Tell Me There’s a Heaven

        This is a column article.

        November comes and ushers in yet another celebration of National Children’s Month by the virtue of Republic Act 10661 to commemorate our nation’s adoption of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year’s celebration bears the theme “Kalusugan, Kaisipan at Kapakanan ng Bawat Bata Ating Tutukan”, which emphasizes the need to; satisfy the fundamental needs, sustain the health, and develop the intellect of the nation’s children.

        But has it done something? It has been three decades since we have adopted the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and yet no celebration of National Children’s Month has been effective in alleviating the abuse and maltreatment of our children. Do not tell me to celebrate again the National Children’s Month but instead tell me, would there be a heaven for these hopeless children?

        Observe the urban landscape, it is not complete without street children roaming around. These children are not being educated; they are being deprived of their right to education. Without education, they could go on to become someone God knows what, they could fall into the pit of crime, they could find themselves trapped in a child trafficking ring, they could be fished to work as a minor, they could starve themselves to death. These are violations of the rights of the child – the so-called “hope of the future” who also are innocent enough not to hope for a better future but to see the hell they are living in as normal. Would there be a heaven for them?

        And yet, we, privileged enough to take many things for granted, are currently celebrating National Children’s Month, conducting various festive activities, participating in contests hosted by local government units, putting up tarpaulins to let everyone know that it’s National Children’s Month, doing nothing that could actually help the children in dire need of our help. We are used to being babysat by the government that we could not see the reality of the society around us, we have gone blind to the misery of the underprivileged, we, the commoner, have gone deaf to the cries of the abused and maltreated.

        There are children out there who need our help, and we, the blind commoner, could regain eyesight to what is real and contemporary by helping humanitarian organizations through volunteering or donating; these little acts of love may mean small to us but it means a lot to those we are helping, the children, hope of the future. Before these children can give us hope for the future of our country, we should also give them first the hope for their future, the hope to be given a heaven after the hell they have been put into.

        “Kalusugan, Kaisipan at Kapakanan”; that is what the society is obliged to sustain and provide to a child. Humanitarian organizations are out there, ready to be reached out if you also want to help our children in need. Abuse and maltreatment of children is still rampant in the underground layers of society, it happens every second as we are celebrating National Children’s Month, it happens every second as we live our lives.

        Instead of being festive, we have to start the institution for change and progress and hold the torchlight that guides our children to the future that they will be the hope of. I reiterate, tell me not to celebrate National Children’s Month that brings no change, but tell me there’s a heaven for these children.

        Let's give hope for the future of the nation’s children! 🦖

        Thank you for stretching your attention span long enough to read until the very end! 🧡

REFERENCE/S:
        Lovering, P. (2011). Tell Me There's a Heaven [Watercolor painting]. Fine Art America. https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/tell-metheres-a-heaven-paul-lovering.jpg