STREET KIDS RAID POVERTY SUMMIT

[Anonymous]

Street kids raid poverty summit
Dozens
of street children have invaded a five-star hotel food tent and feasted
on meals meant for sale at the World Social Forum in Kenya’s
capital.The hungry urchins were joined by other participants who
complained that the food was too expensive at the annual
anti-capitalist get together.The police, caught unawares, were unable
to stop the free-for-all that saw the food containers swept clean.The
gathering in Nairobi is discussing social problems, including poverty.A
plate of food at the tent being operated by the prestigious Windsor
Hotel was selling for $7 in a country where many live on less than $2 a
day.Hawkers allowed’The children, who had been begging for food,
launched the raid after being told they would have to pay for the
food.The hotel management declined to comment on the incident.
Two
days ago, World Social Forum organisers were forced to waive entry fees
for participants after Nairobi slum dwellers staged a demonstration
against the charges.Participants were originally being asked to pay a
500 Kenyan shillings ($7) accreditation fee.”We are now not charging
anybody, the event is free so that many people can participate,”
Boniface Beti, the event’s media officer, told the BBC.Mr Beti also
said hawkers had recently been allowed in to sell cheap food to
participants as up until a few days ago five-star catering firms had
dominated business.Tens of thousands of people are attending the World
Social Forum, which is being held at the same time as the World
Economic Forum – hosted in the Swiss town of Davos.At Davos, the
world’s largest corporations are discussing business and hammering out
trade deals, while the Kenyan event is addressing a wide spectrum of
the world’s social problems – including poverty. 

[Author]

January 30, 2007 at 10:06 AM