Nicaragua, Managua,2007. Trucks carrying rubbish in La Chureca the city trash dump where apx 1000 families live out of the recycling business.

La Chureca,Managua,Nicaragua,November 2007. Swimming by the trash in one of the biggest trash dump in latino America.

Refugees from abuse, now abandoned “street children.”  Fleeing extreme poverty and domestic violence, the street children suffer constant hunger and neglect.

Nicaragua ranks among the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, with high birth rates and high mortality rates. Its population is about 5,000,000, with more than half of its inhabitants under 18 years of age. The street children, some 350,000 strong, are concentrated mostly in Managua. Their number is constantly growing.

Nicaragua,Granada,2007. Kid of La Chureca, Managua trash dump, during a trip off the drugs to Granada lake, organized by Los Quinchos association.

They come from every part of Nicaragua to the capital, Managua, to work and live in its streets and markets. The children survive by shining shoes, washing cars, selling water, and performing heavy manual labor. Many children join gangs, in response to the traumas they have suffered as well as to the violence they continue to face in the streets. They improvise clubs and knives to defend themselves, as well as to intimidate others. They spend the night outdoors, on the ground, sniffing glue and ingesting other toxic substances.

Founded in Nicaragua in 1991 by Italian social worker Zelinda Roccia, Project Los Quinchos offers a refuge for abused and abandoned “street children.”

Nicaragua,San Marcos,2007. Kids belonging to the Los Quinchos association swimming in La Finca,their house within a 8 hectars area developed during the years by the association.

Nicaragua,San Marcos,2007. Kids of the Los Quinchos association in their cultural centre.

Nicaragua,San Marcos,2007. Girl gettig ready for a night out.

Eddy´s son with his mother and grandmother,a prostitute that live and work in the ´Calleron de la muerte´ (Death road). Eddy works as educator for the association Los Quinchos and is one of its former members.

Two dog in a limousine driving by one of the local school the day of the graduation of some of the kids of the Los Quinchos association.

Annual interschool parade

Annual interschool parade.

Bus station. Nicaragua,Rivas,2007.

Getting ready to board on the boat that heads to the volcanic island of Ometepe. Nicaragua,Rivas,2007.