By Naimul Karim
DHAKA, May 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – On a dusty football pitch in Bangladesh that doubles as grazing for cattle and a laundry for local residents, teenage cricketer Sania Mirza hits the last ball of the innings to the boundary.
Next week, the 15-year-old trafficking survivor will be wielding her bat in the considerably grander surroundings of Lord’s cricket ground as one of eight chosen to represent Bangladesh in the first Street Child Cricket World Cup.
“This is like a dream to me. I can’t believe that I’ll be playing the World Cup. It’s unreal,” Sania, 15, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation before leaving Dhaka for Britain.
The competition, organised by British charity Street Child United, will pit teenagers from nine teams representing countries around the world against each other.
The tournament starts on Saturday and aims to draw attention to youth homelessness, a problem experts say leaves young people at risk of abuse and trafficking in many parts of the world.
There is no data on how many young people live and work on the streets, putting them at risk of exploitation, although the United Nations has estimated the figure at up to 150 million.
A study by the Consortium for Street Children, which represents children’s charities including UNICEF, said street children in rich and poor countries had “strikingly similar” experiences, facing violence from an early age.
The teams have been brought together by organizations that work with homeless and socially excluded children in their countries, from Bangladesh and Nepal to Mauritius and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the aim of tackling stigma.
