Hingis champions street kids8217; cause

Hingis, 19, opted to focus her attention on street children after seeing a low-budget movie entitled The Rose Seller, which graphically depicts young drug addicts, child prostitutes and juvenile delinquents on Colombia8217;s toughest streets.

The first stop on the day-long tour was Ciudad Bolivar, a sprawling neighbourhood of shacks, many built from tin and cardboard, spread across hills on the southern edge of Bogota.

Hingis left her hotel in an upscale district of the capital amid tight security, travelling in a minibus backed by at least 20 armour-plated trucks full of state security police and special forces units armed with automatic assault rifles.

8220;I8217;ve never been to South America before. I8217;m looking at all these programmes 8230; And to see how life is on the streets,8221; Hingis told