Children Without childhood

Sierra Leone. Street Children. Extreme poverty, the consequences of a cruel and not forgotten civil war after only 15 years of peace and the embers of the Ebola epidemic, which ended the lives of about 4,000 people, make of Sierra Leone a hostile place for children. Many of them have been forced to live on the streets, in makeshift beds in the market areas, and to fight against alcohol, drugs and a society that does not admit them. The boys collect rubbish in landfills, transport water or food to earn just 1 euro a day (about 8,000 lions, local currency). The girls seek their lifes as prostitutes, although some do not exceed 12 years, and are exposed to diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis or gonorrhea, the most widespread among children in Freetown for the same amount of money. Some organizations help them, welcome them and try to relocate them with their relatives, although it is not enough. Only in the capital, different statistics point to that there are about 2,000 small guys in this situation. A country that bleeds and that has mortgaged several of its future generations.