The Koerski station is infamous in Moscow. Trains from the former Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan en Tadzjikistan roll in daily. On them coloured people. Most Muscovites don’t want anything to do with them. Those who arrive at Koerski station usually have no destination, no work, no money and no family. A life of begging begins, living on the streets and in Moscow’s underground stations. Since the end of Communism and the falling apart of the Soviet Union, Moscow is a capitalist city in which all ten million inhabitants have to fend for themselves. Many people are not ready for that yet. They are still used to the communist state taking care of them. At the beginning of the year 2002 the number of homeless children was estimated at well over a hundred thousand. Russian President Putin was so upset by this that he organised a thorough clean-up. This led to children being chased away from all train and underground stations. Not long after this action all the children returned. They have nowhere else to go. In this immense city there are only three shelters, with a total capacity for 350 children. The Ethiopian Namerud Negash came to Moscow years ago. “I had experienced the misery in Africa and thought that I was going to a prosperous city. I was shocked by the problems here,” says Namerud, “and by the fact that so many homeless people live in Moscow and that it seems unsolvable.” Namerud has set up a soup kitchen where homeless children can drop by for daily hot meal.

Such as Lena and her friends. The girls have been living on the streets for years, together with their mothers, brothers and sisters. They decided to take part in the Home/Life photo project. Lena’s mother is plastered from drinking every day. Dad isn’t there. She doesn’t even know who he is. And then there are seven little brothers. Lena has to take care of the smallest, who is two years old. She begs, and in order to stay out of the hands of the police she gives them some of the money she collects. That way they leave her alone. Her brothers protect her, luckily, because there are rough goings-on there. In Moscow on average two children are killed by their contemporaries every month. That usually happens upon arrival at the Koerski station where youth gangs operate. Lena knows life well now, and knows how to cope with it. She feels stable. For those who have just arrived in Moscow it is more difficult. They start smoking, drinking or sniffing glue. Lena and the girls are mad about boys. They talk about them the whole day. And they prefer to take photos of their little brothers. Later, when Lena sees her own pictures, she is delighted. She doesn’t see misery on the photos. She sees her life. And she is proud of it. She is ashamed of her illiteracy however. She has never been to a school. One day she walks up and says: ‘I know two words of English! Have money? My mother thought me that.’