IF she were to ask for a Christmas present, 10-year-old Aira would like to spend a day in an amusement park.
The Sampaguita vendor told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that she’s never been to and would like to visit one before the year ends.
“I saw it in the television, it looked fun. But we’re so poor, maybe I’ll never be able to go to one,” she said in Cebuano.
Aira, however, need not go anywhere as her Christmas present arrived a month earlier than expected.
The Cebu City Government set up inflatables, booths and food stalls yesterday at the Plaza Sugbo for more than 2,000 kids in line with the Children’s Month celebration.
At least 2,000 children from all 80 barangays and another 240 composed of kids rescued by the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children (CCTFSC) and some street dwellers were invited to participate in the event.
For this year, the Commission on the Welfare and Protection of Children, headed by Councilor Margarita Osmeña, focused on providing quality education for kids and calling for an end to polio.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that can result in paralysis as it affects the spinal cord and brain stem. The infection most commonly affects children ages five and below.
To spread awareness, executive special assistant on youth affairs Jess Anthony Dela Cruz said the City Government is centering the activity on providing quality education to young kids.
Together with some non-government organizations, they set up booths that will teach the kids academic and non-academic subjects. Among the subjects taught were mathematics, English, the city’s heritage and tourism, proper hygiene, and marine and environmental care.
“Aside from the lessons, we’re also giving away school supplies and other freebies to the kids at no cost to the City. The activity was open to every kid in the city because we’re gathered to celebrate them,” he said.
In a separate interview, Osmeña said seeing the preparations made for the kids “warmed her heart.”
“The children are a priority of the City. Cebu City is a children’s city. How can we give homage to our Sr. Sto. Niño, who is a child, without doing something for our kids?” said Osmeña, who also serves as CCTFSC co-chairperson.
Osmeña said that the CWPC inspected last Friday various areas in the city as part of their intensified efforts on rescuing street children.
She said they’re working on the liquidation of the funds intended for the purpose so that the City can claim the second tranche from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
One of the projects eyed for the second tranche is to develop the current profiling system to improve operations.