Abstract

This action research was conducted over five years. It examined, very carefully, the lives of seven street children who live in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. The ages of the children are from seven to fifteen and this range reflects the ages as reported by the children themselves, none were below seven or above fifteen years old. Pseudonyms were used for the children, adults, institutions and geographic locations. The names of the children are as follows: Aaron, Alfred, Anton, Alexis, Ariel, Andy, and Antonio. The children claimed that they live on the streets due to several economic, social and political factors. Some of the major reasons given are: poverty, deceased parents and violence at home. Permission, to conduct this research, was obtained from the children. The instruments used to collect data were interviews and participant observations. An action research which lead to a case study was done. An attempt was also made to triangulate the data. Data revealed that these seven children are cognizant of issues that affect them; however they very often “mask” their voices and sentiments.