Perspective: "The hero is the one who can survive by whatever means"

BAGHDAD, 8 February (IRIN) - "I'm an 11-year-old boy who has never been to school - so I can neither read nor write. For the past two years I have been living on the streets of Baghdad, surviving on leftovers that I scavenge from garbage or by stealing from people and shop-lifting.

"When I first started, I was scared that at any time the police would catch me for stealing. Now it has become easy for me to steal. I have become an expert and the proof is the title my peers have given me. They call me 'the young king'.

"People might be surprised to hear a child like me being happy for being an expert in stealing and looting things but in a country like Iraq, where most people are without homes and food, the hero is the one who can survive by whatever means."

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet