Casa Esperanza helps street kids
By Jesús Ibarra

Children selling gum or candy—or simply begging for money—are a common sight in the streets of San Miguel. Most of them have left school because their families cannot afford to pay for their educations.

Some are sent by their parents to beg for money to help support the family; others have left home because of domestic problems or because begging seems an easy source of income. However, mendicancy exposes children to sexual abuse, drugs and prostitution and can lead to criminal behavior. By giving these children money, would-be benefactors may do more harm than good by supporting this behavior. 

Casa Esperanza, or the DIM program (Integrated Development for Children), which is run by the Department of Family Integration (DIF), has the difficult mission of trying to steer these children back to school. Staff members of Casa Esperanza periodically search the streets for young beggars with the goal of contacting their families and working to change the children’s lives. 

According to Casa Esperanza psychologist José de Jesús Sánchez, many of the street children who beg at the bus station come from the neighborhood of Las Cuevitas. Most of the children who work as baggers at Mega Comercial Mexicana come from the nearby neighborhood of Pantoja. In the rural community of Peña Blanca, it is almost a tradition to send children out to sell or beg in the streets. 
 
 
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