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A touching way of denouncing violence…
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A touching way of denouncing violence…
The Ombudsperson for Children could not have found a better way of making the public aware of violence against children. She organised a carnival where children entertained the public in the streets and ended up in Sir Gaëtan Duval stadium. Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra is really satisfied with the event. “Success has really gone beyond our hopes. There were more children than expected. Even though there could have been more people on the street sides, we were happy to see the stadium was really crowded…”
After their colourful parade in the streets of Rose-Hill last Saturday, they went to the stadium where they expressed themselves on serious issues that affect too many of them in their daily lives. Thanks to short sketches, children staged the difficulties some of them are faced with – parental alcoholism, prostitution and corporal punishment. Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra is aware that “a carnival is not enough. It has been organised in a global campaign that I have been leading since end 2004.”
Great impact </B>
But no doubt the carnival has had an impact on children themselves, on parents and on the public at large. She adds, “the most important is not the carnival in itself; the days before and after are even more important. It will have consequences because people will reflect upon the event afterwards”.
Budi was of course in the midst of the festivities. It has been created by the office of the ombudsperson to make the message more accessible to children. They are keener on listening to a puppet on issues like sexual violence than to adults.
After the event, the ombudsperson did a debriefing with her staff to see what was right and wrong. “It has really been a success and we want to make a second edition but this requires a lot of work and I don’t know if we will do it next year. What we do not want is to make it a banal event so we will take the necessary time to start again…”
After this carnival, which mobilised the whole staff of the ombudsperson’s office, it is now time for the follow-up. “Those who took part in the carnival are expected to go back to their town or village and deliver the message…”
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