Where Children Sleep By James Mollison

“This seventeen-year-old teenager prefers to be known as ‘X’, after Malcolm X, the black activist. X lives in Complexo da Maré, a ‘favela’ near the airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where children from a very young age are coerced into declaring allegiance to one the gangs in the area. Failure to do so can lead to violent recriminations, or even death. X works as a mid-ranking lieutenant in the Comando Vermelho (‘Red Command’), a local drug-dealing gang. One his duties is to look after ‘soldiers’ (young gang members) who are positioned around the favela, monitoring police movements. Soldiers set f fireworks to alert the gang if police enter the area. X carries a handgun for protection but also has the use a powerful rifle, an AK-47, which he loves. His ambition is to be ‘boss the favela’. X has no fixed address. He moves around a lot, ten sharing a room with other gang members.”
“Prena lives in Kathmandu, Nepal. Her room is a tiny, cell-like space at the top the house where she is employed as a domestic worker. Her diet is mainly rice and vegetables. She is fourteen years old and one thousands child domestic workers in the country. Prena carries out household chores such as sweeping, cleaning, cooking and washing. She starts work at five in the morning and finishes at six in the evening. For this, she earns five hundred Nepali rupees per month (about .50). She sends the money back to her parents, who have eight other children to support. Prena visits her family twice a year. She goes to school three times a week – which is the main highlight in her life. She admires her teacher, who has made it his mission to educate children like Prena. She would like to be a doctor when she is older.”