Call to Help and Inspire the Young to a Life of Goodness
Published in The Universe
(February 23, 2003)
In the past few month since we at the PREDA center intensified our work rescuing children from prisons and the dungeons and pens some unfit for even animals the young people on our rescue team have traveled hundreds of miles.
They visited sixteen prisons making a total of 33 times and found 131 youth and children behind bars living on dirty infested concrete floors some of the time, no proper sanitation, a toilet sometimes a hole in the corner full of feces. Mosquito and rats abounding and life threatening diseases such as TB and HIV-Aids a constant danger.
These brave and courageous young people go in to the cells bring them friendship, respect and hope for the future. Besides they supply many basic necessities such as short, T-Shirts, slippers, underwear, toothpaste and brushes and towels. When they interview the twelve or fourteen years old kids they break down and cried recalling their families, long lost childhood and they loss of school and a good future. I have been there many times and could not but feel the tightening of my throat and tears stinging my eyes as i heard tails of brutality as the kids were arrested and beaten, abused and thrown about like useless sacks of rubbish.
Their crimes mostly sniffing solvents to take away the hunger, stealing food to fill an empty stomach, being a vagrant, that is being a homeless street child. There are some who have stole and snatched more valuable property. But whatsoever they may have done they have rights too that have been violated at every turn. The Philippines has child protection laws but they are rarely implemented. We have to insist that their rights be respected and the norms of the legality be applied and followed by the police and the prosecutors and courts.
The young people who do this work are remarkable. They are dedicated, committed and focused on getting as many kids out of prison as possible and working on the legal rights of the others to see they are not harmed in the jail and get the full compassion of the law.
These are the PREDA youth volunteers helped by Two Irish volunteer lawyers Darach McNamara and Barry Mansfield both from Dublin. They have succeed in getting 18 of these kids released and returned to the custody of their families and 17 more transferred to youth recovery and rehabilitation centers. At least for this first batch of 35 who came out into the sunshine and freedom after the horrifying dread of the dark cells and stifling humidly and grotty food, it was a new life.
Yet so many worry about the habits of the young who end up in trouble and conflict with the law. Their drinking and drug addictions, their violence and shooting sprees, their moral decadence and empty lives are a cause of concern but these are a minority. Can we blame them for what they become?
My life is spent in helping young people survive, escape and overcome exploitation, abuse and despair. They are victims of arbitrary arrest, death squads and torture. Hundreds of thousands are prostituted. Nine years old children are sold to brothels and sex bars frequented by an international clientele. Thousands more are child prisoners as young as twelve in subhuman conditions. Scores of youth are forced and taught to kill and maim as child soldiers.
The youth did not create this ungodly world; they are the victims of what adults have wrought. A world where a few, driven by greed and power, control the earth's stupendous wealth and spend it on weapons and wars and ostentatious consumption.
We are challenged as never before to redress these terrible injustices and inspire the young to a life of goodness. We can do it by believing with all our heart the message of Jesus of Nazareth, imitating his selfless love that seeks no reward, allowing him to empower us with his presence so we can free the prisoners, protect the abused, lift up the downtrodden, do justice for the poor, bring about a Kingdom of compassion and care. This is what our youth needs, to be respected and wanted, and to see us taking a stand against evil and doing good for them.
