Children At Risk
‘I asked over his grave dug in the side of the mountain, “Isn’t there some way that Colombia, instead of killing her children, can make them worthy of living?” (Gonzalo Arango, A Lament for Disquiet)
To help allow street children become ‘worthy of living’ is the focus of all of us working with children at risk.
We need to understand what a huge problem we face, especially in Latin America. It is difficult to picture the number of children living in the world’s streets, many unattached to any family at all. The standard reference figure quoted for street children around the world today is a staggering 100 million (UN). In Colombia there are 17 million children under 18 years of age, 42% of the population. 38.9% living below the poverty line, and about half in absolute poverty. More and more of these are finding their way to the streets. Approx. 7,859,673 boys and girls are said to be abused. It is calculated that of these 850,000 are severally abused the majority between 5 and 14 years old.
12 children die daily: 5 are murdered, 3 in traffic accidents, 1 commits suicide, and 3 in other types of accidents. 1 child is kidnapped every 2 days. Approx. 18% minors have killed at least once, 60% have seen someone killed, 78% have seen bodies mutilated, 25% have seen someone been kidnapped, 13% have been kidnapped, 18% have seen someone tortured, 40% have fired a gun at someone at least once, 28% have been injured. 70 to 80% of the sexual abuse toward children ages 5-15 is committed by persons known and trusted by the victim. Because of physical or sexual abuse or neglect, the education system is incapable of receiving them again.
Today, 30 of every 100 children of preschool age attend school and only 60 of every 100 that start primary school finish there primary education. More than 2,500,000 children work in dangerous conditions and of them only 3 attend school. 35% of the children who complete the 3rd grade are literate. Only 47% of children between 12 and 17 attend high school, of them 84% live in urban areas. Only 30% finish 9th grade. Only 30% of pregnant girls finish elementary school.

Who are these children?
Totally abandoned children: live in the streets with no family contact, use drugs, (usually shoemakers’ glue), don’t work.
Partially abandoned children: live in the streets but have some contact with their families, use drugs, typically, don’t work.
Latch-key children: roam the streets but maintain contact with their families, do not usually use drugs, don’t work.
Working children: 1,700,000 youth between 12 and 17 and 800,000 boys and girls between 6 and 11 years are working on the streets (shine shoes, wash car windows, sell goodies). They live with their families and don’t normally take drugs.

Life on the Street
In Latin America, both boys and girls live on the streets. However, the boy/girl ratio of street children may be as high as nine to one. Most street children are not abandoned by their families. Instead they leave home to escape abuse, poverty, or ordinary parental authority. 9,500 cases of physical abuse 9,300 cases of sexual abuse are investigated every year. Lack of stability in family life is the main reason for losing a child to the streets. In the streets they find other children who have come from equally difficult backgrounds. However the child also soon finds that in the world of the street they are abused as much as they were at home. This disillusionment is a tremendous shock – the child realizes that he can have no confidence either in his parents or in any other authority figure. Inflicting damage on others results and about 30,000 youth are now facing charges for breaking the law. Inhaling drugs becomes part of the child’s survival strategy as they lessen the sense of reality.

What can we do?
Governments and social agencies do not own this world problem. We all do. God’s word to us is full of commands to watch out for orphans. These words to us are as fresh today as when they were first spoken:
Change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, do not oppress…the orphan (Jer. 7: 5-6). This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right…do no wrong or violence to the… orphan (Jer. 22:3). Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans…in their distress and to keep from being polluted by the world (James 1:27)
To begin to solve this problem, the Christian community (organizations, agencies, and churches) must:
1) Recognize that each of us can have a part in sharing the love of Christ with these children. The local church must decide to face the problem of the children on its own city streets.
2) Prevent children from arriving on the streets, making choices available to them before they enter street life.
3) Re-evaluate our work and give much more support and funding to meet the needs of children at risk.
Street children need a choice so they can leave the street scene, recover from their tragic experiences, and learn to have a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father.
All above info from: http://tilz.tearfund.org/Publications/Footsteps+21-30/Footsteps+28/Children+at+risk.htm

YWAM Bogota’s Street Children Ministry
Since 1982, the Street Children's Ministry under Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has developed a program to restore the children of Colombia who have been living in the streets or are at high risk of falling into this lifestyle. This Christian non-profit organization, called "Formando Vidas" (Forming Lives) is staffed by volunteers and is currently recognized under Resolution 0539 of May 16, 2003 of the Colombian Family Welfare Department (ICBF), legally authorized to participate in social development programs. Beginning with boys and girls between the ages of 0 - 12 years, the process of rehabilitation takes the child through various stages until he or she is able to perform in a socially acceptable manner as an adult.
The two areas of “Formando Vidas” that interest me are the following:
THE LIGHT & LIFE SCHOOL: Integral formation of the child that is not able to attend a school of basic formal education for reasons of: learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, negative behavior, or differentiated intelligence. This re-educative bridge has as its goal to reintegrate the child into community schools or training programs.
STAFF TRAINING: For people already working (or that show interest in working) directly with children, a bilingual school, Working With Children At Risk (WWCR), is held once a year and consists of 4 months of teaching by 30 qualified teachers from all over the world and includes the following: 300 Hours of Theory, Biblical Perspective on Children At Risk, The Christian Worker's Formation, Normal and Abnormal Development of the Child, Analysis of the 52 Problem Areas, Functional Strategies to Restore the Child, Servant Leadership, Team Dynamics, Administrative and Juridical Concepts, 300 hours of practice in local street/ children’s ministries.
For more information, check out: http://www.colombiastreetkids.org