THE THESIS

The Thesis

Title of the Investigation:
"POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION: THE KIDS
THAT SOCIALIZES IN THE STREETS OF CUSCO"
Soc. Luz Marina Figueroa Arias

PRESENTATION
This investigation has like fundamental purpose, show the characteristics of the situation of abandon in that they meet the children and adolescents of the city of Cusco, that there is made of the streets, their space of more important socialisation. This situation determines that the majority of these children in their daily search of diverse strategies of survival, they are gone distancing themselves from progressive manner of the family, the school, like natural spaces of socialisation, learning; in order to find in the streets, in the occasional friends their fountain of learning and principal interrelationship.

The theoretical frame of the investigation considers the poverty and the social exclusion like a characteristic permanent present in the development of the country, that nevertheless the implementation of programs forward to erradicate, relief or decrease of the poverty, this has been increased in the last decade, such in a critical manner in the most vulnerable populations: children and old men.

The crisis of the Peruvian agriculture, for the total abandon of politics of promotion to the agriculture like economical activity, the almost unexistence of basic services for the population, the violence social ocurred in the beginnings of the 90,' configures a very difficult stage for the survival in the field, for which the process of migration toward the cities increments considerable in the last decade. The difficulties of cultural adaptation of the rural families in the city, their very difficult insert in the labor market, the constant changes of their parameters of daily life, they were configurating a process of destructure of the family, of change of security, that is going to determine several forms of family abandon toward the children. The increment of the conditions of poverty, the lacking in employment has been ocurring also in the urban families, which the parents in their toil of searching for income for the family survival, they have gone abandoning constantly to the children, leaving them alone in their houses, leaving them in charge to any relative or neighbor usually during all day, and making these children have found in the streets their space of life, of more important relationship, apprehending their in them "security" of daily behaviour.

The investigation also searches for a reflection and sensibilisation about the situation of the childhood in Cusco, in order to commit to people, institutions and government in the task of forging new stages for the children, so that these could recuperate their childhood and their laws, to grow and develop like citizens. Constructing a society that values, respect and attend to the children, in a culture of peace and justness, to give them love, protection and hopes for the future.

This investigation picks up the experiences of 5 years of permanent work with children and adolescents in situation of risk, however this is begun of formal manner in August of the 2000, with the children that are already in the streets, paralellaly to the institutional work that began the Association Inti Runakunaq Wasin, organization deprived without ends of lucre, composed basically per volunteers from Cusco, who I am member, and that it'll carry out educational and formative work with these children and adolescents. The strategy of work is sustained in a vision of respect to the selfdetermination of the children and adolescents for their voluntary participation in the programs formative and work educational that is implemented, with the objective of that theirselves are, in the process and with the imparted treatment, whom discovering their abilities and potentialities opt by developing them, they are qualified and they could unwrap working.This investigation is possible thanks to the generous support and impulse of many people identified with the childhood and that they stimulated me to continue of diverse manners: Jakob Ritzheimer, with their generous colaboration, for the one which I reiterate my reconnaissance. All that children and adolescents that they were interviewed, and whose testimonies permitted get through more in their problem. The team of volunteers of Inti Runakunaq Wasin that they supported in the task of application of the surveys. Empreratriz, Avelito, Emiliano and Avelino are a permanent stimulus in my life, like it is the memory and the example of Jesus and Catalina.

It is also fundamental stand out the dedicated and efficient support of Dr. Aldo Panfichi, professor of the School of Post Grade in Sociology of her Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú, who with their guessed right advice improved the quality of the investigation.

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH.-
The investigation has two fundamental objectives:
- Determine the characteristics of the problem of the childhood and adolescence in situation of risk in the city of Cusco, for each one of the segments of identified population: children and adolescents workers and children and adolescents that they survive in critical conditions.
- Identify the axes of principal attention in the task of promoting the development integral of these children, in the perspective of that these could recuperate their childhood with security, identity and projection to the future, which with their guessed right advice improved the quality of the investigation.

METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH.-
The methodology of applied investigation is investigation action, for when this has developed from parallel manner to the work of attention to the children and adolescents coming from the street in the Association Inti Runakunaq Wasin of Cusco.
The stage of investigation of field began formally with the execution of 100 interviews not structured carried out to children and adolescents that met in the street in several hours of the day, in the zones of senior concentration of the city, with the objective of identifying the population segments type that they allow to establish the criterions for the selection of a pattern for stratums, to the one which applied subsequently a survey. This was carried out between the months of December
2000 and January 2001.

Identified the population groups type: children and adolescents workers, and children in conditions of critical survival, proceed to apply a survey at random to 235 children and adolescents that we met in the streets carrying out different activities, between the months of February and March of the 2001, Monday through Saturday, in the schedules of morning, afternoon and night, in the identified zones with high concentration.
A percentage approached of 35% of the pattern assisted to the Programs of Inti Runakunaq Wasin, act that permitted act with them and contributed to specify the conclusions.

The central hypothesis of the investigation is:

1. The growing presence of children and adolescents that they have their principal space of interrelationship in the streets of the city of Cusco, are fundamentally an expression of the critical situation of poverty, of the destructure of the family, the family violence, especially in the families inmigrants of the field that in their process of adaptation to the city, they go modifying their lists, security opposite the children.

2. The children and adolescents that socializes in the streets is in a percentage important proceding of families of inmigrant origin, that has opted by being in the streets to the being victims of the poverty and of the family violence in some of their forms. A high percentage of these children is growing without studying, developing wrong values, problems of conduct, of personality, lacking of goals and projects for the future by having models of negative reference with which they find daily in the street.

3. There exist several routes or roads for which the children and adolescents arrive to the street:
- The poverty of their homes.
- Be victims of the family violence.
- Influence of third people.
The outputs and conclusions of this investigation will be published presently in this page.