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Published on Thursday, 05 March 2009 18:00 | | 
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After 21 years as a
successful art dealer, Gregory John Smith auctioned off all his business and
belongings and moved to Brazil to work with Sao Paulo’s street children.
writes Geraldine Royds.
Gregory had never forgotten the economic disparities he had
seen while traveling with his family during his childhood and in 1993 he
established the Children at Risk Foundation (CARF). Initially, Gregory lived on the streets with
the children, getting to know them and the circumstances that brought them to
the streets. Many of them came from backgrounds of extreme poverty and violence
and many had special needs.
Although a core group of eight children still live in foster
care with Gregory, he lacked the resources to help all the children that came
to him. The Hummingbird Program and its network of community prevention centers
were created to help meet this need. The program not only provides food,
clothing, and shelter but it also deals with long-term aspects of the
children's lives. Hummingbird’s goal is to integrate each child into a
structured family ‘space’. Gregory hopes that if they can’t be reunited with
their families of origin, many will be able to enter foster care. However, such
care, although legally possible in Brazil,
is culturally unfamiliar and foster families need follow up support and
guidance.
The centers currently attend to more than 600 at-risk children
although CARF does not receive any financial support from the government and is
dependent on donations and volunteer work.
Gregory John Smiths’ vivid and powerful photographs play an
important role as an historical document in the lives of the children.
The photo's are from the Children At Risk Foundation (CARF). See more on Gregory John Smith's photostream or read more about the Hummingbird Project.