Our Children, Our Future!
Not just on a single day, but every day in every month of the year our children must be a priority. Children must be seen, heard, protected and given the opportunity to shine.
Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children; this year’s theme speaks a lot about what is affecting our society and our country Sierra Leone at large. Of course some laws are in place to curtail those practices,but are they implemented though? Systems have been put in place to support and empower our children, cause “they are the future leaders”. Are they being protected though?
Free and public education is seen as a basic human right all over the world.Yet, girls are still kept at home as domestic servants, always seen as a poor second cause the boy child is seen as a preference, girls are forced into early marriage, initiated into the Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) without their consent. Child labor has become a norm in our society. All these harmful practices not only causes physical but also psychological and emotional damage.
On this very auspicious day I want to ask you this important question; in the capacity in which you find yourself, what have you done to alleviate the needs of children and the girl child in particular?Of course we couldn’t leave it all to the government to do the needful. As adults and senior citizens what’s our duties to our children?
Let’s start by caring for them, by saying NO! to child labor, NO! to all those harmful practices, YES to good and quality education for all including girls. Space for children living with disability to express themselves and also creating facilities that can accommodate them. Together we can, cause we are stronger together.
To end; a colleague, Mariatu Bargie from AdAmi project gave this quote:
“Children are like wet cement, anything that falls into them is impressive.” By Haim Ginott.
Let’s prioritize our children, by protecting them and giving them a future they deserve.
