To the Streets

It is that time of the year again in South Africa -- "16 Days of Activism against Abuse". "Imagine", writes one article, "if, for 16 days, there were no rape, no child abuse, no sexual harassment, no emotional abuse."

A social activist decided to use this 16 days to live on the streets, with the street children in Cape Town. The argument is that allowing children to sleep on the streets is equal to abuse. Good point. See the video.

Of course the story is one sided. Some street children run away from shelters because the shelters force them to go to school. But I'm sure this is also a one sided account. Who knows what other things happen at the shelters? And then there is the older children (from 16 years old) who are turned away from the shelters as they are considered too old. The shelter's excuse might be that these older children are bullying the younger children. There are so many "other sides" to South Africa's street children saga. It is not a simple situation.

Many people complain, why don't they just go home. If a child runs away from home, it must be because living on the streets is a better alternative than living at home.