street children[1]

8/8/2019 Street Children[1]

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Itsdark. It smells. Its rat-infested.And itshome.Whathopefor theundergroundchildrenofUkraine?Itsdark. It smells. Its rat-infested.And itshome.Whathopefor theundergroundchildrenofUkraine?

The Herald MagazineBRITISHSUPPLEMENTOFTHEYEAR 10December 2005


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CHILDRENOFTHE

REVOLUTIONAyearago,Ukrainewaspromisedanewfuture.As thedemocraticdreamfades,TheHeraldMagazine returns todiscoversomeof thenations youngestcitizenslivinglike rats inadarkunderworld

WordsbySusanSwarbrick PhotographsbyDavidGillanders

COVERSTORY


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10.12.05THEHERALDMAGAZINE 9

Above:someof the

streetchildrenof

Odessa,whosleep infilthy underground

tunnels.Far left:

Dennis, 13,whoran

away fromhis

alcoholicmother twoyearsago.Centre:

Eugene,14,isoneof

themany children

whosniff glue togetthemthrough theday.

Left:Yura, 11,was

badlyburnedwhenthederelictbuilding

helivedincaughtfire.Previouspage:Sasha,

aged13


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Igor, left, spendshisday wandering thestreetsofKharkiv,beggingor stealingfoodforVadim,right,andother childrenwholiveunderground

part of his punishment, he lost the legalrights to his son. Motherless and effectivelyfatherless, Sasha was sent to a state orphanage.

Unable to adapt to the homes strict regime,Sasha ran away. He has been in and out oforphanages since, always ending up on thestreets. For nowhe lives in a forgotten cornerofthe citys Pioneer Park, one ofa communityofaround 15 children. The group have set up

home in two adjacent underground chamberswhich,likein Kharkiv, are maintenance accesspoints forheating pipes. The first and larger ofthe two areas ishome to older teenagers,aged 15 and upwards. The second is whereSasha stays w ithhis friends Dennis andVitalec,

both 13, Vova, 14, and Roma, 12.Sasha, Vitalec and Roma have been best

friends since they were five, when theyhatchedtheir first plan to escape from the state-runorphanage. Beneath the ground the warm airfrom the heating system brings wel comerespite from thebitingcold, but the surround-ings are far fromidyllic. It is claustrophobic anddark, the only light coming from the manholeabove. One of the heating pipes has burst,

bringinga constant stream ofrunningwater.The floor is rat-infested, covered in discardedrubbish and human excrement. The stench isoverwhelming. It is estimated that there are upto 120 ofthese communities across Odessa.

Thesituationhas worsenedsinceTheHeraldMagazine visited 11 months ago. Besidesmaking homes inbunkers andderelicthouses,children are now living in subterrane andwellings such as maintenance tunnels andsewers. In Ukraine children can find them-selves on the streets for several reasons, butfew are trulyhomeless. They fall instead intothe category ofsocial orphans theirparentsmight be alcoholics or drugaddicts, servingtimeinprison,or livingbelow thepoverty lineand unable to care for their offspring.

For su

ch

children, there

are few vi

ableoptions, particularly since there is no social

pressure for other family members grand-parents, older siblings, aunts or uncles totake them in. For those who end up in thestate-run orphanages which willonly accom-modate children withnolivingparentslifeisequally tough. Overcrowded and still in themindset ofthe old Soviet approach to child-care strict and regimented many young-stersfind it an inhospitable environment andrun away,inevitably endingup sleepingrough.

In recent months many ofthe street childrenin Odessahave spoken ofan active campaign

by themilitia Ukrainespolice force to drivethemfrom the streets. There havebeenreportsof manhole covers beingwelded down, andentrances to tunnels and basements being

bricked up to stop the children from gainingaccess. Such claims have also been backedup by charitab le and non-governmentalorganisations working in Odessa.

The militiahavebeen known to go to thesebasements and other underground placeswhere the children live and try to destroyeverything, says Sergey Kost in, projectdirector for The Way Home, a small charitythat operates a shelter and outreach servicesfor s treet children in the city. It is not aconstant actionithappens from time to time

but children can be badly beaten orhurt inthese raids. They are afraid.

In a bare ward in one ofthe cityshospitals,Yura sits quietly in his wheelchair. Vivid scarscover the 11-year-olds face and upper body,

hishead is swathedin thickbandaging, andhiseyebrows and hair are missing. Terrible

10 THEHERALDMAGAZINE10.12.05

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COVERSTORY

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buzzes two to three tubes of glue each day.Afterwards he returns to sleep in the sameempty doorway every night.

Yura,Vladicand Eugene.Threeboys.Threestories with an equally bleak prognosis.

Welcome to thenew Ukraine. It is a year sincethe Orange Revolution, when tens of thou-sands ofcitizens took to the streets in protestat corruption duringthe countrys elections.The charismatic ViktorYushchenko addressedthe crowds inemotional scenes that resonatedacross the world.After defeatingthe Kremlin-favour ed Vik tor Yanukovich in a bitt ercampaign, the new president promised torestore trust in the former Soviet republicsgovernment but despite seemingly goodintentions, he is yet to deliver on his vision ofa better future.

In SeptemberYushchenko sacked his entire

cabinet amidallegations ofwidespread corrup-tion and in-fighting.Amongthose to gowas the

primeminister,Julia Tymoshenko,nicknamedthe Orange Princess and UkrainesJoan of


burns cover 60 to 70per cent ofhis tiny, frailbody. Yura was living in the basement of aderelict buildingwith nine other children

when it caughtfire one night. The cause oftheblaze is still unknown. The children hadbeenus in g ca ndles, but on e charity worke rsuggested the fire could have been starteddeliberatelyby an outsider.

Yura, whohas undergonenine operations injust two months, has no memory oftheeventsofthat evening. He has only onemore weekin

hospital, after which he has no idea whathewilldo. Hisparents divorced several yearsagoand,it seems,neither wanted tokeephim. Hisgrandmother tookhimin temporarily,but oneday, while drunk, she took him to a shelter inthe city and lefthim there. He ran away and

began life on the streets.Afterbeingreleasedfrom hospital,Yura will probablybe sent to astate orphanage, but it is unlikely the staff

there will have adequate trainingto dealingwith his injuries.

Across the city, in another orphanage,Vladicstares out ofthe window ofthe dormitoryhe

v shares with four otherboys. Both hisparentsare dead, victims oftheAids epidemic, and theten-year-old is also infected with the HIV

virus.Although he is sittingcalmly on a chairtoday, he isprone to violent outbursts.Awareofhis condition and theway in which the HIVinfection canbe spread h ef requently cutshisarms and legs, splattering his blood overnearby doors and walls.

He is one ofseveral children livingat theorphanage who has tested positive for HIV.Ludmila Shityova, theorphanagedirector, saysthe staffare not afraid ofVladics condition

but nor are they trained to deal with it.Out on the nearby streets , Eugene, 14,

wanders around aimlessly. In one hand heclut ches some glue whi ch he is buzzin gstraight from the tube, lightingthebottom torelease the fumes.A former intravenous druguser, he is also HIVpositive. His mother died

when he was 11 he neverknewhis fatherand since then the streetshavebeenhishome.Havingstopped injecting drugs soon afterhisHIV diagnosis a little over a year ago, he now v

Above:12-year-old

Igorsgrandmother

willnotallowhimtostay withher.Shesaysheis saferon the

streets.Topright:

Vladic, ten, is infectedwith theHIVvirus,but

staffat theorphanagewherehestaysarenot trained todeal

withhiscondition.

Above right:SashaandDennis,both13,in their squalid

undergroundhomeinOdessa. Thereare

thought tobe120similar communities

across thecity


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10.12.05 THEHERALDMAGAZINE 13

Ithasbeenaquiet revolution,butonethathastouchedthelivesofthousandsofchildrensinceitbegan threeyearsago andit is stillgrowing.MarysMeals startedwhen theArgyll-based

non-denominationalcharityScottish InternationalRelief(SIR)beganprovidingdailymeals for 200orphans inMalawi.Theideawas toencouragechildrenintotheclassroombyofferingthema freemeal,preparedby localpeople,everyday.Butstemminghunger wasjust thebeginning.MarysMealsalsogiveschildrenthechanceofaneducation,freeingthemfromthestreets,fieldsandfactories wheretheyareoftenforcedtowork.Since then,MarysMealshascapturedthe

imaginationofsupportersinScotlandandaround theworld.ByChristmas theproject willbefundingmeals for50,000childreneveryday,mainly inMalawibutalso intownsandcities inUganda,Liberia,Kenya, India, thePhilippines,RomaniaandnowUkraine.MagnusMacFarlane-Barrow, thefounderof

MarysMeals,was inspiredtoexpandtheprojectintoUkraineafter seeingtheaward-winning

picturesofstreetchildrenbyphotographerDavidGillandersinTheHeraldMagazineearlierthis year. WevedoneworkwithstreetchildrenbeforeinColombia,PeruandLiberia,hesays.But thearticleinTheHeraldMagazinemadeusawareof thesheer scaleoftheprobleminUkraine,andthatpromptedus toget involved.Since thearticlewaspublished,Yana, thegirl onthecoverbelow, hasdied.SIR, together

withTheWayHomeinOdessaandtheDepaulTrust inKharkiv,is fundingmealsfor streetchildrenandthosefromdeprivedbackgrounds.Eachmealwillcostjust 1.Tomakeadonation,seepage14.

THECOSTOFHOPE?JUST1

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Arc. She had stood shoulder to shoulderwith Yushchenko on thefreezingstreets ofthecapital,Kiev, lastDecember.Most peoples hope in Yushchenkos admin-

istration is fading. The countrys homelesschildren have almost no hope left at all.Whilethegovernmenthas shown willing inaddress-ingthe issue of street children, theirpledgeshave yet to be followed up with firm policiesorfinancial commitments.

Yushchenko wants to help, but there aremany factors that prevent him, says SergeyKostin ofThe Way Home. There are a lot ofotherproblems that mustalsobe addressedinUkraine. Street children are an issue thatrequires a special approach and professionalinvolvement. Chang es are very slow. Itrequires a lot of effort to make it happen.Ukraine is short of money these days, butchildren are our future, so it is important toinvest in helpingthem.Kostin says the people ofUkraine have

mixed feelings about street children. Somefeel guilty, but many feel irritated by thechildren. Others are frightened because they

know that ina few years the children willgrowinto adults , and they are afraid they willbecome aggressive and dangerous.

The situation is one which is difficult tostabilise. You cant divide t he groups veryeasily because they have formed new, largefamilies where theyhave ahierarchy in whichthey share food, drugs and sex. To help streetchildren you have to work with the wholecommune. Many are also chronically ill, andthat also makes things difficult.This is a gener-ation ofchildren who have no future at all.Sasha is already tryingto make a better life

forhimselfand thefourboyshelives with.Heis riggingup an electrical supply for theirunderground chamber. Takingan old pair ofscissorshe found in a rubbish heap, he cutsinto a cable which runs from a neighbouring

gara

ge.B

row furrowed inc

onc

entration, hecarefully splices tog ether the cable and

anotherpiece ofwire takingtime to create anearth connection too before usingit to powera light bulb and a toaster.Its a small comfort the childrendonthave

any bread to toast but it makes the dingy,dungeon-like conditions feel more like ahome.They rip pages from anold calendar and hangthem on the bare stone walls, and an assort-ment ofblankets are used to cover thefloor. Inone corner, a grubby sheet ishungup to createa makeshift toilet area. Above their subter-ranean cavern, the world goes on oblivious.This group of lost souls are forgotten.s


v

COVERSTORY

THEHERALDCHRISTMASAPPEALFORSCOTTISH INTERNATIONALRELIEF

Personal detailsNameAddress

PostcodeTelephoneE-mail

Iwant to supportMarysMeals:t I enclose a one-off donationof (Pleasemake cheques payable to Scottish InternationalRelief)

t Iwould like todonate on a regular basistMonthly tAnnually (Please complete direct debit section to right)

t I agree that SIRcan treatmy donation asGiftAidand reclaim the tax. I amaUK taxpayer

Signed Dated

Direct-debit instruction to yourbankor building societyNameof account-holder(s)

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Nowgive the name and full addressof yourbank/buildingsociety

To themanager (nameof yourbank)

Your bank address

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Instruction to yourbank/building society:Please pay Scottish InternationalReliefdirect debits from theaccount detailedin this instruction subject to the safeguardsassured by theDirectDebitGuarantee. I understand that thisinstructionmay remain with Scottish InternationalRelief and,if so,details willbepassedelectronically tomybank/buildingsociety.

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Please return completedform to:

SIR,FreepostNATN 448,Dalmally,PA33 1BRFreephone 0800 698 1212Visit www.sircharity.orgCharity no SCO22140


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10.12.05THEHERALDMAGAZINE 15

Above:manypeopleinUkraineare scaredthat childrensuchas

Igor willbecomedangerousadults,butlittleisbeingdone to

help them.Far left: agroupofHIV-positivedrugusers in their

twentieshave foundshelteron the topfloorofan abandoned

building.Left:streetchildrenarenotapolitical priority,given theproblemsfacedbypresident

ViktorYushchenko

000UEQX :Material:1104441-0.default

32.5 cm x 2 col C

street children[1]

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