Antananarivo's boay kely, the street children.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and children can be seen everywhere all the time.

In a country where 70% live below the poverty line, children are often pushed from the household as the family can no longer support them. They gather in the streets. They collect wood or coal. They offer to carry your bags. They riffle through rubbish in the hope of finding something to eat or to sell. And they beg.

The sheer numbers of street children is growing daily with the economic downturn continuing. MSF, Medicine Sans Frontieres, recently left Antananarivo saying that the problem is simply too large for them and responsibility must lie with the Malagasy government.

These images were produced over a 4 week period and were looked after by Manda, a Malagasy NGO.

Our thanks go to Zaza Faly - www.zaza-faly.de who work directly with the children providing food, education and health treatment .

Also Enfant's Du Soleil who provide a half way house for the street children.