Marcelo (left) and friend on the bus shelter roof he once called home. photo: Christian Aid / Salomon Cytrynowicz
'More than ten years after Marcelo's trip to the UK, police killings of young people are still common in Brazil and gun violence has killed more than 300,000 people. '

Antonio de Jesus Santos – a Brazilian ‘street kid’ who once lived on the roof of a bus shelter and came to Britain with Christian Aid to meet then-Prime Minister John Major – was shot two weeks ago outside his home in Salvador, Brazil.

Marcelo, as he was known, was one of two young men who visited Britain in 1994 to represent Brazilian street children.

The trip was organised by Christian Aid partner Coordinating Committee for Ecumenical Service and the groundbreaking street-children’s group Projeto Axe.

In the early 1990s, death squads and gang violence killed thousands of street children in Brazil’s major cities, while millions of children worked on the streets.

But despite the huge media spotlight on the killings, few people had ever asked street children what they themselves thought.

Meeting John Major

Braving the formality of a government reception, Marcelo and his colleague Ronilson met then-Prime Minister John Major at 10 Downing Street.

He told the prime minister of the killings and the need for the British government to continue to support groups such as Projeto Axe.

As the first street kids ever to be received by so high an office, their words appeared in the UK media and, more importantly, across Brazil.

We still have video footage of Marcelo’s trip to London, showing him strolling along the Thames, buying souvenirs and gazing at the House of Commons, while bundled up against the cold.

He met homeless people on the Strand and exchanged stories of survival.

Life on the street

Back in Salvador, he was relaxed and laughing, taking us on a tour of where he and Ronilson had once lived – including the roof of a bus shelter.

He talked about the toughness of his life on the street as a teenager and took us to visit a group of children living together as a kind of family, one stirring a cooking pot full of stolen or discarded vegetables, another sweeping the cement floor of the derelict building where they lived.

Marcelo was one of the first street children in Salvador to become active in Projeto Axe – initially in its literacy class but later teaching metalworking.

In his 20s, he joined the group as a staff member and street educator working with kids, who frequently looked to him for advice.

Gun violence

‘As is often the case with the banality of violence here,’ says Alonso Roberts of Christian Aid, who attended Marcelo’s funeral, ‘it is not known why he was killed. A 17-year-old youth, whom Marcelo was trying to involve in Axe, was killed at the same time.’

More than ten years after Marcelo’s trip to the UK, police killings of young people are still common in Brazil and gun violence has killed more than 300,000 people.

‘Marcelo’s death is a terrible event for us all: educators, children and young people,’ Cesare de Florio La Rocca, president of Projeto Axe, wrote to Christian Aid director Daleep Mukarji in response to his letter of condolence.

‘Thank you for your solidarity at this very difficult time.’