Children of the Street

Story

For the documentary “Children of the Street”, Gernot Stadler accompanied street children in Ecuador for three weeks, in February and March 2008, and documented their lives. Many children come from broken families where violence is the order of the day. A life on the street – as a shoe cleaner, a cigarette salesman or a pickpocket – seems to be the better alternative, at first glance. In order to get children and young people off the streets and give them hope for a better future, the Salesians of Don Bosco in Ecuador started the project “GOLASO – Soccer for Street Children” many years ago. In soccer schools built for the children to learn soccer, but also to meet new friends and perspectives.

The film shows the different stages of this sensitive re-socialization, from the first contact of the social workers with the children on the street, to the reintegration into school and the reunification of the children with their families. The project in Ecuador is supported by the Austrian association “Jugend eine Welt” under the leading of Reinhard Heiserer, who also accompanied the film team. It was filmed in the cities of Quito, Esmeraldas and Guyaquil.