dubious quality. These kids are most likely raising themselves.

I often forget how hard childhood can be. Even little things can seem like a big deal. I remember being a little kid and feeling like it was a crisis if my flimsy hot dog bun broke in half while I was eating. These kids live with far more serious problems, like not eating and not having a safe place to sleep, and are most likely left to deal with it themselves. And they're about 7-8 years old.

I'm embarrassed that I don't know more about what these kids go through. Sometimes they come into restaurants handing out little slips of paper saying that they're begging so that they can afford school supplies to go to school rather than resorting to stealing. I've also heard that lots of school supplies are donated and that the current president says you don't even need shoes to come to school; just come as you are. I think that some kids don't go to school because begging appears to be a more practical option. I've even heard that some parents keep their kids out of school and force them to beg because the parents don't want to work. It's hard to know what is really going on with these poor kids. One thing that is clear is that they have it pretty rough.

I know there is at least one organization in Leon called Las Tias that tries to keep kids in school and offers vocational training and rehabilitation for drug problems. I don't know too much about whether street children must qualify for it, or whether all kids know about it or want to participate in it. I've heard of that there are some other organizations as well around Leon that do similar things, though I'm not sure of their names.

As I watched those boys fighting, I was wondering in my mind, how are these kids possibly going to have much chance for safe, healthy, happy lives stuck in such a terrible situation. It basically reminds me of how lucky I am and how many incredible opportunities I've had that these kids have no chance of encountering. I wish I had some story about how I did something generous for those guys I saw. I was vaguely considering maybe getting them each something to eat in exchange for telling me about their lives, but I never did anything. I had all sorts of excuses in my head for doing nothing, but ultimately, I probably should have done something. It feels like a crime of inaction. What would you have recommended doing?

I had written a lot more for this post, but it's already pretty long, so I'm going to wrap it up. I'll try to talk more about poverty in another post in the future. I should also just warn you that I'm returning to the US on Thursday. I'll continue posting for now, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue.