Street Kids, Society, and the Government

Almost all businesses, apartment buildings and many houses have armed guards posted 24/7. There has to be a reason for that, but I have not witnessed it.

I had lunch today with some people that are trying to reach the poor.  One lady is from England.  She came here five years ago and works in a “soup kitchen” in one of the poor areas of town.  They give the kids a midmorning meal and then have a couple of classes with them.  These are street kids. They may or may not have a parent that cares for them.

Another is a computer programmer from Germany that has lived here for about the same amount of time. He works with teenagers and older children.   

The next couple are missionaries that want to reach people for Jesus. They have a regular Saturday gathering of street kids that gives the children a chance to be children and not be scared that someone will hurt them.

They were describing street kids that have been deserted by society. Many of the elite do not even acknowledge that they exist, much less to help them.  The kids live in areas that even the police do not go.  There is usually a gang leader that controls an area.  He’ll sell drugs and use the kids to transport the drugs to meet with a buyer. The kids do not have a chance to be children.  They have to always be on the watch for police, older kids, thieves, and child molesters.

I pass by an intersection that is about three blocks from my apartment often, at least once a day and sometimes four times in a day.  There are kids that wash your windshield and people selling things on every day except for Sunday. 

There are people at most major intersections wanting to wash your windshield for whatever you give them. This is common throughout Latin America. There are vendors that walk through the stopped cars selling, candy, pastries, windshield wipers, cell phone cases and whatever else they can sell. They do not have jobs and have to make a living somehow. 

The current president is one of the richest businessmen in the country. He believes that there should not be graft and corruption. He wants Paraguay to be a first world nation. He appointed technocrats as his ministers and took away the lucrative posts from the elite.

For example, the country has one of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world on the border with Brazil. The President appointed a Paraguayan who worked in a hydro dam in the Northwest United States to run this dam. It took the operations from a family that ran it for years.

One of the things the President wants to change is the underground economy such as you find on the streets. If they are not licensed, they cannot sell. However, those people make their livings by selling on the streets. It is a conundrum for the country’s leadership.

The President knows that he must alleviate the poverty. He also wants to bring Paraguay into the 21^st century. It is quite a challenge.