ODESSA, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 15 2005: Street children of Ukraine. A group of street kids living in an underground sewer on the north side of Odessa. Pictured is 14 year old Andrey who was abandoned by is alcoholic parents 5 years ago. (Photo by David Gillanders)
A documentary photography project by David Gillanders
In 2000 I was travelling through Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union developing a project on the transmission of HIV through intravenous drug use. I stumbled upon a group of young kids who were being chased from a McDonalds restaurant by a very aggressive restaurant manager. I intervened to prevent the manager beating the kids on the street. The kids had been removing leftovers from empty tables. This act led me into an underground world where young children live and die in the most squalid and horrible conditions I have ever experienced. Orphans, runaways, wee broken souls fending for themselves in a cruel and unforgiving world.
