The faces behind the figures ? children
By Jacqueline Joshua
 |
|
Jacqueline Joshua
|
When I received the call inviting me to give a short talk on the issues the issues facing children today, I gladly agreed; however, within a few moments the very recent ?school fears? began to creep in. What was I going to say for a whole eight minutes? Upon deeper reflection, I realised that, in truth, eight minutes was barely enough to share with you what children face today. I shall, nonetheless, endeavour to lay it down plainly, for I?m honoured to speak for a great generation of achievers.
It is said that only those who run will feel the resistance of the wind. Today, amidst our mind-blowing Age of Information and Technology, where space travel will soon become a mere walk in the park, technology overpowers and supersedes itself with almost every passing day. With the click of a button one can obtain information on almost anything from what is a pistol in a flower to how to build a rocket. In this very age of unlimited potential, we are finding ourselves being forced to go back to the fundamentals of what is increasingly becoming a shattered society. In every era of progress, there have always been setbacks that have acted as the pullback of a powerful sling, launching it into even greater things.
Today, we as a society have achieved more than anyone in history could every have dreamed or imagined in terms of technology, communications and even medical developments. However, our pullback in the sling has manifested itself in some equally unimagined developments.
I?d like to begin with the birth of HIV/AIDS, its rapid growth, and its impact on children today. I don?t think mankind has ever been so helpless, while being so equipped at the same time. It is estimated that about 4,4 million people will die over the next 10 years in South Africa, leaving behind approximately three million orphans.
Many of you will be aware of all the stats and the data available on this subject ? but can you stop to think about that projection: three million little children, without parents? We know how traumatising it would be for a child to be told one day that their mom and dad were killed in a car-crash ? but it?s a completely different thing to watch your parent wither away in front of you. Some of us may or may not know that AIDS is not a pretty sight: it is a gruesome thing to see someone in the last stages of AIDS. A huge problem with the majority of adults today is their inability to empathise. Your problems are always greater than the next person?s. Most people, when told about AIDS, see numbers instead of faces behind the statistics. We are talking about little children, like the ones in your homes or mine, who are left watching their parents succumb to a disease too horrible to describe. What is a little child to do in such a situation?
What about all those babies, pure and innocently born into this world, this world where everything seems altogether ?worked out?. But because of hidden stigma and mothers? fears of becoming outcasts from society, these precious little children are thrown into bins and makeshift toilets ? why? For what? Have we become such a putrid society that these little people are to be disregarded as mere statistics, and stories of such occurrences become just another ?sob-story? one hears just by the way? What of the future of South Africa with an estimated three million orphans? We can barely cope with those we have now ? how will be cope five years from now?
This is just one of the issues that children, who are (whether you like to believe it or not) the leaders of tomorrow, have to face. The Bible says that a good father leaves an inheritance for his children; I think you?d agree that we have bequeathed quite a hefty inheritance, haven?t we?
The next issue I?d like to focus on is the increasing poverty, amidst the increasing development. There?s something we refer to in development administration as the ?deprivation cycle?, that is occurring on an unprecedented level, especially in rural areas. This cycle involves the typical situation of a mother raising, say, three boys and a girl on her own, working as a farm labourer for very little money, and one or more of the older children cannot go to school because there isn?t enough income for such ?luxuries? as an education. Moreover, who would look after the little boys and girl while the mother is working? Who would cook and clean? There might be a little more money if the older brother is working, so one of the other boys might go to school ? however, he doesn?t do very well, because sometimes he goes to school hungry and the family simply cannot afford to buy the books he needs, so he?s always failing his classes. This is a common scenario. The deprivation cycle is complete when it turns out that, once a child from this family is old enough to have children, those new little ones will probably be as poor as the parent, because in the end, he or she could never get a good enough job without an education, and so could not adequately provide for their own children. And so that cycle repeats itself ? for the majority of the developing world, most of our children are in a lifelong game of ?stuck-in-the-mud? ? the mud of poverty.
This leads me to the next issue ? the lack of motivation. The scenario that I?ve just described is a startling but real and also very depressing one. Now imagine for a moment that you were that child - how much would you believe that you could overcome all of that? Children today, while having the greatest opportunities in the history of mankind, are being faced with the kind of depression that comes from starting to believe that they will never rise above their depressing circumstances. This has led to the breeding of many juvenile delinquents, who become frustrated with the assumed inevitability of never having more. It could be debated whether these children are justified in their frustrations. However, this would not be pro-active. They need to be reminded of the fact that sleeping in a garage doesn?t make you a car.
The lack of motivation can also lead to a severe lack of interest ? it may even prevent very good programmes being implemented, because children become complacent about having little or nothing. One would wonder how people like Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo rose above such difficult circumstances. Think about the issues they had to face as children, how they and other children of their generation could have become so wise and successful. I?d like to introduce a severely underused word concerning our generation: the word ?purpose?. The generation of Mandela and Tambo was a purpose-led generation. They were an oppressed generation, who knew their oppressor, for the tyranny they experienced had names, faces and ideologies that they knew they hated. From childhood, they knew they had a purpose and that was to work for change and to overcome this enemy. They knew they could do it. So they left, they studied, endured the hardships, set goals and believed in a purpose they knew they had to fulfill for the sake of the generations to come.
Now consider our generation. We have liberation, freedom, but most of our children are mired in poverty. There are equal opportunities for every child who is born, but realistically speaking, there are only a few who will grasp those opportunities. It appears to be a purposeless generation, a rootless one, swayed by anything that shows signs of popularity. Access to a variety of media has led to mass indecisiveness of who we are as a generation of young people, and what it is exactly that we stand for. Think about this: if I don?t know what the purpose of a bowl is, I may use it as a hat or a seat or for some other use. We?d all agree that I?d be misusing it ? in short, I?d be abusing it. Look at the recent ages of child rape offenders ? they?re getting younger and younger. Why?
Children are being faced with the greatest issue ever ? not knowing why they exist. So many of them are being rejected due to unplanned births and being born into difficult circumstances, that they don?t know why it is they?re alive. If I don?t think there is a reason why I?m alive then I won?t care what I do with my life, or what I do with the lives of others around me. That is why we can?t get focused ? there?s a lack of need to be focused on anything. At least that?s what we think.
I mentioned the notion of the pullback of the sling: our generation is being stretched to such an extent. Has it ever been recorded in history, hearing in a democratic country on the evening news, stories of how two-month old babies are being raped? An estimated three million orphans in five years? time ? we as a generation are being stretched. Young people are alone, taking care of younger siblings, walking miles to fetch polluted water, cooking, sacrificing education, caring for dying parents. They?re too young to secure their own child-care grants; they?re too young to claim inheritances from deceased parents who might have left them money. And so they try, they do the best they know how.
There is no mention of their rights to alternative care, and heaven forbid, the right to play. And if you think this is just a small number of children, think again, because the numbers are growing every day. We are being stretched, and as this sling of the life of this generation is being stretched as never before in the history of mankind, when that sling is released ? this generation of children will begin to realise that tomorrow truly belongs to us, good or bad; we will realise that tomorrow will be what we make of it, whether we?re in a position to do so or not. Then we will realise that we are not a purposeless generation. Then this sling will lunge forward with such strength that our little children will not be known as a broken, aimless generation, but one of the bravest generations that ever walked the face of the planet.
As it stands, we?re a damaged generation, damaged by the lusts of our protectors. But we can change that, every one of us. We have the potential to mould tomorrow?s history-makers and world-shakers. This is a challenge to me and to all of us. I don?t know about you, but I want to be a part of it.
Jacqui Joshua is a 20-year-old student reading for a degree in Social Sciences at UNISA, majoring in Politics and Public Administration. From an early age, she has been conscious of the need to uphold universal human rights and has had a special concern for ?the most vulnerable group in our society? ? children and youth. She attended an under-resourced high school, where she was President of the Representative Council of Learners and was inspired to become more involved in youth work when she took part in the KZN Youth Peace Forum, led by Mrs Paddy Meskin of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP). Through this engagement, she was empowered with a wealth of resources and the opportunity to share her insights and experiences as a young person committed to the welfare of her peers in increasingly challenging social contexts. This editorial is adapted from an address given by Jacqui at a WCRP/HIVAN Forum for Religious Leaders and HIV/AIDS Researchers held in Durban in November 2004, which focused on the contemporary issues faced by young people.
?
|
