An invitation to read
between the lines
Dinyar Godrej explains why children should do the talking... and we should listen.

Dolgion: ‘Life is given only once’
Survival strategies from a sewage pit in icy Mongolia. Interview by Lutaa Badamkhand.

Fish heads & faith
Child photographers capture the streets.

Tanya: ‘It’s better to die of AIDS than hunger’
Sex and sisterhood in Harare, Zimbabwe. Interview by Stanley Karombo.

Ricardo: ‘The only thing I hate in the world is the police’
Selling religious cards in Uruguay by day, afraid of the dark at night. Interview by Jenny Smith.

Photo: B Toshka

Street children – THE FACTS

Nicole: ‘I’m out here for a reason; I’m not regretting it any more’
From panhandling to picking up on a lost education in Toronto, Canada. Interview by Noreen Shanahan.

Rukshana: ‘It’s easy to fall in love, but very difficult to endure it’
Why boys are a pain for a Mumbai girl on the move. Interview in India by Dionne Bunsha.

Lean-Joy: ‘I shouldn’t lose hope because it won’t be forever’
Determination and hope in Manila, the Philippines.

Jessa: 'All that has happened, has happened already’
It's a common sight in Manila to see single male foreigners with young girls on their arms.

Jack: ‘The kind of life I want’
Pipedreams from the Philippines.

So you want to help?
Here’s how!

Photo: Fran Harvey

FROM THIS MONTH'S EDITOR

I wake up feeling thankful. It’s a good feeling but it’s descended unannounced. And I can’t seem to shake it off.

It’s been a privilege to meet some of the children featured on these pages in person. They were so generous with their trust and so willing to dredge up and confront past demons in the hope that complete strangers would take something away from their stories. And perhaps be inspired to reach out to children like them. Not them in particular but other children on the streets, perhaps in other countries. It’s the kind of largesse, bestowed so readily by those who have next to nothing themselves, which takes your breath away.

I also feel grateful to the writers we contacted who readily agreed to submerge their own egos to let the voices of the children blaze out. Some have signalled that they’ve emerged the better for it.

For the likes of you and me, life can at times present a bewildering array of choices. In sharp contrast, these children have lost no time in trying to make the most of the few choices life ever offered them.

This might be the closest the NI comes to ‘Meetings with Extraordinary People’. I hope you’ll agree.

Dinyar Godrej
for the New Internationalist
Co-operative
dinyarg@newint.org

Letters
Abortion, understanding and empowerment; why Britain should give its UN veto to the Commonwealth; creationism is not harmless.
PLUS: Letter from Lebanon Reem Haddad discovers that her homeland is not a motherland.

Currents Special Report
The waves that woke the world
The aftermath and implications of the Asian tsunami. Includes: the Burmese migrant workers who were forgotten victims; caste discrimination in India even amid the tsunami trauma; an NI reader on helping to identify bodies in Thailand.
PLUS: In memoriam Archbishop Romero, murdered in El Salvador 25 years ago.
PLUS: NI editorial comment - United Nations of America?

Southern Exposure
Bangladeshi women who have survived acid attacks perform a play, photographed by Abir Abdullah.

Big Bad World
The Grim Reaper invites you inside, in Polyp's cartoon.
PLUS: NI Prize Crossword

Front Cover: J Holmes/exile Images
Magazine Design: Andrew Kokotka
On-line mag maintained by: Simon Loffler
All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

© Copyright 2005 New Internationalist Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.