There were a few babies on the street tonight. Sandy's dad and mom, both 25, were living on the street. As I talked to the father, I noticed a strong odor surrounding me. I found out later that what I smelled was propane or something similar. The street children use it as an opiate to get high.
Drugs are an important part of the life of street children.
In fact, they use it as an initiation for each new member of their community. When a baby is born, the children get very excited and parade around with the baby. Then, they force it to sniff the propane so that the baby will get high. This marks the newborn's official acceptance as a street child. I also met two young boys, about 10 or 11 years old.