Boomers Abroad

Description

Maybe you have seen them in other countries you have visited as they surround your taxi at the airport or bus station. Their small hands pressed against the car window. Perhaps you have heard or read about them selling their small trinkets on the street gum, bananas, etc.; -- anything they think will earn them money. They are usually dirty and unkempt. Though their actions may prompt you to view them otherwise, they are the most innocent of victims. They are street children. To know them is to know their heartbreaking stories.

It is estimated that there are over 14,000 street children living in Guatemala's back alleys, garbage dumps, parks, and cemeteries. At ages as young as seven, many have no choice but to work to help feed and support their families. Soon realizing that their chances of survival are better alone, if they have not yet already been abandoned, they take to the streets to grasp at what they feel is their only chance of survival.

While they are young, they are able to scrape up a few pennies here and there. As they grow older their lives become more difficult. They begin to turn to a life of drugs, crime, and promiscuity and prostitution. As a result, the number infected with HIV/AIDS is on the rise.

Here are some ways AMPED volunteers can become involved with helping street children and at-risk youth of Guatemala rise above their circumstances:

* Help to provide life and job skills training to older children so that they can learn to become productive members of society;
* Participate in group counseling/therapy sessions;
* Teach the children core subjects, and health and hygiene at the project's elementary school;
* Assist with group therapy;
* Organize constructive recreational activities; and
* Help with cleaning, cooking, or painting the facility.