The Big Picture

The Big Picture

Imagine yourself face to face with Miguel, an 11 year old dressed in layers of tattered t-shirts, torn jeans, and a pair of flip flops. You see the red snake-like lines of ringworm infections on his arm and smell the glue that he inhales between sentences filled with slang terms you still haven’t learned. Now, take a look around you. Walk down the poorly lit street with its pungent smell, past the dilapidated buildings that line it, and around the dogs pawing through the piles of garbage. Look beyond that street at the city that surrounds you. See its colorful markets and its fancy shopping plazas. Note the wealthy presidential palace in its center and the rows of straw huts that crowd the outlying areas. Follow the pothole-scarred roads to the smaller cities and smaller villages in remote areas where electricity doesn’t reach and water doesn’t run.

To begin to understand street children, we need to consider the environment that produces them. Like all people, these children adapt to their situation. They are shaped by the rough hands of history, politics, economics, and the complexities of their family structure. Age, gender, race, health, and education affect how each child relates to the world around them and how the world relates to that child. Likewise, the organizations with which volunteers collaborate are shaped by the people and entities within and surrounding them. Though their ultimate goals may be similar, their priorities and the methods they employ may vary significantly depending on their religious, political, and economic affiliations.

We as volunteers are not exempt from these forces. Viewing our host countries through foreign eyes, we come with our own definitions of right and wrong, wrought by our own life experiences and backgrounds. As we immerse ourselves in our new homes we must struggle to withhold judgment. Furthermore, with our accents and foreign clothes, we often draw attention – both positive and negative – from our hosts, influencing both how we view our host country and how our hosts view us.

Remember Miguel? Walk back towards him. Bear in mind the factors that have contributed to who he is and where he lives. Acknowledge your assumptions about his youth and poverty, and consider what assumptions he holds about you. Think about the organization you are working with and how that affects the relationships you form with these children. And, as you sit down on the curb beside him, consider the big picture and keep an open mind.