It is the unalienable right.....The plight of children

[Cambodian children collecting scrap walk along the road in the rain at Steung Meanchey on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. -Photo by Agencies]

"Whilst Pakistan may be an outstanding example and one that is most prominent the situation in many other countries of Asia is not much better. The land grabbing in Cambodia to which the government not only turns a blind eye to but actually profits from leads to a similar situation where families are deprived of a livelihood which in turn leads to malnutrition and lack of education."

by Stewart Sloan

(October 13, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is the unalienable right of all to be happy, free from war, hunger and disease; to be loved and to be able to love any person without restriction or impediment by family, society or religion. It is the right of every child to be able to grow up in an environment that is free from harm and one that is able to provide both love and education.

Sadly that is not the case in the world in which we live. War, famine and man-made disasters are now a common part of everyday life in many countries of the world and particularly in the east. What is particularly sad about this is the fact that it is the adults amongst us that are responsible for the vast majority of the catastrophes we face but it is the children that bear the brunt of the tragedy, the tragedy of broken homes, lack of food, adequate nutrition and education and in many cases the love of their parents.

I had never seen starvation and poverty until my first visit to Cebu in 1983. My wife, Quirina was seven months pregnant with our son, James. We spent the first night in a hotel in Cebu City eating, drinking and making merry, oblivious to the realities of the world around us; I recall that it was called the Magellan. Sadly it has since burned down.

The following morning we hired a taxi cab to take us on the three hour journey to Bulak Dumanjug, Quirina's home. I recall passing through barrios and remember thinking to myself, "please God, don't let 'Rina's home be anything like that."

Eventually we left urban Cebu and travelled through the countryside and to my delight entered the farming hill villages. Eventually we arrived, laden with suitcases, food and presents for my new in laws. And that was the first time in my life I ever encounter 'culture shock'. The people were starving! My mother-in-law was a walking skeleton. I remember seeing the faces of the children, pinched, as if they had not eaten for days.

Quirina and I off loaded the food and presents and sent some of her brothers to the general store in the village for more food and rice and we celebrated. Survival!

I became very withdrawn and I recall that 'Rina was very concerned about my silence. She was worried that now that I had seen where she had come from I might want to leave her. What she did not realise was that my silence was not due to any concerns I had about her background, in fact, I had none, my silence was due to the sudden impact of the results of abject poverty. My father-in-law's crops had been wiped out by a recent typhoon. They had been surviving on subsistence food for the last six weeks.

I had never seen this before! And I have to confess, one of my first thoughts was: where was the government when all this was happening?

And yet the Philippines is not the worst example.

The photo 'Fenced Out' is by Kevin Rawlings

Another example is the flooding in Pakistan, a situation that was exasperated by the greed of local politicians who ordered the intentional destruction of levees and dams to save their own lands and that of the wealthy at the cost of those of the working people. And when the working classes are doing everything in their power to feed their families what meager rations they can provide, education takes a back seat. Better to be alive and illiterate that starving and well educated.

Whilst Pakistan may be an outstanding example and one that is most prominent the situation in many other countries of Asia is not much better. The land grabbing in Cambodia to which the government not only turns a blind eye to but actually profits from leads to a similar situation where families are deprived of a livelihood which in turn leads to malnutrition and lack of education.

 In India the numbers of starvation deaths among children is staggering and not only the Indian government but the world at large should be ashamed of its inaction. Where the government of India has created laws and legislation to ensure food for the poor their own civil servants grow fat off the proceeds of the produce that should go to the families, and the children. UN offices talk and gesture, but actually do very little to assist.

Growing up in a family that gave me care and love it is difficult for me to understand the plight of the children in these countries. I have never been hungry; I had the right to an education and the freedom to love the person of my choice without fear of repercussions from family, society or the church. I have done my best to provide the same for my children but a lot of families are unable to do so, not because they don't love their children but simply because they spend every waking hour trying to feed them.