ABSTRACT
Programa Curumim targets young children living in difficult situations who are apt tobe attracted into the streets. Curumim-the name comes from the Tupi Indian word kuru’ mi, which means “child”—serves children age 6 to 12. It tries to ensure children the right to be children and to experience this important phase in their development as individuals in a manner that is playful, but at the same time educational. The program is sponsored by the government of the state of Minas Gerais, which operates Curumim through its Secretaria de Esportes, Lazer e Turismo (Department of Sports, Recreation, and Tourism). Conceived in the early 1990s, it was designed to deal with the abandoned children and adolescents on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, the state capital. In practice, Curumim operates as an intervention that prevents young adolescents from entering the life of the streets. Most are not abandoned by their families; they are merely suffering from the stress of poverty (Secretaria de Esportes 1991).
