Since the 100 kids campaign Restless Beings has been working behind the scenes to kick-start the Restless Beings Village.

With the recent implementation of an already “… overly cumbersome and intrusive regulatory process…complicated by delays and hurdles, including non-transparency in authorization of registration by the Home Ministry, the police, or the National Security Intelligence…” – Bangladesh is not an easy country to work with in order to move things along, no matter the urgency.

Nevertheless, our Bangladesh team has maintained contact with the street children of the area regularly; building and maintaining strong, healthy relationships.

We will bring to you some of the stories and journeys of the children we meet.

Shati’s story

Shati is a 14-year-old girl who used to live with her parents but had recently ran away from home, the reasons for which she has yet to reveal.

She currently makes her living on the streets by the Kamlapur Railway station where she has managed to acquire a few friends. She told us that she was once filled with hopes of being saved from the streets. She had met a pimp who, while paying her around 200-300tk per month, had lead her to believe that he would marry her and save her from the street life only to later find out that it was all a lie.

She was devastated, despite knowing that he was a pimp, she told us that she was so desperate to move away from the streets that she had wholeheartedly and naively believed him. During these troubled times she became dependant on ‘dandi’ – a mixture of shoe solvent and glue. She and her friends would spend what little they earned on the drug, now common among street children in Dhaka.

This is only one of the many, many stories carried by the street children; a reality that Restless Beings wishes to alter and reshape.

Help, as ever, is vital for these children. Through voicing and making donations towards the Restless Beings Village you can help us create a safe haven from the drug abuse, malnutrition and sexual exploitation that they face on a daily basis.

• As a safety measure the images used are not of the child in question.