MONGOLIA: VISITING CIRCUS TROOP BRING GLIMMER OF HOPE INTO LIVES OF STREET CHILDREN.
Record ID:
646807
MONGOLIA: VISITING CIRCUS TROOP BRING GLIMMER OF HOPE INTO LIVES OF STREET CHILDREN.
- Title: MONGOLIA: VISITING CIRCUS TROOP BRING GLIMMER OF HOPE INTO LIVES OF STREET CHILDREN.
- Date: 12th July 2000
- Summary: ULAN BATOR, MONGOLIA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: HOMELESS TEENAGERS WALKING ON THE STREET FROM LEFT: CHINZORIN, 17 YEAR OLD, TOEMORCHODOR, 15 YEAR OLD DEAF BOY, AND AMRAA, 16 YEAR OLD, ALL HOMELESS, WALKING AND SMOKING 0.07 2. GV/PAN/MV: THE THREE HOMELESS BOYS DESCENDING UNDERGROUND THROUGH MANHOLE/ AMRAA AND MOENKHOD GOING DOWN MANHOLE (2 SHOTS) 0.25 3. GV: 17 YEAR OLD HOMELESS BOY IN AN UNDERGROUND CONCRETE MAINTENANCE ROOM 0.32 4. MV: MOENKHOD SQUATTING AND SMILING 0.38 5. CU: TOEMORCHODOR, A 15 YEAR OLD DEAF BOY, LEANING AGAINST WALL, AND SIGNALING TO OTHERS/ TOEMORCHODOR SMILING 0.44 6. GV/PAN: LIGHT FILTERING THROUGH OPENING IN GROUND AND PAN TO BOYS SITTING 0.50 7. MV: DIRTY BEDROLL 0.54 8. LAS: BOYS CRAWLING OUT THROUGH MANHOLE HATCH 1.02 9. GV: FROM LEFT: TOEMORCHODOR, MOENKHOD, AMRAA, CHINZORIN CROUCHED IN AN EMPTY LOT/ CLOSE UP OF THE BOYS 1.07 10. CU: SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) MOEHKHOD, 17 YEAR OLD HOMELESS BOY, SAYING: "The big guys come here and drink a lot of vodka. They try to come into our hole and demand money from us. If we don't give it to them, they threaten us with knives and beat us. We fight with them and then run away to tell the police, but the police don't do anything for us." 1.27 11. MCU: SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) AMRAA, 16 YEAR OLD HOMELESS BOY, SAYING: "There's absolutely nothing positive. Nothing. We left our homes because of what our lives were like then. Our family is very poor and have no food or money. We were starving. That's why we left. If we were rich and had money, do you think we would have left?" 1.50 12. GV: HOMELESS CHILDREN IN FRONT OF THE "STATE DEPARTMENT STORE" 1.56 13. MV: TINY HOMELESS BOY IN DIRTY RED SHIRT 2.04 GACHUURT, MONGOLIA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14. GV: ROW OF FELT TENTS IN THE MONGOLIAN COUNTRYSIDE WITH CHILDRENS CLOTHES HANGING ON WOODEN FENCE 2.10 15. GV: CHILDREN CLAPPING 2.15 16. MV: SIGN FOR "SAVE THE CHILDREN" 2.20 17. GV: WIDE OF CHILDREN AND CECILE TRUFFAULT, FRENCH TRAINER FROM CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, CLAPPING 2.27 18. MCU: CHILDREN WATCHING 2.30 19. MV: TRUFFAULT SITTING INDIAN STYLE 2.35 20. MV: CHILD SITTING INDIAN STYLE 2.40 21. GV/MV: WIDE OF CHILDREN DOING PUSH-UPS/ CLOSE OF TWO BOYS DOING PUSH-UPS (2 SHOTS) 2.51 22. LV: WIDE OF CHILDREN PLAYING 2.57 23. MCU: SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) PUREVSAMBUU, 14 YEAR OLD HOMELESS BOY, SAYING: "First time I saw them doing the exercises, I never thought I could do it myself. But now it's different -- I can actually do it all. In the beginning I didn't believe in myself, but now I do." 3.11 24. GV: CHILDREN AND TRUFFAULT WALKING (2 SHOTS) 3.21 25. CU: SOUNDBITE (English) CECILE TRUFFAULT, FRENCH TRAINER FROM CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, SAYING: "First we work on things which are fun to work with. Kids really want to do it. So that's one of the things why they accept some kind of discipline. Some kids who've always been in (a situation) bit like a riot, life is a riot for them. And they suddenly accept discipline, because they want to do something." 3.46 26. GV/MV: CHILDREN TUMBLING ON MAT/ CLOSE OF GIRLS TUMBLING ON MAT (2 SHOTS) 3.58 27. MV/GV: TRUFFAULT THROWING BALL INTO AIR/ CHILDREN THROWING BALLS INTO AIR (2 SHOTS) 4.07 28. GV: VARIOUS OF ARIUNTUNGALAG TSEND, PROJECT OFFICER FOR SAVE THE CHILDREN, SITTING SURROUNDED BY FIVE AND SIX YEAR OLD HOMELESS KIDS IN A FELT TENT 4.13 29. MCU: ARIUNTUNGALAG TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR DRAWINGS 4.19 30. MV/CU: CHILDREN PAINTING (4 SHOTS) 4.41 31. MCU: SOUNDBITE (English) ARIUNTUNGALAG TSEND, PROJECT OFFICER FOR SAVE THE CHILDREN, SAYING: "Most of the children want to return to their homes, because you know, all children love their parents, mother and father. (Even) if they drink, drinking vodka bottles, but in reality from their hearts they love their parents." 5.01 32. MCU: GANTSETSEG AND BUDJAV SITTING IN DOORWAY OF A FELT TENT 5.06 33. MV/CU: LEG OF BUDJAV BENT AS A RESULT OF RICKETS (2 SHOTS) 5.15 34. MCU: SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) BUDJAV, 6 YEAR OLD HOMELESS BOY WHO HAS BEEN AT THE CENTER FOR 2 YEARS, SAYING: "When I grow up, I want some money because I want to buy a flat with four rooms. I want my mom and dad to come live with me, and also my brother and sister." 5.33 35. GV: GANTSETSEG AND BUDJAV SITTING IN DOORWAY OF FELT TENT 5.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 27th July 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GACHUURT AND ULAN BATOR, MONGOLIA
- Country: Mongolia
- Reuters ID: LVA8W04MVRKPATAP3UPME3T32YOD
- Story Text: For thousands of homeless children in Mongolia, there
is little hope of a better life in the future, but now a world
famous circus troop is brining a glimmer of hope into the
lives of some of the country's street children.
In any crisis or emergency, the people worst hit are
children, and these three teenage boys are no exceptions.
In Ulan Bator, the capital city of impoverished
Mongolia, thousands of children live on the streets - a result
of an economic crisis which devastated Mongolia's economy in
the wake of the collapse of communism.
Estimates put the number of street kids as high as
10,000 and most of them survive by begging for food and money.
At night, they descend underground through tiny manholes
into concrete maintenance rooms to find shelter.
Most of these units have sewage and hot-water pipes
running through them which help prevent the children from
freezing to death in the subzero temperatures of the Mongolian
winter.
But during the summer it becomes unbearably hot, and
most escape above ground.
Toemorchodor, 15, Moenkhod, 17, Amraa, 16, and
Chinzorin, 17, have lived together in the concrete dungeon
since 1995. They first met when they picked through garbage
next to a market.
For these teenagers, daily life is full of constant
stress.
"The big guys come here and drink a lot of vodka.
They try to come into our hole and demand money from us.
If we don't give it to them, they threaten us with knives and beat
us.
We fight with them and then run away to tell the police,
but the police don't do anything for us," said Moenkhod, a 17
year old leader of the group.
"There's absolutely nothing positive. Nothing. We left
our homes because of what our lives were like then. Our family
is very poor and have no food or money. We were starving.
That's why we left. If we were rich and had money, do you
think we would have left?" said Amraa, a 16 year old.
Besides poverty, alcoholism is a serious problem in the
Mongolian home. Many streetkids escape to get away from being
beaten or molested by their parents after drinking bouts.
But for a small number of children living on the streets,
there is hope.
"Save the Children" has been helping children get off the
streets and into camps on the outskirts of Ulan Bator since
the mid 1990s.
Here they receive two meals a day along with a proper
education. And now the organisation has enlisted the help of
Cirque du Soleil to bring fun and physical activity to the
children of the camp.
Cirque du Soleil is a traveling circus troupe
established by a group of street performers in Canada in 1984
which performs for audiences all over the world.
In the camp, the western instructors teach the kids body
control and self-esteem.
"First time I saw them doing the exercises, I never
thought I could do it myself. But now it's different -- I can
actually do it all. In the beginning I didn't believe in
myself, but now I do," said Purevsambuu, a 14 year old boy
from the streets of Ulan Bator.
Cecile Truffault is a French trainer for Cirque du Soleil
who started her career juggling on the streets of Quebec.
She says physical activity helps the children regain
control over themselves and their lives.
"First we work on things which are fun to work with.
Kids really want to do it. So that's one of the things why
they accept some kind of discipline. Some kids who've always
been in (a situation) bit like a riot, life is a riot for
them. And they
suddenly accept discipline, because they want to do
something," said Truffault.
The 31 children attending the camp come from both the
cities and countryside. They belong to all age groups ranging
from 5 to 14.
For the smallest children, drawing and playing is their
occupation. They are encouraged to express themselves through
their artwork.
Many paint houses and family members holding hands,
revealing their desire to return home.
"Most of the children want to return to their homes,
because you know, all children love their parents, mother and
father. (Even) if they drink, drinking vodka bottles, but in
reality from their hearts they love their parents," said
Ariuntungalag Tsend, the project officer for Save the Children
Fund.
Budjav is a 6 year old boy who came to the camp 2 years
ago. He has rickets as a result of malnutrition because his
parents couldn't give him enough food and milk. He was picked
up wandering around the streets of Ulan Bator.
His dearest wish is to be with his mom, dad, brother and
sister.
"When I grow up, I want some money because I want to buy
a flat with four rooms. I want my mom and dad to come live
with me, and also my brother and sister."
While the camp serves as a temporary residence, these
children still dream of their real homes - and a better
future.
OS/OS/
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