ST.PETERSBURG RUSSIA... a hard life for street children

In St.Petersburg, Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed, it has lead to many great things, on the other hand it has lead to family turmoil and increasing alcohol use. When I went to visit St.Petersburg I met Yuri (12) and Max (13) begging me for money and food I gave them some of both. Since I knew how to speak Russian I started to get to know them, I found out that they have been living on the street for eight months and they both smoke most street children in St.Petersburg smoke. Do drugs or drink alcohol, and some even sniff glue to decrease their hunger. I went to go visit their abandoned house, they lived in the attic on the top of an eight story building, and in the winter they live in the basement. I also found out that they met each other by begging for food and money on the streets. For dinner they usually eat dry macaroni or dry pasta because they have no were to cook it. When Yuri and Max aren't living in their attic/basement with their kittens they rescued from a lady who was going to drown them they live in a computer game warehouse, sometimes they'll take the money from the computer games to get food and supplies. Max and Yuri live on the streets for different reasons, Max's mother was dead and his father was never home, Yuri lives on the streets because his alcoholic step-father beet him when he got drunk for little things like not taking out the garbage or washing the dishes. Yuri saw his mom three months ago and he told her he wasn't going home, then she threatened to tell the police, then he said you either live with me or my step-father... but she didn't care enough and walked away. Sometimes he cries when he thinks about his mom.


In St.Petersburg alone their are 16,000 street children including the total one million living in Russia today.


Also to make money they go to metro stations, but their are some of the most dangerous criminals there, they go their to beg, get drugs, and collect bottles and give them to people for money. They hate coming here but they have to every day, Max says its really scary when someone you don't know approaches you and you don't know them, like this man with a knife they told me about and they chased them and finally they got away, when I think about this i cry.



They don't like talking to social workers because there are a lot of social workers and a lot of people who pretend to be one, they don't talk to them because the impersonators can work for rapists or maniacs, and even if they are good what can they do for them, send them to orphanages which is not wanted by them because it needs inmprovement in education, care, and how they raise them because 10% of the orphans end up commiting suicide by the age of 18. Then most street children don't like police officers who are supposed to be helping them. Yuri and Max personally know three good police men, the rest they run away from because the papers keep piling up and by that he means that the number of times you stole something or bought drugs, and they again might send them to orphanages, government shelters, or even prison depending on how old you are and what you have done.



This is how hard it is for only two of the street children in St.Petersburg Russia!