Title: An Ethnographic Study about the Homeless Youth in the Philippines Target Group: Street Children

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
A requirement in
Society and Culture
GAMALIEL VALENCIA

Submitted by:
Belarmino, Mary Grace S.

INTRODUCTION:
I chose to study the life and behaviors of the street children on the busy road of Balibago Complex at Sta. Rosa Laguna, to gain a better understanding of their conditions. The main purpose of this study is to discover how they manage to live in a very dangerous condition, as well as the perception of trust, hostility, and aggression among peers and the authority. It also aims to find out their lives regarding their families, if they have one and why they decided to run away from them. Why do they usually choose to stay on the street and run away from the local authorities that will give them shelter, food and everything they need? How can they manage to find a place for sleeping every cold evening, and mostly with an empty stomach? Seeing street children is very common for us that we can say that it is already part of everyone’s day, especially if you’re living around the urban places. It is heartbreaking to see them and think that, these kids should be in school studying, not struggling to work under the scorching heat.
In Balibago; one of the busiest town in our place, you can see a lot of these kids roaming around nudging people, mostly around the mall asking for money or food. Some of them are always on the run catching jeepneys, they will wipe the passengers’ shoes without permission and ask for money while the vehicle is running. Sometimes we will also encounter the Badjaos; the people from the coastal areas of Mindanao will sing their song inside the jeepney and distribute an envelope for you to place your donation. Others are even addicted to sniffing industrial glue to ward off hunger and suffer malnutrition,