Whether escaping the brutality of home, thrown onto the streets by parents simply unable to cope or abandoned when the parents die, children as young as 5 or 6 are set to fend for themselves on the harsh streets of Romania.

Seeking official shelter is sometimes impossible. At 14 children are too old to be admitted into an institution - they are simply turned away onto the streets

Desperate children steal off each other, sometimes resorting to violence simply to get enough food or clothing to survive one more night

The children are forced to beg or steal scraps of food to eat, forced to fight each other to find any shelter from Romania's bitter winters.

The children live in the same clothes day and night. Spare clothes would simply be stolen. The dirt and insects, combined with malnutrition, mean that disease is an ever-present threat