The kids themselves say that today they are more badly dressed, more dirty - and thinner. Friendship and companionship has also diminished. There are daily fights resulting from the buying and selling of drugs. Amongst the 15 young people found by the Folha, there are stories of abandonment, sexual abuse, alcoholic parents, beatings etc. They say that circumstances such as these make living on the streets preferable to living at home with their families.
Street children have their own way of keeping track of time.
They all remember that they left the Praca da Se towards the end of 1995, after a young boy was burnt by a policeman who set fire to a can of glue and then kicked it towards the boy burning him badly. His burns became infected after the other children threw him into the pond in the square to put out the fire. He has since recovered and has gone back to live at home. There is no reliable official statistic as to how many children live in the streets of Sao Paulo. The last count in October 1993 showed that 4520 children were in the streets during the day.