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Street Children: A radio story produced and written by Sabina Jafarli and Xumar Huseynova
Narrated by Sabina Jafarli, this story discusses the hardships street children face on the streets of Baku and focuses on an eleven year old boy named Galib
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| Eleven year old Galib being interviewed by Sabina Jafarli (with microphone) and Xumar Huseyona |
Soundbite: Nobody helps me. I came to Baku to earn money. I earn money to buy medicine for my father. My sister is in Yevlakh. My brother is a soldier.
NAT sound: Sound of flute comes up as Galib finishes speaking.
Narrator: For more than five years, Galib has been playing the flute in Targovaya Street. He’s eleven years old, but he carries all the responsible for his family on his shoulders.
Galib: I lost my mother when I was ten years old. Why did I come to Baku? Why am I in such a situation?
Narrator: Mehriban Zeynalova, the director of the NGO Clean World, says her organization is trying to save children from street life. She also tries to save them from turning to a life of crime.
Sound bite: Street children is a new concept in Azerbaijan, but in Georgia the situation is worse. There, most street children don’t have homes.
Narrator: Mehriban Zeynalova says a survey of about 200 street children found that 98% of them were illiterate. Zeynolava also said that there are cases in which these children are sniffing glue. She says this can cause brain damage – as is the case with Galib.
Sound bite: Galib’s blood tested positive for toxins. His white blood cell count is very low. He also began smoking cigarettes at a very early age.
Narrator: Medical expert, Adil Geybulla describes the harm that sniffing glue can cause to a child.
Sound bite: The chemicals in glue prevent the development of the brain in children from early childhood and leads to deficiencies in physical development. The liver and kidneys remain underdeveloped. A high dosage of glue leads to intoxication of children. A permanent addiction to glue leads to chronic intoxication.
Nat sound: Sounds of hammers and drills – renovating an office.
Narrator: Renovations are underway at the NGO called A Place for Hope. The director, Natig Mansumov, says his organization provides shelter for street children.
Sound bite: In our shelter, very often, the number of children who are here, is changing, but now we have about 40 children. So far, the organization has returned 500 children to their families over the past eleven years.
Narrator: Mansumov explains why children end up living on the streets
Sound bite: Its roots go back to the 90’s. The Karabagh war and other things led to a lot of problems.
Narrator: Mansumov describes the difficulties of street life.
Sound bite: Street children face life and death every day. There are acts of violence as well. They also catch different diseases.
Nat sound: Sound of flute…….
Narrator: Galib says he has experienced violence on the streets.
Sound bite: Street children tear my clothes and policemen break my pipe. Police beat me and try to kill me, but I run away.
Narrator: Galib says his family sends him to the street to earn money. Mehriban Zeynalova describes his family.
Sound bite: He came from Yevlakh to Baku. He has a sister and a brother in Baku who also beg on the streets. Their grandmother sent them to Baku to earn money. They stay on the streets near the central hospital.
Narrator: Sanubar Alizade from the State Committee of Problems for Family, Woman and Children says most of the street children are in Baku and Ganja. Alizade says that a variety of measures and a lot of time are needed to resolve this problem.
Sound bite: It is very difficult to return any street child to their home. A legal framework should be created first of all.
Narrator: Zeynalova, the director of Clean World NGO describes how the problem can be resolved.
Sound bite: There must be social workers and out-reach workers to help street children. It is no use to send them to boarding schools and orphanages by force.
Narrator: For the time being Galib continues to live on the streets. He regrets he can’t live a normal childhood, but he has dreams. His biggest dream:
Sound bite: I want to be a soldier.
Natural Sound: Galib playing the flute.
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