By Father Abraham Aquino CICM

Street children are found all over the world. Most people are quick to conclude that poverty is the root cause. But if you look more deeply into the problem, you’ll find that parents are often blamed. Father Abraham, a missionary in Zambia, tells us why.

I visited the parents of a street child whom we had taken home a few months before. In the beginning, everything was going well. He was going to school. But after a while he went back on the streets. On a few occasions I tried to convince him to go home, but he refused. So I decided to find out from his mother what had happened. She told me that the child was stubborn and preferred to stay on the streets. I asked her what her plan was for him. She said, ‘Bring him to the police to be beaten so that he will learn his lesson.’ Her statement hit me like a bomb. I got angry. Is this the best a mother can think of for her child? I said ‘Goodbye’ and told her sarcastically that I’d do exactly what she had suggested.