“I’m not going to teach him to sell candies. He’s just out...

“I’m not going to teach him to sell candies. He’s just out here until it’s time for school. My mom brought me out here as a child. I had nine brothers and sisters. All of us had to sell candies on the street. I started when I was five years old. I never got an education. I’m not able to read very well. This is really all I know. Some people put me down. One lady got mad at me recently and told me that she’d never buy anything from me, and that a supermarket near her house was hiring. I got really depressed. It was hard to put my head up after that. But there are also people out here who support me. I have some friends who walk by and talk to me every day. My friends from the bank told me, ‘Don’t worry about that lady. She doesn’t know you. You’re a great person.’”

(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)