Young Lives at Risk on the Streets depicts the environments and dangers that homeless and runaway children face in Mexico and Central America.
Throughout the region thousands of neglected children wander the streets tangled in drugs and homelessness. They are runaways from dysfunctional families, neglect, poverty and abuse. As a means of survival, they work in the city’s main garbage dumps, collecting recyclables or metal scraps worth pennies. They exhaust their bodies and their minds, while also sacrificing their right to an education. They sleep on sidewalks with each other or hidden in drainpipes. They roam the streets barefoot and survive by begging, stealing, and performing menial labor. Often coerced and manipulated, many are sexually exploited and trafficked or prey to gangs. Many youths live with HIV or STDs with no access to health care.
This body of work was produced in partnership with Covenant House Latin America street outreach workers and the youth who agreed to collaborate.
