While the world celebrates the rights of indigenous people this Indigenous People's Day, dispute over land in Brazil is bringing the country to the verge of a civil war. An historic land dispute between rice farmers and indigenous tribes in Roraima, a northeastern state that borders Guyana and Venezuela, has turned sour since April and violence has broken out, raising fears that the frequent confrontations will eventually escalate into a national domestic conflict.

My name is Anna. My mother was a drug addict. I never knew my father. I went from institution to institution and I never adapted to anything. Finally, when I was 12, I went to live in the streets.

Bom Dia! My name is Rafaël. I’m 18. I lost my family when I was six. For 14 years, I lived between institutions shelters and in the streets. I’ve gone through happy times as well as difficult ones. My dad started to drink and take drugs. He became aggressive and hit my mom. He stopped giving us money to eat. When I was five, my mom left him and took me and my little brother with her.

During the 1930s, one could statistically regroup Brazil, the United States and Australia as being on the same economic playing field. Today, Brazil finds itself far down the list of well-being.

The number of street children in Brazil is estimated at 12 million (UNICEF). State homes and protection centers are overflowing. The NGO SAMMA (Sociadade de Apoio a Meninos, Meninas e Adolescentes) has built and example of helping street children who fall between the cracks of the social net of the state.