• Some are ‘throw-away’ children who are orphaned or abandoned. They are forced out of their homes.
• Others are runaway children who have escaped an abnormal home environment of poverty, cruelty, neglect and exploitation. Some leave home so that they do not have to attend school.

Street children seek the freedom to find a better place to live. It is expected that the number of street children will increase dramatically as more and more families are affected by HIV.