Batang Kalabaw

This documentary film made me very emotional. Just from the very start of the film, I already feel sad for what I have seen. I am a child lover, I easily get attached to children especially those of the young ones. After seeing this film, I became teary-eyed. I can’t stop getting hurt of what I am seeing. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for the children to be working in such an early age. When I was in that age, I did nothing more than playing and studying. It breaks my heart that knowing some of them were really young yet they are already doing the work of the old ones. Each and every moment that I see them being hurt in the film, because of the wood they carry from the mountain, I don’t know how I would react, I don’t know who to blame or who to get mad to because there are just so many factors that caused this scenario. As a teenager, I already find it hard to do the kind of work that they were doing, what more if I was as young as them? I also became very sad for the Oldest of the 5 siblings, Cherrylyn.  I really salute her. In my Family, I am also the oldest, and I have 5 other siblings. I do have a lot of responsibilities, but I fail to do it sometimes. She inspired me to be better. I really idolize her, despite of what her parents have become; she finds the strength of still making her siblings her first priority.

A child has the right to be a child; being able to play, study, have a good life and be treated with care and responsibility. Childhood is the age wherein they could just goof around and be themselves and not worry about anything, but in their side, they couldn’t even have a nice meal or play with toys or do what children used to do. After the long day of their labor, they don’t even know if they would even get salary. It was just so heartbreaking that their salary is based on the buyer. Imagine the pain they feel that after the tiring hike from the mountain, the wounds they acquired during work and the effort they put to just to carry that very heavy piece of wood, the wood they brought was a reject and they wouldn’t get paid for it even just one peso for their effort. I can’t imagine how painful is it for them knowing that they did work for nothing.

Each person has a responsibility towards the children. I know that each and every person should treat children how they should be treated. They should be taken care of; to be fed, to be bathed, to be educated. They should not be abused for their innocence. I myself, a panganay to my 5 other siblings, do my best to do my responsibilities. As a Thomasian NSTP student, what I can do is apply the things I’ve learned in my everyday life and share it to others in order to create a child friendly society. I would apply it to my other activities like Youth for Christ; I’d suggest more outreach programs and child-related activities.

A child is human, we are human, but are we humane? Each and every individual has his/her own rights. It’s just as simple as a short statement, “Do not do to others what you don’t want others to do unto you”. Treat each and every person as yourself. It is important to protect each and every one’s right, especially of those who are young and innocent because they don’t even know their rights yet and even though they know it, they couldn’t fight for it. It’s our job to do the things they still couldn’t do. As a Thomasian NTSP student, I would be part of protecting the rights of each and every child by first starting in our won home; I would practice the responsibilities through my siblings, and then help those in the community through outreach programs and also reporting to Bantay Bata in some instances.

It is very heartwarming to hear the laughter of the children, the high-toned voices enjoying the things they do. I would do my best to put a smile to their faces because the smile of a child can do so many things. J