Sweaty hair matted to his pale,
emaciated face, Thant Zin Oo starts his
days early, winding through small
alleyways outside Myanmar's biggest city
Yangon and scavenging through garbage
piled up behind shops and factories in
search of something - anything - to sell.
Tucked under the 11-year-old's
filthy, tattered shirt is a half-
empty yellow glue tin.
"It gives me a sense of peace," he
says, taking a break so he can
draw the strong, noxious fumes
into his young lungs. "I forget my
hunger for a moment and dream
of
things that I cannot do in my
real life."
Myanmar's long-time military
rulers handed over power to a
nominally civilian government
three years ago, leading to the
lifting of Western sanctions and a burst
of economic activity. More than 500
foreign businesses have invested $50
billion. But as poor families move from
rural areas to the big city in hopes of
finding work, many find themselves
struggling.
Without education or money to buy food
- their families often squatting on land
illegally seized by gangs - children are
most vulnerable.
Many are left to fend for themselves,
easily influenced by the bad habits of
other street kids, from prostitution and
gambling to drug abuse and gang-style
extortion, said Aung Kyaw Myint, local
leader of an organization that provides
help for homeless kids.
Every morning before sunrise, a growing
number of street kids can be seen
picking through garbage, climbing on the
heaps of trash at city dumps, or sleeping
on the sidewalk.
Rain or shine, Oo and his 15-year-old
brother Ko Min are among them.
The boys say they earn $2 to $3 a day -
around half of which goes to their
parents and the other half to a small tin
of glue they share between themselves.
Oo no longer imagines he will one day be
a doctor. And Ko Min says even his more
modest goal, being a soldier, now seems
totally unrealistic.
He said, "When I sniff glue, I close my
eyes and in my dreams I go to nightclubs
and have fun."
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