15 May, 2008
Child Abuse? Child Exploitation?
Posted by teacherjulie @ 12:46 pm
Shelved under About Town, Lessons in Life, My Thoughts, On the Road, Snapshots

I have written a post here about something that I saw last night.

What was otherwise an uneventful roadside dinner for me and hubby turned to be unpleasant experience for me. I was upset, I was aghast, I was anxious. Ok, that’s too much anxiety level already.

Having braved the deluge and the fog on an almost invisible expressway, we were ready to eat something to stop our grumbling stomachs. And what a surprise to see a group of children in front of the fast food counter, playing sweet music. They had banduria, guitar and violin. Then a little was going around distributing envelopes to the dining patrons for donors. Still, this did not disturb me.

But it suddenly dawned on me, when the music they were playing were beginning to sound off key, something was wrong. When they started singing and instead of the song being wonderful to listen to, I felt pain, burning pain and my tears were about to fall. I just to restrain myself from crying lest hubby will think I’ve gone nuts.

I rushed to get the camera that was left in the car parked outside. I took photos. I had to, I had this urge to blog about how disgusted I was that they are being made to work at this time. It was already past nine and how long they have been there, I probably don’t want to know.

Child abuse? Child exploitation? Do they have a choice? Do they want to do this because its also for their own benefit? To think that they belong to foundation? What kind of foundation, in terms of values,  would they learn?

One more thing, this left me thinking, have they already eaten?

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 12:46 pm and is filed under About Town, Lessons in Life, My Thoughts, On the Road, Snapshots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Permalink | 16 Comments
15 May, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
Rach (Heart of Rachel) said:

I hope all their efforts goes to a good cause.

15 May, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
julie said:

Rachel, I edited the post. I have forgotten to write that they belong to a foundation. Yeah right. Seems like not a good practice to have these kids do what they do.

15 May, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
feng said:

not sure with the one you saw in the resto but for most that I’ve seen in public places, mukhang raket lang ang iba. if you ride public transport like I do, meron ka pa ngang ma e encounter na mga batang papasok ng jeep at magpupunas ng mga shoes ng passengers. meron ding susulpot at lalapit na lang sa yo out of nowhere and will hand you a sobre asking for donation.

like what Rach had said, hope what you saw turns out for good cause.

15 May, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
mousey said:

sana naman di lang sila ginagamit para pagkakwartahan ng iba.

may AWARD ako sa iyo!

15 May, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
lady cess said:

oh gosh, it would really be heartbreaking if the kids are being used for someone’s selfish goals.

15 May, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
raqgold said:

but not too late at night and in empty stomach, kahit na for a good cause

16 May, 2008 @ 4:17 am
analyse said:

just like what feng had said, nagkalat ang ganyan sa manila.. you just listed the right questions, i hope they’re not being used.

16 May, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
soloops said:

I can understand how you must’ve felt. There is something so wrong about this.

btw, you’ve been tagged!

16 May, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
annamanila said:

Aww you got a bleeding heart. Mine too have to be hardened. I almost picked up a pitiful dog (sick, scrawny, weak, almost bald with some skin disease) at east avenue but my companion refused to help me.

But look at it this way, at least this children are doing something the enjoy, they are indoors, seemingly well clothed and — lets give the resto owner the benefit of the doubt — well fed.

There are THOUSANDS of kids in worse condition.

18 May, 2008 @ 7:32 am
julie said:

Yes, this sure looks like one, even if it says they belong to a foundation. The point is, can any government agency perhaps look into this kind of activity done by foundations? Eh, ibang klase na ito, disoras na ng gabi.

Those on the streets, yes, we see them everyday. We even buy the rags, I don’t know if its right to buy from them because it encourages them to do these selling activities more.

Hay buhay.

18 May, 2008 @ 7:36 am
julie said:

Mousey, mukhang ganun na nga. Even if they were in a pleasant place, no rains, no heat, no danger, still, naku naman, alas nueve na ng gabi.

Thanks for the award :)

18 May, 2008 @ 7:48 am
julie said:

Cess, you said it. Assuming they belong to this foundation, mali pa din, at 9pm, they are still here? Something is fishy talaga.

18 May, 2008 @ 7:59 am
julie said:

You nailed it right, Raq, Aba, alas nuebe na ano. Nakakainit ng ulo ito, kahit mga nag-oopisina, bihira yata ang ganitong oras eh nandun pa.

18 May, 2008 @ 8:33 am
julie said:

Hay, Ana, nadadagdagan ang stress ko when I see these things. Whatever is happening to this country of ours. On the other had, these things do happen in other countries too. I just hope that these children will get valuable lessons here so that when they grow older, they wont do the same to other kids.

18 May, 2008 @ 8:47 am
julie said:

Kim, as a lawyer, what do you suggest :D

Yes, there is definitely something wrong with this.

18 May, 2008 @ 8:59 am
julie said:

You are right, MRC, but then again, this situation could be likened with a wolf in a sheep’s clothing (ganun nga ba yun, I’m not sure).

We may be “blinded”by the fact that they look well, are in a cool and pleasant place, but by golly, its 9pm already. Tsk, tsk.

Sometimes I just want to turn a blind eye to these things but I can’t, even if I can’t do anything about it.

Thanks for the visit, mom of a doctor :)