President calls for revolution of heart and mind to aid vulnerable children

PRESIDENT Christine Carla Kangaloo has issued a call for a revolution of the hearts and minds to treat with vulnerable and less fortunate children who are falling prey to criminals.

Speaking at the Rapidfire Kidz Foundation Gala at Achievors Banquet Hall, San Fernando on Saturday night, President Kangaroo called for a world in which children are encouraged, praised and appreciated and treated justly.

She observed that it is easy to lament about the state of the nation’s children, but far more difficult to actually do something about it.

She recalled when she first addressed an RKF gala seven years ago she tobserved then, that although TT had more resources to improve the conditions of children and young people than other countries, “we were still falling short in discharging our responsibility to our children.

“I said, then, that we had only to look at the headlines in the news at the time to get a shocking reminder of how short we were falling as a society.

“I was President of the Senate then. Today, I am President of the country, and as President, I can say that while we have been doing better in many areas, we are still a long distance away from where we need to be.

She said the headlines now are no better in 2023, than it was in 2016, when some of those read about two young boys who were dragged out a vehicle in broad daylight and murdered in their school uniforms. An 18-month-old baby who was reported to have been sexually abused, a schoolgirl who had to jump through the window of a moving maxi taxi because she feared she would be attacked, and video of a toddler being physically abused because he wouldn’t drink a bottle of milk.

“In many ways, they (headlines) seem worse,” she said alluding to a recent newspaper editorial titled “The preventable tragedy of child deaths” which made clear that the purpose was not to add blame to grief.

“Blame is often not very helpful. Nor will grief alone take us where we need to go.”

Asking again the same rhetorical question she did in 2016, about arresting and reversing the situation, and begin the upward climb to a society in which children and young people are loved and respected and are kept safe, she offered the same answer.

“What we need is a revolution of hearts and of minds. What we need are organizations committed to inspiring and leading that revolution. What we need are more organizations like the Rapidfire Kidz Foundation.

She lauded the RKF which she said seems to be the living embodiment of the proverb, actions speak louder than words as it has gone beyond merely talking about helping children.

"It is actively working towards improving the lives of children. It has brought to life, ideas, and initiatives that, in other hands, might well have just lingered and died on the doorstep of imagination.”

Over the past 11 years, she said, RKF, led by founder and president Kevi Ratiram, has been a beacon of light and of hope to children in vulnerable situations across TT, bringing tremendous happiness to countless children across TT.

Through its ‘Eyes Right’ campaign, over 1,000 eyeglasses have been distributed to children in need.

“These eyeglasses are, quite literally, a window for improved educational outcomes in children who are now better equipped to read and to learn with confidence.”

She spoke to RKF many career fairs, textbook donations, toy drives, hospital visits, visits to petting zoos, water park, that have added to the positive outcomes and placed smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries.

“Your recent blood donation drive to mark ‘World Blood Donor Day’, was another recent example of the Foundation in action. Your playpark in Palmiste, which Mr Ratiram fondly calls the Foundation’s ‘crown jewel’, is yet another means by which the Foundation works towards enhancing children’s health and building community spirit among them.”

The President said, as signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and having committed to fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “Our country has a responsibility to ensure that no child is left behind.

“While we have been making progress in several areas administratively in developing the capacity of and opportunities for our children, organizations like the Foundation have a critical role to play in helping us close the gap between where we are at the moment in terms of helping our children to realize their fullest potential, and where we need to be.”

She called upon others to commit, like RKF, at community and national level, “to provide a safe, nurturing, and positive environment for our children and, in so doing, ensuring a brighter and safer future for us all.

“If we all mirror and embody the spirit of volunteerism and charity-giving of the Foundation, we will produce a generation of young people who are equipped and prepared to take the reins of our future, and to build tomorrow a world far better than any of us can imagine today. “