On Friday my “un-photographable” post was on an orphan boy that we met in the park in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Well, this morning the BBC has a photo article titled “Underground Children” that tells the plight of homeless children in Ethiopia.

These children are surviving by living underground in horrible conditions. They spend their days looking for scraps of food, working odd jobs to earn small bits of money, running from police officers, trying to avoid those in the world that will take advantage of homeless children who have no one in the world looking out for them, and moving from make shift shelter to make shift shelter.

What saddened me the most by reading this article was the complete lack of hope for these children. Some of the boys and girls that were interviewed for this piece had been living in these conditions for 10 years or more. They have no hope an education, so no hope for a good job or a future. Their situation seems so totally hopeless.

And perhaps the most saddening fact of all is the sheer number of how many street children there are in Ethiopia. From the article, “An exact number is too difficult to pin down accurately, but various estimates put the total number of street kids in Ethiopia between 60,000 and 150,000.”
The kids come to Addis with high hopes of finding money and success, usually after being orphaned from illness or accident, or escaping from abusive and neglectful situations. But their dreams of finding a new life in Addis are quickly dashed when reality makes them street children.

What touched me the most about the boy in the park is what touches and saddens me the most about this story…the fact that these children are all alone on this earth. I just can’t imagine not having anyone to rely on or to trust or to love or to love me back. I think for any mom or dad, to imagine even one child, never mind thousands upon thousands, living in these conditions is too much. My hope is that by the BBC and others drawing attention to these children, something can be done. Like so many other situations it seems that the problem is too big to really make a difference, but like Gandhi said, “Practically anything you do will be insignificant, but it is important that you do it.”

*BBC photo by Will Connor and Mesay Berhanu