Pakistan Review News and Reviews

Street Children need your help to be better citizen.

Driving a 1300cc car with air conditioner and a branded CD player on playing some rock single, one perhaps pays a glance towards some men cubs wrapped in rugs lying on footpaths or moving on streets bare footed in 40 degrees centigrade but no one would bother to think about the cause behind this scene.

The process of globalization in third world countries has widened the gap between the rich and the poor thus greatly increasing the miseries of the poor. In Pakistan the issue is no different. Coping with ever increasing prices of basic necessities, such as food, health and shelter has made the life of a burden. In addition, the ever-increasing unemployment rates in the low-income communities are creating acute further hardship for them.

Children of low-income group suffer the most from these deep-rooted economic crises. A result had been an increasing number of children running away from their homes in search of peace and money. These children have been categorized as street children and are found to be dwelling on pavements, parks, under bridges and in abandoned buildings.

Without adult protection, or any safe shelter, they are exposed to many brutalities including ranging from abject neglect to victims of violence, sexual exploitation, chemical addiction and other human rights violations.

In Pakistan little is known about street children. Very little research has been carried out on these children and exact figures of the children on street are not available. It can be said that they are the most neglected category not only by the state but also by various charity and development-related agencies of Pakistan.

Who are STREET CHILDREN? You may consider a child as a “street children” if he lives on the street without home, if he runs away from home, or if he is an orphan living on the street. These children are our future. But they are spending their days sniffing glue to stave off hunger and the memories of their beloved family members. At night they sleep on the pavements with other children like them. The streets are their beds even in the winter season. The lucky one may have a piece of blanket. Most children warm their bodies by pressing themselves close to one another. They use drugs to lessen the effect of cold on their delicate bodies. These roses of earth are being embroiled in crime, abuse and drugs, destroying their lives, just because of the apathy of our society.

There are some NGOs like AZAD FOUNDATION in Karachi and few others who are working in this field. People at the better end should not close their eyes. They should try to improve the lives of street children YOUR HELP IN HELPING THE STREET CHILDREN can make the street children healthy citizens of our society.

Javed Iqbal