The Place of Children: Poverty and Promise

The goals of this project were twofold: raising awareness of the challenges faced by children among the urban poor worldwide and recognizing their contributions to their families and communities. In 2008-09, ethnographic fieldwork documented the daily lives of four teenagers in New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, and Ankara. In 2021, we followed up with them for updates on their situation.  We dispel the myth that children living in poverty are passive victims of their circumstances and, instead, show them as active participants in efforts to improve their situation. The project findings point to the promise that children represent for a future free of poverty. They present a view of children who live in poverty not as burdens, but as resources.    

Keywords: urban poverty, agency, child rights

Case Studies

• Part I. The Place of Children: Poverty and Promise. By Willem van Vliet--.
• Part II. Brandon Heard, New York, USA. ByPamela Wridt.
• Part III. Thiago Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. By Illène Pevec. 
• Part IV. Judy Munyiva Musyoka, Nairobi, Kenya. By George Awuor and David Driskell.
• Part V. Aykut Boztaş, Ankara, Turkey. By Fahriye Sancar.