061305 guate247.dng
Guatemalan youth hang out on a corner in Zone 8 of Guatemala City, Guatemala on Monday night, June 13, 2005 as Doctors Without Borders workers gather their names. Many of "los niños de la calle,"--the children of the streets--are addicted to paint thinner, soaking balls of cloth with it and holding the toxic rags to their mouths. The children and young adults prefer solvent to glue because it is cheaper and helps them forget their hunger pains and cold. Carlos Toledo, director and founder of Nuestros Derechos--Our Rights- a Guatemalan non-governmental organization that tries to help the children off the streets and into society, said there are about 10,000 children living without homes or stable lives in Guatemala. "These children are illegal in their own country," Toledo said, since most have no legal documentation and are not recognized as existing by the government.
