This book lays bare the received truths about the lives of Brazilian street children.

Through a series of remarkable events, Sarah de Carvalho left her glittering career in film promotion and TV production to join a missionary organisation in Brazil. There she met children from the age of seven living on the streets, taking drugs, stealing to survive and vulnerable to prostitution and gang warfare. This is the remarkable true story of a life transformed. It tells of the incredible work that Sarah founded in the Happy Child Mission. It is a story of immense faith, suffering and love. The children whose stories are revealed in this exceptional book will change the heart of every reader. This new fully updated edition of THE STREET CHILDREN OF BRAZIL brings the story up to date. Fifteen years on, Sarah celebrates the anniversary of the founding of Happy Child, revisits some of the first children she worked with, and reflects on all that God has done.

Through a series of remarkable events, Sarah de Carvalho left her glittering career in film promotion and TV production to join a missionary organisation in Brazil. There she met children from the age of seven living on the streets, taking drugs, stealing to survive and vulnerable to prostitution and gang warfare. This is the remarkable true story of a life transformed. It tells of the incredible work that Sarah founded in the Happy Child Mission. It is a story of immense faith, suffering and love. The children whose stories are revealed in this exceptional book will change the heart of every reader. This new fully updated edition of THE STREET CHILDREN OF BRAZIL brings the story up to date. Fifteen years on, Sarah celebrates the anniversary of the founding of Happy Child, revisits some of the first children she worked with, and reflects on all that God has done.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

On 23 July 1993, off-duty policemen opened fire on a group of street children who were sleeping outside one of Rio de Janeiro's most prominent landmarks--the Church of Our Lady of the Candelária. The incident became known as the Candelária Massacre and it roused the people of Rio to the streets in protest. Shortly before the shootings, the policemen picked up three boys and took them off in their car to be shot elsewhere. One of them, Wagner dos Santos, survived and his survival altered the political landscape of Brazil. This book tells his story--growing up in Rio's orphanages and gangland favelas; being shot during the massacre then being shot again a year later in attempt to silence his testimony; and being forced into exile for his own safety.

Investigates the circumstances which lead children to leave their homes and describes their way of life on the streets. Shows how both policymakers and private citizens appear to be indifferent to these children's needs and describes instances of human rights abuse. Examines the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church and the mass media and looks at the role of traditional Mayan concepts of childhood. Describes international efforts to secure children's rights.