Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: At four-and-a-half years old he was left to fend for himself on the streets of northern Italy for the next four years , living in various orphanages and roving through towns with groups of other homeless children .
Simplified: At four-and-a-half years old he was left to live on the streets of northern Italy for the next four years , living in various orphanages and roving through towns with groups of other homeless children .