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Thirty children, 20 of them already forced to work for a living, got a welcome respite from their difficult lives Sunday. At Al-Sabeen park, they gathered to play puzzle games that were part of a child-abuse awareness program. They were taught how to protect themselves from the dangers of the street, and to tell their parents if anyone ever tried to hurt them. These exercises were part of a celebration of World Children’s Day, organized by the World Women’s Summit Foundation, of which Ebhar Foundation for Childhood and Creativeness is a member. The day commemorates the UN Convention on Children’s Rights, which is a universally agreed upon set of non-negotiable human rights. The Convention set minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected by governments, founded on respect for the dignity and the worth of each individual, regardless of race, color, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability, and therefore apply to every human being everywhere. The children were happy to take part in the celebration, eagerly getting involved in the activities that began in the early morning and continued until 5 p.m. “I feel that I lived my life today,” said Abdul-Raqeeb Mohamed, 15. He is working selling bottles of water in the streets, in addition to his studies, and his eyes were brimming with sadness. “I never got to play; I always had to run from home to school, and then to work.” He dreams of quitting his work in the streets, and finishing his studies. “I want to live an honorable life, and be even a simple employee in a store.” His brother Talal, 14 said that he sold tapes in the streets to guarantee their future. “My brother I and work to cover the expenses of our studies.” “It is the happiest day of my life,” Adel Fari’, 12 said. Fari’ also sells bottles of water in the street. “I am working to help my parents,” he said. The celebration was also attended by a person dressed up like the globe. “We designed this character to address all the children’s problems in the whole world,” Nabil al-Khadar, the information specialist in the organization, said. Sometimes, he says, the world looks like nothing more than a child-killing machine. The globe even spoke at the opening ceremony, which was attended by many people. “I wonder if the human being is the only creature on me that harms its own people,” the globe said. “There are 100 million children molested before they reach the age of 18.” The globe said that it is the home for all humans. “But I wish that this home was warm for all of you, and full of kids’ laughter.” Nour al-Deen Mohammed, 11, who sells eggs and sunglasses, said, “My parents ordered me to work, and I obey them.” His brother Izz al-Deen, 13, said he was kidnapped three years ago. “A man told me that he would buy my basket of eggs for one thousand rials, just to get me to come with him,” he said. Then the man tempted the child, saying he would put him in a good company and give him a very rewarding job. “I went with him, but soon I realized that he was taking me through dark and narrow alleys,” he said. “I shouted, and he ran away; and then I saw an officer talking to him.” Izz al-Deen narrated another story, saying that a Somali woman asked him to clean the yard of her house. “Then I saw her with a knife covered in blood and when I saw it, I ran away and she was running after me,” he said. Their instructor, Firas Shamsan, 20, a member of Ebhar, said that these educational games hope to raise children’s awareness of street dangers. “See, the puzzle game is full of lots of beneficial information for them to learn.” Chislaine Pauilhec from Enfants Du Monde, an NGO working for human rights, especially those of children, said that she hoped to raise more awareness of this problem. Lotfia al-Dhawi, the head of Zubaida Center for Social Service, said that her organization cooperates with Ebhar because it cares about this kind of issue. “Since last February, we have been focusing on street children along with the French organization.” Al-Dhawi said that they try to educate the children on how to defend themselves against all kinds of abuse. The celebration included games, one of which was a maze containing three persons in disguise. One person represented war, one was a pirate, and the third represented poverty. The children learned how to run from them. Maha Nagi Saleh, the chairwoman of the organization, said that this activity is the continuation of an international effort to raise awareness of such issues. “Ebhar is the only organization that works with WWSF in the Arab world,” she said. “We arranged this program to raise the awareness of the decision makers first, and then to the family second.” Al-Khadar said that they do not have enough support for their projects, “but there are some organizations that help us,” he said. “UNICEF has promised us future help.” [Source: Yemen Observer] Further information