Fato, 8: "I didn't like being in the streets." "I don't have a mother or a father. I don't know when they died. I was living with my aunt, but she didn't treat me well. So I ran away. I lived on the streets for a while. I don't know for how long. I'd pick up garbage and eat it. I slept in the streets. I didn't like being in the streets. Life was hard. Then one day, someone picked me up and brought me to this centre. I like it here because I can play and sometimes we go out for trips. We get visitors. We get to paint, and I like going to school. When I'm older I want to become a nurse so I can take care of people, especially children" .

Edwaldo, 14: "I want to become a doctor for children." "I was 12 when I went to live on the streets. I was doing lots of bad things at home and my mom didn't like it. She'd beat me a lot. So I decided to leave home. "When I lived on the streets, I'd go to a building every day and haul the garbage away. They'd give me money or food. That's how I survived. I slept on the streets. There was a group of us, about 18 or 19 kids. Some were older than me. Some of the boys were nice with me, but others weren't. They'd beat us. They didn't want us to hang out with them. "I lived on the streets for two years. I would have left earlier, but Father Horacio [the director of the Arnaldo Janssen Children's Shelter in Luanda] didn't come very often to the place where I was staying. I'd heard about him and I knew that he was helping other children. But it wasn't until 2002 that he found me and brought me to this centre. I haven't seen my friends since I left. I don't know what they are doing. "I want to go back to my family, but only when I'm older, when I've learned a profession. I don't want to go back before then because life is good here. I'm studying. When I lived with my family, I only went to school from time to time. But here I go to school every day. Later, I want to become a doctor. That's what I'm studying for. I want to become a doctor for children."

Pedro, 14: "It's a simple dream I have." "My stepfather used to drink a lot and he would maltreat my mother. I couldn't do anything about it because I am a child. I ran away from home when I was 10. I lived with some friends on the street. There were about 10 of us. Some were even younger than me. The oldest was around 14. "To earn money, I would wash cars. At times I didn't get very much, so I used to go to a square where there are many small eateries. I'd wash plates there. It didn't pay very well – only 15 kwanzas (€0,50) – but they'd also give me dinner. I'd use the money to buy more food. "Life on the streets was really difficult. We used to sleep on pieces of cardboard. When it rained, we'd take shelter under buildings. The police would sometimes find us and we had to run away and find some other place to sleep. "My friends led me astray. I started smoking drugs. One day, the police caught me and took me to the station. They threatened me so much that I stopped taking drugs. "My friends didn't treat me well. When I did something wrong, they told me off. Sometimes they beat me up too. One day, they threw me out of the group. So I just started wandering around. I met a social worker. She told me to go to the Fanta factory because they distributed food there. I went there at 6 p.m. and I got some food to eat. "The woman told me about a centre for street children. I didn't want to go back onto the streets any more. That was in 2000. The people took down my details so that I could go to school. Here they treat you well. "I want to stay here for another 3 or 4 years until I finish school. I'm also learning how to draw. That's my dream. I want to be an artist, a designer. If I can't do that, I'm going to study more to become a teacher or maybe something else. I don't know why I'd like to be a teacher. It's simply a dream I have. "I'll go back to my family when I finish my training. I'll go back to help them. I want to send my best wishes to my mother, my family, my brother and my sisters. I'm doing well here. I'm studying hard. And one day I am going to help them."