IEC2016: Hope for street children in Cebu

IEC2016: Hope for street children in Cebu

(Vatican Radio) One of the most touching interventions at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu, Philippines, was made by an ex-“street child” from the city.

Maria “Maggie” Georgia Cogtas now works with other children who find themselves in the same dire situation she once found herself.

She told Vatican Radio the life on the street can be frightening and dangerous.

“I have encountered many street children. When we meet them they have scars on their…head,” she said.

“One time there was a street kid who was very badly beaten by a group, he had a wound in his head, he said to me he rushed to the hospital and asked for the security guards if they could help him,” Maggie continued. “So there was a doctor who said [he could help] then he stitched the wound of the child.”

Not all street children are homeless. Many just make their living on the street, begging or stealing food and money.

“Street could be children making their street their market for living, maybe they could use the street as instrument where they could food or money.”

In this case, Maggie said “the danger is not only in the street, but also in the home.”

“There are street children who are beaten by their family because I guess their stress-out parents convert their stress to their children,” she said.

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