Mexico City street kid Fernando wants to be a lawyer

Published: 2003-12-23

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- He is a con man, a beggar, an entrepreneur and perhaps the mayor of his "little town." His town is Plaza Francisco Zarco, a square in Mexico City, dedicated to a famous 19th-century Mexican journalist. Fernando, a bright-eyed 13-year-old who looks much younger than his age, is one of countless children who make their home on the streets of Mexico City. In what has become a huge but often well-hidden problem in Mexico, street children -- the gangs they form and their often violent behavior, rampant drug use, sexual practices and general health -- have become a mission for change for Alma Colin, a social psychologist in Mexico City. Human rights groups say there are tens of thousands of children living and working in the streets of Mexico City, but some estimates put the number at 1.9 million. Colin said that according to the government there are about 5,600 street children. Most of the children make their home in the numerous city parks or in one of the 15 abandoned buildings in the downtown area. The government "cleans up" one area at a time, which keeps the children on the move. There is much violence against these children and among them in their struggle to survive.

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