A day in the life of a street kid.

My day started rather unusually today, being woken at 4:30 am isn’t the normal thing to do in the favela. Why I woke up is still a mystery, but the early start gave me an advantage, the saying the early bird catches the worm was certainly true in this case. Within minutes I had found enough food for the whole day. This is the biggest stroke of luck I have ever experienced.

With a bulging stomach I gradually dozed off, the early start evidently taking its toll. A few hours later the gang leader smudge woke me and told me to “stop lazing around and do some work” so I grabbed a shoe shine kit and got to work

My luck was beginning to run out; 1 dollar in two hours. Since my shoe shining business was failing I started to beg. The policeman had terrible terms. 75% of earnings went to him. He dug the barrel of his gun into my forehead and told me to comply or die! I decided to start to beg where I was and luckily I was given ten whole dollars. Tourists these days don’t know how much that’s worth. Then I had a massive decision, do I give 75% to the policeman. I decided to risk it and made myself scarce.

I went to the local bakery and bought a heavenly cake, but suddenly a pair of other street kids grabbed it from me and I chased them but I couldn’t catch them.

Towards the end of the day I headed for home, only to find it in ruins. Whilst wandering the streets looking for somewhere to sleep I saw a fast food restaurant, they advertised a burger for 2 dollars, I couldn’t resist the thought of hot food and bought a burger.

At about 7pm I found an adequate place and settled down for the night, what an extraordinary day I’d had.

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