Wipes, Bagels, Paint, Trash...

Children working on the streets have become increasingly visible in urban life in Turkey in the last decade. Forced mass migration from the Southeast has a big impact on this. Children bear the burden of making ends meet for poor families who are torn from their places and assets and who try to hold on in cities where their skills are "useless". They go to work on the street. They engage in the heaviest, most "dirty" jobs and invent "jobs" that don't exist.

"They think we are stealing..."

"People don't understand us. Some people think we are beggars. They belittle us, they swear at us, we can't say anything, we walk away."

The owners of these words are 11-year-old "Ayşe" and 14-year-old "Adnan". Ayşe and Adnan do not steal or beg. Ayşe sells band-aids on the streets of Ankara, Adnan shines shoes. Thus, they contribute to the livelihood of their families. In fact, the money brought by "Ayşe" and "Adnan" constitutes the main income item of the family in many cases.

Betül Altuntaş focuses on the life of children working on the streets of Ankara. He draws attention to their difference from "children living on the streets" who are completely disconnected from their families. These are the important distinctions that the "street children" generalization overlooks... The author separately discusses the dynamics, internal relations, family ties and conditions of the four groups that sell tissues, flowers and band-aids, sell bagels, shine shoes and collect garbage. Thus, he identifies characteristics and distinctions that are not noticed when looking at these small "street workers" as a monolithic crowd, a "mob". The book also includes evaluations about the situation of children working on the streets around the world, approaches to the issue, and legal and institutional regulations in Turkey.
(Back cover)



Number of Pages: 256

Year of Printing: 2003


Language: Turkish
Publisher: İletişim Publishing

First Print Year: 2003

Language Turkish