Samantha’s Story

During the congress sessions we would speak about different problems that we faced within our communities. When I talk about the Street Child World Cup, I always say that instantly I became an adult. I was exposed to extreme poverty like never before. The adverts you see on the television, of children walking miles upon miles to collect water, now became reality – I could see first-hand the trauma they had been through.

Street-connected children are especially vulnerable to victimisation, exploitation and the abuse to their civil and economic rights. It is impossible to place a figure of how many street-connected children, partly because they are forced to move around due to threats of imprisonment, but also because the majority of street-connected children do not have their own passports, or birth certificates.

For these children to come to the event, they had to overcome a huge amount. In order for them to receive a passport, they had to have a birth certificate. In order for them to have a birth certificate their parents must have passports; the cycle is ongoing.

The founder of Street Child United, John Wroe, said to me that: “The whole world conspires with us to make the Street Child World Cup happen”. His message imprinted on me, countless families now have a passport because of the Street Child World Cup. Countless families now have an identity because of Street Child United, and their partner organisations.