Facts and figures about the number of street children in
Madagascar are not available in any reliable form, yet one only
has to look on the streets and have an awareness of the reasons
children end up living there to know its a growing problem and
getting far, far worse. Despite being viewed
by tourists as an island paradise, the reality for most families
is one of abject poverty especially in rural areas where it
affects 85% of the population. Ongoing political instability in Madagascar has left this
already impoverished nation teetering on the brink with budgets
across the board being slashed by between 50-70% and now the southern area of the country is experiencing a widespread famine.
This has hit children hard
with many of the island's 910,000 orphans (nearly 10% of its entire child population)
making their way onto the streets of cities such as Antananarivo in search of survival. Even those with
families have now been forced
to abandon school
to work to find work. As one youngster put
it "What’s the point of doing nothing in school all day when
there’s nothing to eat at the end of it?" There are also
reports of parents abandoning their children when they can no
longer support them, including infant children just left by themselves
on the streets.
Similarly
there are reports of mothers abandoning
their new born babies in hospital because they can't afford to
feed them nor afford any future medical care with, for example,
treatment of childhood tuberculosis costing more than a month's
factory wage. As noted above, exact figures are not known, but the number
of street children in Madagascar
certainly runs into thousands with some of these children even
being born on the streets. Its a testament to the size of the
problem that the international charity Medicine Sans Frontieres
recently left the capital city of Antananarivo saying that the
problem is simply too large for them and responsibility must lie
with the Madagascan government. As ever, one of the most
worrying aspects of life for
street children is their
exploitation and Madagascar is a
known source of trafficking of
children both internal and
internationally with girls, in
particular, being picked up and
transported abroad to work in
domestic servitude.
This short video shows young
street children of Antananarivo sweeping the
pavement to pick up rice. These
particular children are looked
down on by other street children
in Madagascar as 'garbage boys'
as others work on the streets
carrying bags, washing cars,
collecting water and of course,
selling illegally, begging and
pick pocketing. A good day is
one when there is some food at
the end of it. There are also details of projects and programs working to support street children in Madagascar.
Madagascar Street Children: Grandir a Antsirabe
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Madagascar Street Children: Child Sponsor
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Madagascar Street Children: Volunteer in Madagascar
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