The street children of Buenos Aires
The street children of Buenos Aires
• More than 3,000 children — twice as many as in 2001 — wander the streets begging, scrounging through trash or opening cab doors for some change. Most have somewhere to go at day’s end, but 700 sleep on the streets every night.
• 75 percent are boys, 25 percent are girls.
• 30 percent of their fathers and 70 percent of their mothers are out of work.
• About 30 percent to 40 percent say they left home to escape poverty or domestic abuse and violence.
Source: CAINA and Buenos Aires city government
HOW TO HELP
The Centro de Asistencia Integral a la Niñez y la Infancia, or CAINA, assists street children in Buenos Aires. It is partly funded by the city government.
Donations can be sent by checks made out to Asociación Civil Los Chicos de la Calle, Av. Paseo Colón 1366, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It’s advisable to send checks to Argentina by courier or, if using regular post, with signature confirmation and proof of delivery or return receipt.
CAINA’s e-mail address is caina@chicosdelacalle.org.
