There are now seven  million abandoned children living on the streets of Brazilian cities. Crimes  against these children are characterized by extreme brutality and include  torture and dismemberment. Often their bodies are left out on the streets  "to serve as example for others."

Those who manage to  survive another day are left to worry about where their next meal will come  from and finding a safe place to sleep. Some social workers suggest that  these children are subject to a process of "natural selection," in  which only the strong survive to adulthood and the weak die early from  disease and violence.

Street children,  utterly deprived of their most basic needs, often become victims of death  squads or other forms of violence born of their precarious situation. Since  they often resort to theft to survive.  

These children tell stories of how they came to live on the streets. Some had been sent away  when their families' food supplies ran out. Others had fled homes where they  were physically or sexually abused. Each one has his or her own unique, heart-wrenching  story.

Most of these  street children have only a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and are penniless and  malnourished. Nearly all are barefoot. Most do not know their own ages, but  many are as young as 8. Violence and hunger are an everyday  part of their lives.