SENTINEL WATCH December 15, 2008 Issue

PRAYER FOR THE WORLD'S CHILDREN

BEVERLY FOLTZ

THE TINY BOY huddled in a dark corner of the teeming Central American city we were visiting. He was sobbing. Some older boys had stolen his entire day's meager earnings from shining shoes. If he returned home empty-handed, he told us, he'd surely be whipped. We left him with our shoes freshly polished. But it was small comfort that we'd helped one child escape a day's harsh punishment. What about the next day? And the next? There seemed little hope that he'd ever feel the security and happiness every child deserves—particularly in those surroundings. I felt helpless at that moment to make a difference.

His is hardly a singular plight. The Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador, reports that Quito alone has 100,000 shoeshine boys. Laboring long hours, some earn up to 85 percent of their family's income. Such statistics underline the urgency: Children need more than an occasional handout.

These stories aren't limited to developing countries. In the US, for example, 15 children (including teenagers) were recently left at Nebraska hospitals or police stations by parents or guardians, because of the fact that the state's safe-haven laws don't define an age limit. They felt unable to cope with the burden of economic or emotional distress. With public services sometimes inadequate for any number of reasons, children can and do fall through the cracks.

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