Patrice, the child in the picture, was one such child. Patrice ran away from home, fleeing an abusive family, but it is doubtful that his new life on the streets of Gitega, the second largest city in Burundi, was much improvement. I first met him picking through rubbish near the marketplace, looking for food to eat. Patrice would certainly not have known about International Day for Street Children. His first priority was food, his next to try and find a safe place to sleep that night. But despite these pressing needs, when I spoke to Patrice, and asked him what one thing he wished for, he instantly answered that he wanted to go to school. This was not just because he recognised the importance of education. Patrice wanted to go back to school, because that is where normal children go, children who have homes, clothes, smiling faces, time to play and learn.
The great tragedy for children growing up on the streets is that they will miss these opportunities. Imagine being 11-years-old and having to fend for yourself? Imagine working, begging or stealing in order to survive – as a child! I expect then, that you will understand why so few street children will be celebrating today.
It could even be argued that today is not even in fact for street children at all. It is actually for the rest of us who are blessed to live in better circumstances. A day like today is an opportunity for us to reflect on this great fortune and perhaps even to share this fortune with others.
But what can each of us really do when faced with such a grand tragedy? A figure like 100 million is simply too hard for me to grasp. I often struggle with these kinds of statistics, because it is hard to imagine each case of individual suffering. I have some experience of this contrast myself. I lived through the civil war in Burundi which lasted for 12 years. There were terrible crimes committed on all sides and over 200,000 people were killed – most of these were innocent people killed because of ethnic differences. I lost my own parents in the conflict and became an orphan. Even now I cannot properly understand the great scale of the killings, but my own personal experience, and those of many people I know who lost loved ones, helps me to better understand.
This is also the way in which I reflect on the cause of street children on this day. I do not have the means to help 100 million children, but I can help a smaller number. Thanks to the support of Emerge Poverty Free, I run a programme that cares for children like Patrice. In our first year we have helped 20 children from the streets, taking them into shelter, feeding them, helping them back into school and searching for family members or foster families. Twenty children may not seem a lot next to 100 million, but for each of these children, their whole life has been transformed. Patrice is now attending school. He smiles each day and he has a future.
It is through Patrice and individual children like him that I can best understand the importance of a day like today, because I can acknowledge the plight of all street children, I can pray for them but I can also give thanks that I have had the opportunity to help even just one child.
Please join me in prayer today for all the street children of the world and, if you are able to, please act to help just one child like Patrice.
Bosco Kwizera is a pastor for African Revival Ministries in Gitega, Burundi. He is the project manager for Emerge Poverty Free's work with street children in Gitega. You can read more about the project at www.emergepovertyfree.org/street-children/hope