On Children

I don't remember when exactly this happened, but it was very early on in the trip. I remember holding a baby in my arms during one of the interaction periods. She was a small baby, probably no older than a year. After communicating with her mute caretaker, I discovered that the little girl belonged to a family of about 5? Because of language and communication barriers, I didn't manage to get the little girl's name. The caretaker, Christine, had tried to write it on my arm but I couldn't make out the letters she traced on my arm, so I gave up and didn't want to exasperate her by making her repeat it again (this brought me to my point on Language barriers but I'll write about that in a separate reflection) I remember holding that little child in my arms and thinking about the future that the baby would grow into and what of other children like her that will grow up in Brangays similar to Tap Tap.

I thought and even know I still think about the children who aren't growing up in Singapore; who aren't given the privellege of complusory National Education and who aren't like us with the convenience and modernity of Singapore. I thought about the potential that would probably go to waste because of a lack of public education being enforced in Cebu. About teachers that don't turn up for lessons and just let the kids roam about and wasting their time after they walked 3 hours to attend school. I think about students and people that fall through the cracks and aren't caught by safety nets like here in Singapore, even though we may not be the 'best', there are still systems being put into place to ensure we do end up somewhere.

This trip and the people that I have met have taught me to value my education, to value that opportunity to let my voice be heard; and with the knowledge that I am, to some extent, indebted to the society that had gifted me this opportunity when they pay taxes to fund my education.

Working with Share-a-Child and the kids here in Tap tap really made me think about children and empowering them in a sense also empowers us. Because children are the next generation and it is in their hands that we place our futures as well. Being given the opportunity to work with them also makes me want to continue serving as well and in a way re-affirms my passion when I do work with people and with children.