After the room full of dingy faces and the stupid demonstration given by a mindless NGO, I was livid. This is how they are dealing with street children? Teaching them that sniffing glue is irresponsible instead of recognizing why they do it? With silly cartoon demonstrations?
My assignment was to analyze the transitioning social welfare system particularly as it pertains to juveniles.
“Street children who used to be picked up by the police were taken to the juvenile detention center (it had a specific name I am deliberately leaving out here) but it closed.” I was told over and over again by various officials, social workers, analysts and government agencies.
“Well where did the children go?” I kept asking until the day I left Tbilisi.
No one gave me an answer. Children in the former juvenile detention center just disappeared, it seemed. For some naive reason I thought two years later there might be some improvements in that arena.
But then this.
My stomach is sick after reading it.
If legitimate institutions for children are so severely lacking (and I've witnessed them) in that country— like orphanages, foster care systems, etc. and if the prisons are miserable enough by adult standards— I can only imagine how awful the prisons must be on twelve year old children.
And all I can think of are the faces….
My assignment was to analyze the transitioning social welfare system particularly as it pertains to juveniles.
“Street children who used to be picked up by the police were taken to the juvenile detention center (it had a specific name I am deliberately leaving out here) but it closed.” I was told over and over again by various officials, social workers, analysts and government agencies.
“Well where did the children go?” I kept asking until the day I left Tbilisi.
No one gave me an answer. Children in the former juvenile detention center just disappeared, it seemed. For some naive reason I thought two years later there might be some improvements in that arena.
But then this.
My stomach is sick after reading it.
If legitimate institutions for children are so severely lacking (and I've witnessed them) in that country— like orphanages, foster care systems, etc. and if the prisons are miserable enough by adult standards— I can only imagine how awful the prisons must be on twelve year old children.
And all I can think of are the faces….
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