JSM - Edition Two

L ove I s T hicker T han B lood - continued “You have three children, you should know their rights,” argued Carrie. “Are you questioning my parenting?” laughed Pete. “The Rights of the Child has been formalised in a document set out to insure that all children are safe and healthy and it also shows adults what their children require. The document provides children the right to the things they need in order to grow and develop into healthy adults,” continued Lily. “How was the document created, just out of curiosity?” asked Waleed. “Children were thought of as ‘small adults’ in the past and were treated the way that adults were treated. Then in 1841 in France they started to create laws to protect children in the workplace and give them an education. It then started to spread across Europe in the 20th century giving children rights to medical care. That brings me back to UNICEF. It was created after World War II, to help children who were harmed during the War. Now as I said before, UNICEF is helping children all around the world to ensure they live the happiest and healthiest life possible,” explained Lily. “Did you have to move away from your family to work at UNICEF?” asked Pete. “I moved to Sydney with my family since there is an office there. Although I have to travel overseas a lot since in Australia we don’t have the big issue of orphans due to our foster programs. There is a number of care systems which help prevent the issue including Barnardos Australia, Salvation Army and in each state the government has a foster care system called Family and Community Services, but there is still an extensive issue, particularly in third world countries,” Lily explained. “What places do you think you have travelled to the most?” queried Carrie. “That’s a hard question,” sighed Lily. “Probably Asia, Latin America and Africa since they are the three main places in the world with a very large number of orphans.” “The shows about to end, so one last question. What are you doing next?” Carrie questioned quickly. “I’m going to Nepal next week, then I’m mentoring a new employee,” Lily said even quicker than Carrie. “Now would you please thank Lily,” Carrie announced to end the show. The whole audience applauded as the show ended. Lily took a deep breath, wow, what a journey! Reflection Writing this narrative has been an amazing journey for me. I have enjoyed writing ever single sentence and every single word. After writing it I feel more sympathetic for orphans and I feel like I’ve known Lily and the Wilkerson’s my whole life. I got stuck a few times and had to dig myself out of some holes, but I got there in the end and it sure does feel good.

A my B arry Y ear 5P

JSM Edition Two

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