There are kids living underground, there are kids living under the bridges or in abandoned buildings. They do not go to school;they do not have documents. They survive living in small groups with their own laws, begging, stealing, sometimes becoming prostitutes, often injecting home-made drugs or sniffing glue.
Siena Film Festival, Siena, Italy (November 2008).
Photographs by: Robert Gamble and Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Text by: Claudio Corbelli
The pictures of Robert Gamble and Aleksandra Zhavoronkova take us on an unimaginable journey in places where it is hard to believe that a teenager could be found, and even harder to conceive that here a boy or a girl would get ready to become an adult. In these places it is hard to imagine a future free from pain, malnutrition, drugs and disease. In the darkness of an underground room, maybe you would not dare to enter, street children in a group of a dozen find shelter from the bitter winter, but mostly seek refuge from family violence, physical and sexual abuse, and from a society that let them down.
But street children are not hiding away. The authors, with their photographs, show us that these kids are not ashamed of themselves or of their situation. On the contrary, they want to be photographed and they like to take pictures themselves. From the large close ups is easy to notice how their beauty is second to no other child, not children with an easier youth, children born in different conditions, or children you may see on the pages of magazines. In order to survive, street kids had to grow up faster than other kids, but they show us they still know how to be teenagers. To a society that seems to have forgotten them, they remind us they still exist. Here you can view their story.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Vlad (age 16) lives down in a manhole situated in Poselok Kotovskovo, in the northern side of the town. There are usually five or six boys living with Vlad among hot water pipes and sewers.
Odessa, 2008
Photographed by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Serezha (age 17, known as “Samolet”) begs for money in front of a big supermarket called “Sil’po” in the area of Tairova. He does not want other boys to be with him when he is begging.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Roma (age 12) sleeps underground in a hole on Koroleva Street behind a big grocery store called Sil’po, in the area of Tairova. The other boy’s name is Igor (unknown age).
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Serezha (age 17), also called “Samolet” (airplane), screams in pain because of leg abscesses due to heavy-drug use. He lives with other fourteen kids in a filthy garage situated in a normal residential area close to the touristy beach of Arcadia. Outside the garage, medical personnel are performing HIV testing but Serezha is not able to go. Sasha does some basic first aid and disinfection.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Serezha (age 16), whose nickname is Kinder for his fondness of chocolate, stands up in a hole in Tairova on the south side of the city. This hole was located in a field surrounded by new and old apartment buildings. This location was closed down by the police in the fall of 2007.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Vovchick in a garage in Chernyahovskogo St., close to Arcadia beach.
How many and why?
In Ukraine there are about 140,000 kids who live in the streets. This is partly due to the dire economical situation of Ukraine (exacerbated after the fall of USSR) and rampant alcoholism that contributed to the breaking apart of families. Normally no child leaves a loving home, no matter how impoverished. Almost all children who live on the streets have been physically or sexually abused; this leads to two things: either children leave home at age 11-12 or they become so difficult to manage that the parents give them to an orphanage. There are roughly 80,000 children living in orphanages and shelters in Ukraine. Children often go back to the streets because state orphanages are mostly under-funded and lack the means to give proper care and an education. Kids also choose the streets because of the freedom it gives.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Lena (age 18) sits up next to two unidentified boys in a hole on Koroleva Street behind a big grocery store called Sil’po, in the area of Tairova.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Taras (age 15) has lost his speech and stumbles around on his toes in a garage in Chernyahovskogo St. (close to Arcadia beach). The result of the prolonged use of the amphetamine-based home-made drug known as “Baltushka”.
Where do they live? How do they survive?
Street children often live together in groups of five to a dozen, with often only one or two girls who function as surrogate mother/little queens of the group. During the winter they find shelter underground in locations where centralised-heating hot-water pipes of the city’s apartment buildings run through. Here they find refuge from the bitter winter when the temperature often falls below zero (C°). Other places they use are abandoned houses and garages, sewers, and parks and beaches mostly in the summer. In these places there are no comforts (although sometimes they managed to “borrow” electricity from city wires), no hygiene and often garbage accumulates in piles.
Street children survive doing the odd jobs: carrying bags, begging, and stealing. Girls often become prostitutes. In groups, there are specific rules. Sharing is important. They often take care of each other, perhaps to compensate for the family that is missing. Food, cigarettes, alcohol (and unfortunately even syringes) are most often shared with no second thought.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Slavik (age 14) peeks out from this manhole located in the region of Poselok Kotovskovo, where he was living with Vlad, five other boys and one girl in a space perhaps four by five meters in size and about two meter in height.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
An unidentified boy (presumed age 17) is in heavy pain. Other boys living with him in this garage in Chernyahovskogo St. (close to Arcadia beach) tell us that he has broken ribs and some problems with his liver. He hasn't been leaving the garage for days.
Odessa, 2005
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Not far from Ploshad Tolstova, near the downtown area, there is a crumbling abandoned building. To climb to the second floor, where the kids live, you have to step on a bed frame. In this small room, Vovchik (age 17) and another unidentified boy sleep. On the wall there is a poster with the stars of the American TV show X Files.
Drug and health issues
Street kids make a heavy use of drugs and they mostly sniff glue or inject “baltushka”, a homemade drug containing amphetamine. This drug can be cheaply prepared (less than $ 1 per dose) by using common cold medication, warm water, household vinegar and potassium permanganate. These ingredients are easy to obtain in drug stores or in illegal markets. Drug users are sometimes stopped by the police but they are soon released as they do not have money to pay bribes (corruption is a big problem in Ukraine). Baltushka is injected intravenously usually 5-6 times a day, and sometimes users report injecting for 2-3 days, also going without food and sleep. Baltushka is a group drug (usually groups of 3-7 people) and there is a common practice of sharing the needles that puts users at risk of Hepatitis C and HIV infection (about 30% of kids living in the streets are HIV positive.) Unprotected sex, poor hygiene, and malnutrition also puts street kids at risk for STDs, hepatitis and tuberculosis. Early effects of baltushka include shaking wildly, grinding the teeth, and abscess and skin burns when injected under the skin. After prolonged use, the effects include partial loss of cognitive function, brain damage, Parkinsonian symptoms, and delayed mental and physical development in children of age 11-14. Street kids report using drugs to “feel lighter in their hearts” and among young and uneducated female commercial sex workers “to make their work easier”.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Lena (age 19) is admitted in a hospital for contagious diseases called “Evreyskaya Bolnitsa”. The first diagnosis is that she has pneumonia. Later she is discovered with an open form of tuberculosis. Now she is been treated for this disease in a specialised hospital just outside the city.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Roma (age 12) on the left, Dima (age 16) on the right and Vitia (age 17) the background, down in a hole on Koroleva Street behind a big grocery store called Sil’po, in the area of Tairova.
Vasil’evka, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
In a summer camp organised for kids recovered from the streets, one of the favourite pastimes is to ride goats and sheep directed to the pasture. The herd passes by the camp at least twice a day and kids get a ride like young cowboys.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Down in this hole under the streets (“Lyuk” as this place is referred to), on New Year’s day 2007, Sergey (age 16) eats an apple and next to him there is Slavik (14). On the right, Vlad (16) glances at us.
What can be done?
Ukraine is neglecting its street children, due to economical reasons, and lack of government programs and philanthropy. Regular families are struggling, and do not have the resources to help or adopt children. The state is mostly absent, except when police raid locations where street kids live and take them to state orphanages. This solution, however, is only temporary as kids often go back to the streets. The emotional damage of abuse often makes it difficult for street kids to adjust to life in a community unless there is some kind of psychological assistance. The longer they live in the streets (and the longer they use drugs), the harder is the rehabilitation. If kids are still in the streets in their 20s there is almost no more hope to rescue them.
Street kids need to be helped during their teens. Independent associations like This Child Here, together with local shelters, start by providing the basics: food, clothes, medicine and medical help through local hospitals. The invitation to live at the shelter is always there, but children do not often accept. If kids decide to go live in the shelter they are provided with food and accommodation, temporary school, psychological and legal assistance. The latter is needed because some of the street kids do not have documents and, by being technically “non existent”, they can not go to state schools. Activities such as photo and art classes, dance, languages and any other occupation that may help give these kids a hope for an independent future are also offered. The idea is to start somewhere, why not from this child here?
Vasil’evka, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Serezha (age 15) plays in an abandoned building in the village of Vasil’evka during a summer camp for street kids. Here he jumps from a semi-destroyed first floor wearing a costume that he created (called “Shadow”). Creating costumes and other objects of art is his favourite pastime.
Odessa, 2005
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Vika (age 16) lived near the famous Potemkin stairs, just one hundred meters from where thousands of tourists pass every day. Here there is a set of holes that lead down to sewage and hot water pipes where about eight children were living. Street kids sometimes slice their arms on purpose, probably so that the physical pain can act as a distraction from the emotional pain.
Vasil’evka, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Serezha (age 15) by a big bonfire called by the kids “Pionerskiy Koster” (the bonfire of the pioneers) during a summer camp for street kids.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
In the ruins of an abandoned building near Uspenskaya Street, in the centre of the city, several boys sleep without heat. They carry their food and belongings across a small ledge on to the second floor. Here Lesha (age 16) hands over a meal to Maxim (17).
Vasil’evka, 2008
Photograph by Aleksandra Zhavoronkova
Serezha (age 15) in an abandoned building of the village Vasil’evka plays “Kazaki” during a summer camp for street kids. In this typical Ukranian kid game, one group, the Kazaki (the national military) has to find and capture the Razboyniki (the criminals).
Activity of the association “This Child Here”
The no-profit organization “This Child Here”, led by Dr. Robert Gamble (Director), and in cooperation with the local shelter “The Way Home” is involved in the following activities:
- Social patrol to distribute warm meals and clothes.
- Economical support to the shelter (renovation, projects, etc.).
- Health assistance.
- Legal assistance.
- Hiring psychologists who work with “at risk” youth in public school.
- Hiring tutors for youth who make application for the University.
- Organizing volunteers for summer camp.
- Organizing extra-scholastics activities (photography, dance, language courses, etc.).
- Training program for bicycle maintenance.
- Recruiting volunteers.
- Raising awareness on the issue.
Odessa, 2008
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Dima (age 16), who also calls himself Sasha, lives with four other boys under a building in Krushev on the south side of the city.
Odessa, 2005
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Maggie (age 10) in a manhole under the streets in the north side of the city. Her mother died from AIDS the month after this shot was taken. Maggie now lives at an orphanage that works in partnership with “This Child Here”. The small boy is unidentified.
Odessa
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Roma (age 12) on the balcony of a two-storey building - a premier health center (sanatorium) under the Soviet Union and subsequently abandoned. Five boys and two girls were living here when this photo was taken.
Odessa, 2007
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Jana (age 15) lived in Poselok Kotovskovo for about four years. Here, she is portrayed on the pavement above the manhole where she and four boys were living. Not twenty-five meters away there is a busy open-air market.
Odessa, 2006
Photograph by Robert Gamble
Next to McDonald’s in an area called Politech there’s a large abandoned garage. It has three open bays for car repairs and a room for tools and parts. From 2006 until the end of 2007, street kids came and went from this garage. Here Taras (age 15, from left to right), Marina (17), Nadya (19) and Vova (19) share a happy moment together.
How can YOU help?
1) DONATE MONEY
- make a deposit into the bank account: IT27R 01030 14200 00000 6421101 (Corbelli Vittorio/pro ragazzi di strada ucraini, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena).
Your money will go directly to support projects of the organization “This Child Here”, directed by Dr. Robert Gamble.
-or go to www.thischildhere.org and make an online donation.
2) DONATE YOUR TIME
Dr. Robert Gamble is always looking for motivated volunteers to help him improve the situation of street kids in Ukraine. If you believe you have something to offer to these kids, if you want to have a meaningful life experience and learn about a new culture, visit http://www.thischildhere.org/ , or contact Dr. Robert Gamble directly (robertgam@gmail.com).
3) Organize a photo exhibit such as this one in your own city to raise additional funding.
Authors
Robert D. Gamble, Dr. (USA). Robert was born in Quonset Point, RI (USA) on 09.17.1951. He is a Presbyterian minister, a photographer and a writer. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (B.Sc.) in 1973. Following five years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he completed a Doctorate of Ministry at the Columbia Theological Seminary (1982). During his active ministry in the USA he took part in several humanitarian missions in Nicaragua (1999-2005). After a sabbatical visit to Ukraine in 2005, he moved to Odessa the following year, where he now lives and works with the organization he founded “This Child Here” to alleviate the situation of street kids.
Aleksandra Zhavoronkova (Ukraine - Italy). Aleksandra was born in Odessa, Ukraine on 11.25.1981 and lived there until the year 2000, when she moved to England to attend a bachelor program in International Business at the European School of Economics. She moved then to Palermo in 2003 and to Rome in 2004 to work for “Saatchi & Saatchi”, an advertising agency. She has been taking professional pictures since 2005 and she presented her work in the projects: Rome as you don’t know it (Roma, 2007) and The Slaves of Liberty (Odessa, 2007).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alex_zhavoronkova/
The show in Siena was organised by Claudio Corbelli (Italy).
