What happens when a child is faced with survival without even the limited resources of a family?   What happens when there are so many children in these circumstances that the country and local society has no way to care for them all?   That's when children are forced into deplorable living conditions and lose hope.   The unemployment rate is so high in the country, that there are few good jobs to choose from even for the highly educated.  

For the children growing up without an education, they must compete for the lowest paying, unskilled labor jobs for which many others are competing.   And for the majority of kids on the street, there are almost no options left.   Young girls are often forced into prostitution in order to survive, continuing a cycle of children born into poverty and disease on the streets.  

The count of children under the age of 18 living on the streets varies dependent upon the source.   An average of various statistics would put the total number of orphans at around 3 to 4 million across the country.   The number living on the streets of the capital of Addis Ababa is between 600,000 and a million, in a city with a population of 4 to 5 million.   The cause of homelessness for children in Ethiopia is varied as well.   The lack of jobs outside of the large cities and the inability of farmers to make enough off of their crops to support their families, forces some children to leave home permanently to feed themselves.  

AIDS has ravaged the country for so long now that children have not only lost parents, but are often born HIV positive.   Also, the lack of clean water and sanitation systems spreads all types of diseases and infections, many easily preventable.   Children can be seen sleeping under bridges and on the median between two lanes of traffic each night....often with the wild dogs.