Honduras, 1987
The number of street children in Latin America can only be estimated. Figures range from 20 to 40 million. In Honduras, too, the number of abandoned children or children from broken homes is rising. Approximately half of all women are single mothers with an average of six children, barely able to support their families. Besides poverty, this is due to the men's obsession with repeatedly severing all ties in order to reaffirm their masculinity. As a result, thousands of children are sent out onto the streets of Tegucigalpa every day to beg, scavenge for scraps in the garbage, or steal. Rural exodus is also increasing, as most of the country is in the hands of a few large landowners, and crops are grown primarily for export.
Government and non-governmental aid programs can only help a small percentage of children. Even those who have attended school have little chance of finding employment. Another picture emerges: the children of the wealthy are already being prepared for their future in the USA in kindergarten. They are meant to be able to leave the country when the millions of poor children have become unemployed adults and underdevelopment has become irreversible.
Gordian Troeller
Mitarbeit: Ingrid Becker-Ross
Camera: Gordian Troeller
Ton: Ingrid Becker-Ross, Jürgen Kauffels
Schnitt: Annerose Koop
Length: 43 minutes
Erstausstrahlung: RB 31.08.1987
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The Abandoned15,00 €