The PHOTO is the "Pulitzer prize" winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so it can eat it. The picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.
“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great”…NELSON MANDELA
This song is ringing in my head while writing this entry: "I am the future of the world, I am the hope of the nation, I am tomorrow's people, I am the new inspiration..." Remember the Coke commercial in the late 80's? I still recall Lilet, a Filipina, who led the singing of the hit jingle participated by hundreds of children of different races representing their own countries. Her classic commercial was released in several countries all over the world.
I had an entry this morning remembering how last year's summer changed my life. Then as a routine, did my blog hopping. Went to Tita Bambit's blog, I was teary eyed while reading her latest entry:
"Twenty-one of the 2,000 children or so in jailthroughout the country are on death row..." (BALAY NI BAMBIT)
I deal with some students who are in and out of jail. Sometimes they see each other in jail, and they talk about it with me as if it’s a normal part of their life. Indeed, because some of their parents are convicted criminals too who are in and out of jail. I feel so helpless, I have no power over the law.
Onto Tito Sam's blog; he wrote about a related entry, which is a very important part of the world's history, Live8, The Long Walk To Justice:
"I support this campaign not because of its hype but for our contry’s sake. The Philippines is among the heavily indebted countries of the South. The poor and marginalized of our peoples are the ones who pay the most for the country’s debt. They pay for it with taxes and they pay for it through the social services that the government does not provide because it chooses to pay the debt. " (SAMUEL BILIBIT DIARIES)
In my understanding, Live8 is our generation’s version of Band Aid, Live Aid and USA for Africa, and the Pinoy’s ‘Handog ng Pilipino Sa Mundo’. Am I right? This is another history… I believe in the cause...I support this campaign!
I decided to just draft the entry about my rewarding experiences last summer and to immediately publish this entry instead. I stand for my beliefs and values. I am not afraid to pledge allegiance to what is right. I will speak and act for the children who are oppressed, homeless, lonely, condemned, the underrepresented and the mistreated. I will speak and act for world peace. I support this campaign!
How about you? If you do, pls sign up here: http://www.live8live.com/list/
24 comments:
nakaka awa naman yung bata sa pic
Hello Teacher Sol! Live8 is not actually Live Aid II or a newer version of other similar musical fund raisers. Live8 was not meant to raise money but solicit support to pressure G8 leaders to change their foreign policies in countries like Africa. Organizers hope that Live8 could help advocacy groups like Bono's DATA to send the message to G8 during its meeting next week in Scotland which is to be hosted by British PM Tony Blair. The cause of Live8 is not something new for G8. In fact, the topic was already discussed during the World Economic Forum. Unfortunately, no concrete strategy was established. G8 is very much aware of the issue. All they (G8) need to do now is act on it.
DARKBLAK, naisip ko lang, kung tayo nga na sa picture palang nakita itong scenario na ito, nade-depress na, ano pa kaya yung photographer mismo na naka-first-hand experience nito at kung anong nangyayari sa lugar na iyon? Mabigat talaga sa dibdib.
JOHN CLARK, Ten concerts on four continents... Not raising money but raising awareness on "Making Poverty History"...gotcha! Thanks for stressing out the difference. Many people (am sure not only me, hehe) refer to it as Live Aid 2. Is it coincidence only that it happens on the 20th anniversary of Live Aid also? I signed in the official website to show my support. I believe that in our hearts we all want to make a difference in the world. This is our chance. Hopefully, during the G8 Conference & Summit in Scotland we can make our voices heard. By the way, I am impressed that Bono is still active as ever in supporting concerts like this; I love it when he narrates words that really pierce my soul and when he changes the lyrics of his songs to address the cause.
hello Tr. Sol! it is nice of you to also support this campaign.
god bless!
Hello Teacher Sol! I also read about Live8 in Bambit's blog. I am also writing my piece about it for my share in generating awareness to this activity. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Naalala ko tuloy yong mga batang lansangan sa Pilipinas. Yong mga taong grasa na nanlilimahid na sa dumi, mga batang sumisinghot ng rugby at mga solvent. May kinabukasan pa kayang sa kanila ay naghihintay? Sana magising na ang mga namumuno ng mayayamang bansa na dapat sila gumawa ng hakbang upang mabawasan ang sobrang kahirapan sa mga poverty stricken na mga bansa. At sana naman kung dumating na ang ganitong pagkakataon mapapunta ang tulong sa dapat puntahan at hindi sa bulsa ng iilan.Karamihan kasi sa mga naghihirap na bansa ay pinamumunuan ng mga taong walang konsensiya. Naghihirap na nga ang kanilang mga kababayan wala pa rin silang ginawa kungdi mamulitika at kurakutin ang kakarampot ng yaman ng isang bansa.
This picture is just as heartbreaking now as it was when it first came out. It pains me to even look at it.
Sorry I missed your birthday. Hope it was lovely.
Happy Belated!
thank you sol, i am very proud of you being a filipina..mabuhay ka...salamat sa mga photo na i-share mo sa akin esp for the LIVE 8 and child photo in sudan,,nakakaawa naman sila and we are lucky lalo na mga anak natin at di sila nakakaranas ng hirap unlike the other childs..
LUCHIE, compassion for children is innate in me, I guess.
WATSON, Thank you for helping us disseminate this information to your readers.
GOYONG, mga bata pa sila, may pag-asa pa. Ang tanong ay kung may mga taong magbibigay sa kanila ng pagkakataon na mabuhay ng maayos. Sila ay mga bata, mga walang muwang sa mundo, nakikita ko sa mga estudyante ko na hindi nila talaga pa alam ang magiging epekto ng mga ginagawa nilang ganyan. Madalas pa ay nakikita nila at ginagaya nila sa mga nakakatanda sa kanila ang ganito. Pipiliin ba nila ang ganitong klase ng buhay kung may choice sila? Sana nga mas marami pang taong tumulong sa kanila. Mga taong grasa? Para sa akin, mas nakakasulasok ang amoy ng mga taong mapagkunwari na buhay pa ay nabubulok na ang kaluluwa dahil sa panglalamang sa kapwa. May pagkakataon pa ba silang magbago? Sana.
RENEE, I was in tears when I first saw this picture. My "cyberclass" birthday celebration was a smash! My birthday wellwishers were overwhelming! Hope to see you there next celebration *wink*
This will acomplish little. Idealism is something scoffed at by a lot of the g8 countries' governments, and although on the outside they seem to be willing to listen and consider the things said and proposed, little will become of it.
I've studied a little about such topics in my International Studies class, and... It doesn't look good, folks.
I've seen this photo from different bloggers and only one thing comes to my mind about the photographer. I know, I am not in the position to judge him let alone he is already dead. In my opinion, there was a reason for him to be depressed because he had the heart to take the photo and yet he didn't do anything to help despite being a stone's throw away from the pityful scene. No matter how much popularity he got from winning that prize, there was no meaning to it because he didn't do what he was supposed to have done than just take a photo of a helpless child. If I were to judge this photo, it ain't going to win the prize because I believe it is a heartless one.
Marisol,
Saw that heart-rending photo of the child!! It shocked me to the verge of tears because while it is in Africa, I am reminded of our own hungry children in the Philippines. While we appeal to the G8 economic powers to do something about Third World debt, can we add our voice to do something equally drastic about the thieving hands of the leadership elite in 3rd World countries -including in our own country-to solve the poverty and hunger problems. What use will be the raising of taxes, say in the Philippines, or pouring aid from the G8 countries if nothing will filter down to the masses because the greedy hands in the government and bureacracy will appropriate the funds, directly or indirectly, first for their own selfish purposes.
Marisol, ang tono ko ay parang kaliwa pero ito ang katotohanan
at hindi na dapat maging makakaliwa kundi nagmamahal lang sa Pilipinas para maging ganito ang tono!
ATTY. MARASIGAN, with what's happening in the Philippines right now, I really feel sorry for our poor kababayans who are the ones that's getting hurt by the political upheavel. I appreciate your comment about my entry. Keep it going...
EVI, yours is a different reaction to this photo. But I guess you're right. Maybe the reason why the photographer committed suicide was because of the unbearable guilt that he could've helped the child but failed to do so.
DRE, maybe I am being too idealistic, which is not realistic most probably. But I am still hopeful that something good will happen out of this. May not be totally successful but I hope at least it would create awareness about what's happening to the children around the world ("the future of the world"?), and something be done about it by the people who can afford to help.
ED, our children are indeed lucky, I hope they know that. Keep your children safe, Dios Mabalos!
Poverty is not natural, it is man made. It can be stopped. We just need global solidarity to do it. The G8 is one entity that keeps poverty alive by way of unfair trade practices and the continuing collection of third world debt. Leaders of countries belonging to the G8 have in their power to stop it, we have the power to press them to do it. If they decided not to, thats up to them...at least we have shown them that the world is united in opposing policies that perpetuate poverty. Till then the next thing for us to do is perhaps abolish G8. But then thats a far fetched dream than asking their leaders for once to take a stand for humanity.
In the case of the Philippines, we are among the heavily indebted countries of the South. And we are one "honorable" payer of debt. We even have an appropriation law that automatically cuts our nation's fiscal budget for debt servicing. We deny the much needed budget for education, health and social services in order for us to pay our debts. Even the taxes that we give government goes to debt servicing. And what are these debts? These are debts acquired in the name of the Filipino people that went to unnecessary spending and siphoned by the pockets of our corrupt politicians. These are onerous debts that we acquired since the Marcos dictatorship. Every year we pay only the interest of these debts while our people continue to wallow in abject poverty. To think that our government can simply stop paying these debts same as what Brazil and Argentina did. But our government opts for a more "honorable" way at the expense of its people.
To drop the debt of the poor countries of the world is one thing we ask the G8 leaders to do. I would like to contribute to this effort for it will benefit not only Africa, not only other poor countries of the world including Philippines, but for the children of my children.
TITO SAM, I can never express myself better about this campaign than you did here. But you stressed everything that is important for all of us to know. Leaders of countries belonging to the G8 have in their power to stop poverty, we have the power to press them to do it. If they decided not to, thats up to them...at least we have shown them that the world is united in opposing policies that perpetuate poverty. I said to Dre, and I will emphasize it here: May not be totally successful but I hope at least it would create awareness about what's happening to the children around the world ("the future of the world"?), and something be done about it by the people who can afford to help.
ISABELA, naks! May picture ka na ah! Isa ka ngang magaling na manunulat, damang-dama ko ang mga sinasabi mo dito. Pero gusto kong bigyang diin ang huli mong sinabi dito dahil ito ang pinakamahalaga: Buti na lang, awareness, luha, awa at pirma lang ang abuloy natin, ano? Libre na nga ang mga ito, ipagkakait pa ba natin?
There is pressure on the G8 nations to forgive or write off the debts of starving African countries. Really hope they do.
If you saw the heartbreaking TV documentary on the poorest villages of Ethiopia, you would wonder - why the abject poverty and economic disparity ? Teenage girls walk for an hour to get water from a filthy river and they do it 4 times in a day. When the CNN journalist asks a grade 7 class in an open air classroom with a single blackboard ,to raise their hands if they eat 3 times a day, no one did. When she asked - who eats once a day? They all raised their hands. The teacher simply echoed the show of hands by saying - we are a hungry people. If the kids were to proceed to grade 8, they would have to walk 4 hours to get to the nearest school.
It is just so unfair to think that we waste and throw so much food, that a can of ready made spaghetti is less than a dollar... yet people in other parts of the world literally die of not being able to eat.
maam,pakibasa yung june archieves ko sa "kung puwede lang sana" tittle -ang kailangang ihaylayts ihaylayts lang po:)-dun niyo malalaman age ko:)
oks lang kahit yung oooops na blog i-link niyo lahat ng blog ko naman ay normal hehehehe...tungkol dun sa netry ko sa oooops yun ay kuro ko lamang hehehe nagdaan na 'yun na entry.
btw,nanood ako ng live8 at nagustuhan ko yung closing nina papa ko -josh groban-...duet niya si sarah m. nag record din ako ng iba titignan ko kung mai upload ko dun sa audioblog ...hehehe
God bless po:)
bakasyon pa namin
ang alam ko nagsama sama ang 8 na bansa para mag protest at ipakita ang tulong nila sa mahihirap na bansa.maganda yung nai feature na nasa larawan na babae tapos tinulungan siya.
LWS, mabuti naman at nagparamdam ka na ulit, hehe. Busy sa pagpapalit ng layout sa blog ha. Bisitahin ko ulit blog mo, sana naka-upload ang concert, di ko napanood eh :(
BW, I don't want to think that the plight of the children in the Philippines is much like the kids in Ethiopia. Let's not lose hope for our country and our children. I've read from our correspondence with Perry Diaz, the moderator of our egroup Balita-USA, the miracle that Gawad Kalinga is doing to our nation. Gawad Kalinga looks very much like humanitarian work, and it is. Next month, Kalinga Pilipinas will be launched by the leadership of Congress. GK is being introduced to Filipino communities around the world as an effective way of building a nation we can all be proud of - beginning with Filipinos taking care of their own poor and helping millions of families rise from a poverty that has shackled them for centuries. More and more Filipinos (OFWs and immigrants too)are joining the collective effort of a people to build a good and strong nation through building good and strong communities from its weakest (but majority) sector. We can do this, BW, and must do it first ourselves - Filipinos helping themselves, Filipinos all over the world, Filipinos in the motherland - before others who will be inspired by our determination to rise above our poverty, our corruption and our conflicts.
i agree.korek na korek malaman ang pagkakasabi mo maam'
nakakalungkot talaga yung ganitong sitwasyon. childhood should have been the time for these children to have fun and be carefree, instead they are suffering from malnutrition and diseases.
tama na naman si isabela. sigurado akong wala sa atin ang magsasakrisyo para sa mga batang ito sa africa pero may magagawa tayo kahit papaano para sa mga bata dito sa pilipinas. kung sana kahit kalahati lang ng mga lagay at kurakot ng mga tao sa government ang ibahagi nila, madami na silang matutulungan.
I can't believe what I see in the photo. Yes, i support this campaign. I am trying to type as fast as I can here coz I am really busy. I believe that the world is suffering now and i will try if I can sign if I can't I'll just pray about. Please do pray about this. I'm fine here. Poor people, if we work together I am sure we can improve this place.
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