LIFE ON THE STREETS Fondation Terre des Hommes (Tdh) International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood (CIESPI) Co-ordination: Irene Rizzini Preface; Anselmo Lima from Terre des Hommes. ...................................................................... 43 Introduction; Children and adolescents on the streets: inevitable trajectories? Irene Rizzini ....... 65 Part I - Life on the Streets .......................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 1; Children and adolescents living and working on the streets: revisiting the literature. Irene Rizzini and Udi Mandel Butler ....................................................................................... 109 Chapter 2; Children on the street: a complex reality. Riccardo Lucchini ................................. 2827 Chapter 3; From abilities of children in street situations to social development. Daniel Stoecklin ..................................................................................................................................... 62595857 Part II - Life trajectories of children and adolescents ..................................................... 97919089 Chapter 4; Constructing the research ............................................................................. 99929190 Chapter 5; Nara and Raí tell their life-stories ............................................................ 10810110099 Chapter 6; Multiplicity of links and trajectories ...................................................... 114107106105 Chapter 7; Daily life on the streets .......................................................................... 132125124123 Chapter 8; Mobility ................................................................................................ 157149148147 Chapter 9; The Group, the Person and the Self: Identity and Subjectivity on the streets .............................................................................................................................. 166158157156 Chapter 10; Change on the streets ........................................................................... 190182181180 Final Reflections .................................................................................................... 200192191190 Chapter 11; Children and adolescents on the streets: evitable trajectories ................ 201193192191 Glossary ................................................................................................................. 204196195194 About the authors ................................................................................................... 208200199198 Presentation; Anselmo Lima ...................................................................................................... 42 Introduction; Children and adolescents on the streets: inevitable trajectories? Irene Rizzini ....... 53 Part I - Life on the Streets ........................................................................................................ 236 Chapter 1; Children and adolescents living and working on the streets: revisiting the literature. Irene Rizzini and Udi Mandel Butler ....................................................................................... 247 Chapter 2; Children on the street: a complex reality. Riccardo Lucchini ............................... 13125 Chapter 3; From abilities/potencial/capabilities of children in street situations to social development. Daniel Stoecklin ............................................................................................ 31355 Part II - Life trajectories of children and adolescents ............................................................. 8887 Chapter 4; Constructing the research ..................................................................................... 8988 Chapter 5; Nara and Raí tell their life-stories ......................................................................... 9897 Chapter 6; Multiplicity of links and trajectories ................................................................. 104103 Chapter 7; Daily life on the streets ..................................................................................... 122121 Chapter 8; Mobility ........................................................................................................... 147146 Chapter 9; The Group, the Person and the Self: Identity and Subjectivity on the streets ...... 156155 Chapter 10; Change on the streets ...................................................................................... 180179 Final Reflections ............................................................................................................... 190189 Chapter 11; Children and adolescents on the streets: evitable trajectories ........................... 191190 Glossary…………………………………………………………………………………… ………194 2 About the authors…………………………………………………………………198… …………. 3 Prefacesentation; Anselmo Lima from Terre des Hommes. (Preface underwayTO BE FINALIZED) 4 5 Introduction; Children and adolescents on the streets: inevitable trajectories? Irene Rizzini We live in the first few years of the 21st century. Despite the promises of greater equality between countries, laid down in international treaties in the last decades of the 20th century, poverty, hunger and many illnesses are still rife. This period has been marked by important global movements: the democratisation of oppressed peoples, the end of dictatorships in most of Latin America and the fight against apartheid in South Africa, to mention a few examples. However, amidst the dominating discourse on human rights, equality and globalisation, the period has been marked by a growing distance between the rich and poor and by increasing social and economic disparity in the world. This book is based on the life stories told by children and adolescents found on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Their trajectories are connected to the current historical moment of globalisation, which as the geographer Milton Santos puts it, is: “a moment of rapid transformations, of transitions and of a spatial-political reorganization of the world”1. These are the so called meninos e meninas de rua, street kids, niños de la calle, enfants de la rue… - common terms for a phenomenon that has become painfully visible since the 1980s. The trajectories that we present and discuss in this book represent the lives of millions of children and adolescents in the world. Are their life trajectories inevitable? This question will guide our analysis. The group upon which we focus in this book is part of a larger contingent of people who migrate, are dislocated or exiled from their places of origin – one of the most notable characteristics of the current times. They are living examples of the contradictions of our times, between the emerging discourse rights and the real aggravated situation of socio-economic inequality. The rights of children and adolescents to live with their families and communities is defended, yet they are not given the minimum conditions for a dignified existence and to remain in their homes2. In fact, the opposite appears in their statements, they appear to be born without a place in the world. Their lives are marked from the beginning by continuous adversities, forcing them towards inhuman circumstances that make up the background of their trajectories. Though they live on the street with a hunger for life, their stories are marked by death, disasters, losses, hunger and a lack of options and support. 1 Santos, M. Metamorfoses do espaço habitado. São Paulo: Huitec, 1996. 2 About rights see: United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and Brazil‟s Child and Adolescent Statute (1990). 6 This book is based on a concern with the lives of these youngsters. It tries to capture in their words and way of expressing themselves how they see their predicament and the paths they have taken. The book arises with the intention of informing actions, it came about through a process of the creation of a network of organizations in Rio de Janeiro who were to work in concert with the population of children and adolescents in a street situation, the Rede Rio Criança. The research on which this book is based was initiated by the Swiss organization Terre des hommes, who sought out CIESPI to carry out the research3. We set off from the idea of producing material that was completely based on the voice of children and adolescents, involving institutions and social educators in a participative process of developing and executing the research. The first product of the research – a report – was debated in a seminar, with the participation of many institutions from Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Lucchini, from the University of Fribourg, and Daniel Stoecklin, from Terre des hommes, the two being very involved in the reflection and practice of these themes in an international dimension4. The book tries to capture this process of learning and of growing sensitivity, respecting the points of view of the children and of the adults who are part of their lives. We have divided the book into two parts; the first titled Lives on the Street begins with a chapter by Irene Rizzini and Udi Mandel Butler revisiting the literature on “street children” over the last two decades, highlighting the main themes in the Brazilian literature and connecting these with relevant international debates. This is followed by chapters by Riccardo Lucchini and Daniel Stoecklin, based on research experience with children and adolescents