Fast facts about Ecuador

- Location: South America

- Population: 13,032,000

- Capital: Quito; 1,451,000

- Language: Spanish, Quechua

- Ecuador is named after equator, because of its location on equator.

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What is a child of the street/street child?

Children of the streets have a common denominator in the fact that they reside in the streets, at a railroad station or places of similar character. The children roam the streets in order to get money for food. Every day is a struggle against poverty and hunger. Some of the children have a family, who resides in poor neighborhoods, but there are also children, who have no adults to look after them. This could, for example, be children, who have run away from home because of domestic violence, sexual abuse or children, who have lost their parents in war. These children seldom have another choice but to live in the streets. Many of these children earns a living by polishing shoes, selling candy or washing windshields on cars. The children who are most unfortunate end up doing crime, joining violent gangs, or end up in prostitution. Lots of children also develop an abuse of drugs.   

Why does children become children of the streets?

There are numerous reasons why children end up in the streets:

•       Armed conflicts and war, which causes children to scatter away from their parents, or in some cases, the parents end up dead
•       The family is poor, and the children get forced out on the street in order to work, beg or reside
•       Natural disasters, where kids disappear
•       Violence or sexual abuse in the home, which causes the children to escape their homes
•       The family dissolves. The reason could, for example be divorce.
•       The children are starving and end up in the streets in search of food
•       Children become orphans, because the parents die of HIV/AIDS
•       The children gets put on the street by their parents.
•       The family loses their home, and the entire family lives in the street.

How are children of the street treated?

The children struggle to survive. They are being forced to work, beg and even steal to get food every day. This makes them unpopular, and some store clerks chase them away, if they bother their customers. The children are called names, which indicate the population see them as a nuisance. I Rwanda for instance, the children are called “Saligoman”, which translates into brats. In Rio de Janeiro, they are called “Pivetes”, which translates into children, who do petty crimes. In Honduras, they are referred to as “resistoleros”, which means drug addicts. Children, who reside in the streets, have no one to look after them, and this makes them into easy targets for adults. These adults are looking to hurt the children, kidnap them or exploit them sexually. 

Film at EMU – The street of death

In the film about “The street of death”, we encounter various children from Managua in Nicaragua. They survive using different methods via odd jobs, surrounded by drug addicts, prostitutes and youths, who do glue. We meet Valeria, who makes money for her great grandmothers’ medicine. We meet pregnant Wendy, who seeks to find the father of her child. We also met Juan, who wants to become a street clown.

Tina, Martin, Katrine, Camille & Benjamin