The phenomenon of street children is caused by 21 years of dictatorship that ended in 1985. An increase in poverty in cities of 55 percent followed, she said. In 1995, 2.7 percent went to education. She began her work by visiting a group of teenagers at a beach and talking to them about their problems and desires, she said. Now she has built a school underneath a viaduct and provides two meals and basic health care to the children.
Venereal diseases are a major problem for street children.
Girls have babies very young, sometimes before they are 12 years old. Kicking a girl in the abdomen is a common form of abortion, she said. Children are often killed by drug dealers or by the police, she said. These crimes came to national attention in 1993 when seven kids were killed by off-duty police officers in the Candelaria Church massacre. She is now fighting for the trial of the officers and protection of the children who witnessed the event.