This should not be 'normal'...

What shocks me the most is the time on Friday nights when we go to the streets to where the children and young people hang out and sleep.

I do not get how people can accept this as a normal sight, that it is okay that it is happening and it does not shock them.....

I met a young boy today on the streets - high on paint thinner, hungry, and clearly not happy - aged 10!!

10 years old - living, well surviving on the streets, being influenced by the older people - willing to do whatever for them to get more paint thinner and to be accepted.
In class we learnt that a lot of the children on the streets by this age will be sexually active, and not always by choice - if one of the older boys wants sex or something else, and cannot find a girl - they abuse the young boys!

It makes me really wonder - what happens to these children at home that living on the streets is better...

Below is me with a 11 year old boy - who I met on the 1st week of going to the streets and had not seen him since, but I saw him on Friday and remembered his name - his face lit up and he ran and hugged me...clearly the fact that he was remembered was important - showed that he is important  and valued...

On the Friday nights we also take activities and games with us so the boys have a chance to play and it helps aid the relationship building too....

The children also have to learn to wait for their turn, share and it also normally a new experience for them too - it helps build their confidence, and find new skills. It also helps to distract them from their rag covered in paint thinner and the addiction they have to it....

Seeing children 'high', living on the streets, being sexually abused, smoking, begging, stealing - should NEVER become a sight that is acceptable or normal, it is not how their life should be, and we shouldn't sit back (I am talking to myself too) and allow this to happen.....picture your family/children/sister/brother/friend etc in this situation - it should not be the norm, this world is sad and broken, and we need to be different and change the situations - stop the injustice of people not living the life they should be....