CHILDREN OF THE PHILIPPINES
There are approximately 1.5 million children living on the streets in the Philippines. This is an increasingly growing problem. The lives these children are forced to live everyday is tragic. If you were to walk on the sidewalks you will see children searching for food and shelter.
Of the 1.5 million street children in the Philippines, 60,000 are prostituted according to the statistics of the Philippine Resource Network. A 13 years-old child recalls how she was trafficked into a brothel where she had to service up to 15 pedophiles every night.
There are three classifications of street children in the Philippines: Children on the Streets, Children of the Streets, and Abandoned Children.
Children on the streets have homes to go to, but work on the streets selling things like cigarettes and food. They return home at the end of a long day of schooling and working.
Children of the streets, live on the streets in cardboard boxes and find their food in garbage cans or beg for pesos all day to buy rice. Some of them have homes but have cut ties with the family for one reason or another.
Abandoned Children have no home at all, their family has completely abandoned them. They are left alone to survive. Like the Children of the Streets, they too have to beg and dig through the trash for their meals.
Drugs are prominent, the most popular drug is an inhalant called, “Rugby”. Children as young as ten years old are arrested for petty crimes and tossed in cells with adults,. Girls and boys alike are placed with adult male prisoners who abuse them. The prison guards also abuse the children.
They catch TB from sleeping on the wet floor and being exposed to sick adults. STDs are common among these children. There is not an HIV testing program for children but many of them are diagnosed with various STDs.
There are a few programs and organizations that help the children in the Philippines, but there are too many children for these efforts. Some people would say there is no way that we can save them all.
I am reminded of “The Starfish Story”.
The Starfish Story
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…” I made a difference for that one.”
When I look into the eyes of a hurting child, I think to myself; “I can make a difference to this one.” There are no words that can explain the love I have for children, especially children that are in poverty and hurting. Please help me to help them by making a donation today and support these children with the love of Jesus Christ.
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