A GENERATION OF CELLARS AND GARRETS Unloved by both their parents and the state

The capital's streets seem overrun with little beggars. They sit beside the grocery stores and outdoor markets. They roam the city and the subways. How many of these waifs are there in Kyiv? Hundreds? Thousands?

Last the year criminal police arrested 1128 underage vagabonds. During last the three months of 1998 385 were arrested.

Unfortunately, the police is forced to set them free after 80 hours, because that period is fixed by law. Due to legislation in effect, no shelters or orphanages (a shelter was opened last December 16) are authorized to take in children from other cities. I am certain that these children come to Kyiv in large numbers because they simply have no other place to go.

Before the orphanage was opened, nurses went around bazaars, basements, subway stations, and other places inviting the little ragamuffins to come to a place where they could find a hot meal and have a roof over their heads for the night. Many come of their own free will. If they are not from Kyiv, the orphanage takes them in llegally.

Nine year old Oksana told us her story: "Mother sold me to the Gypsies, and they tried to force me beg for money. But I didn't want to. I will never go back to my mother or the Gypsies. I want to stay here for as long as they can keep me."

As a rule, these little beggars are between 9 and 14 years old. Most are illiterate and have never gone to school. The two main reasons forcing them to beg are their parents (either drug addicts or alcoholics) and hunger.

Seven year old Sasha: "I used to live with my mother and she forced me to beg for money. I knew that she would spend everything I brought in on vodka. That is why I gave her change and hid the hryvnias in a boot. But she would also find them there. I try not to leave her alone for a long time, because anything can happen to her. Once I came back and she was lying on the floor not breathing. I called the neighbors, a couple of drug addicts; they gave her some heart pills, and she revived."

Eight year old Kostya: " Police caught me in Leningrad Square. Mama told me to leave and never come back. So I left. Lived in a basement for six months and slept on the pipes because they're warm. No, I didn't steal anything. I didn't want to. My friends and I begged for money and food. You can make up to five hryvnias a day..."

Often shelter workers have to eject even children registered as living in Kyiv. According to the law, a child may not be kept there for more than thirty days, during which time the state should decide his or her future. For instance, to send him to the orphanage boarding school, after abolishing parental rights, which is impossible to do within thirty days. Also, most of the children have no identification documents on them.

Nurses say most kids are addicted to sniffing toxic liquids like glue. They say they do not suffer so much from hunger after sniffing glue. Sometimes adults hook them on sniffing because it is easier to control them when addicted.

Seven year old Veronika: "It's really very hard to beg. But mama always says to go and do it. Mama took all the money I brought home and never gives me anything to eat. Life is easier after sniffing glue. The first few weeks in the orphanage I used to cry at night. Things were really hard for me. But now I've gotten used to life here, and I'm not addicted anymore."

All the homeless children love to draw. Mainly these are small black houses with dark windows behind the letter M. M, first letter of the word "Mama"...

After some time in the shelter they start drawing butterflies and the sun. But there is a problem: many of them will have to go back to the streets, because the state cares for them no better than their mothers...

Photo by Veronika Soloviova:
It's good when the person you want is next to you