Introduction
A growing number of the planet's inhabitants have access to little
more than the strict minimum necessary for survival. They are cut
off from knowledge and excluded from social life, denying them the
most basic form of human dignity. As a result, they lack self-
confidence and self-respect, they have little confidence in and respect
for others. It is very difficult to capture such things statistically, but
it would be no exaggeration to say that one billion people live in such
a state. A state that destroys all hope, a sub-human state. An unac
ceptable state of affairs.
I am haunted by the memory of the 'street children' of Cartagena
de las Indias in Colombia. At the crack of dawn, dressed in their rags,
having spent the night sleeping on the ground 'protected' only by a
piece of cardboard, they wake to begin their search for glue to sniff. I
encountered them in 19 9 2, they were between the ages of seven and
eleven. They had no right to food, to decent clothing, to a roof over
their heads, to healthcare, to education, to affection.
These children, and thousands like them, had sunk to sniffing glue
in order to quell the pangs of hunger that they felt day and night.
What can the word 'break-fast' possibly mean to them? They have no
breakfast, no lunch, no dinner.
When I offered them something to eat from a stand at the
Cartagena docks, they could only swallow what they took with great
difficulty. Their system was used to solvent fumes, not food. These
fumes soothe and destroy them at the same time. What is their life
expectancy? 20 years? 25 years? They are known as the desechables
to many in Colombia. Desechable is what you call a product which can
be thrown out after it has been used. These desechables, these
'disposable children', are murdered by the army and police forces of
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