Scene 1: A child dreams of becoming a doctor like dad, or a teacher like mom. Childhood is a make-believe place of unlimited dreams. To the eyes of a child, the world is truly full of wonder.
Scene 2: Countless children roam the streets of Metro Cebu whose dreams have been shattered by hunger, homelessness, physical and commercial sexual abuse. They are children, as artist Joey Velasco describes in his painting of Jesus and Poor Children, “whose future is obscure, who suffer and shiver in the dark, whose voices are unheard; whose nightmares come at daytime, and whose monsters are real.”
Scene 3: Civic organizers meet at a plush restaurant to prepare for the secular activities of Sinulog. On their way to the meeting they look out the window of their cars on street children. As they make plans, they can sense children loitering outside, one or two being shoved away by dutiful security guards as they try to take a peek inside.
Yet, there is nothing in their plans that would bring a glint of joy and hope to the eyes of the children.
Scene 4: Religious organizers meet in a Parish Hall to prepare the sacred rituals of the Feast of the Sto. Niño heedless of the street children that usually loiter around churches. The church does not mean anything to the children except as a place that disgorges people who sometimes drop a coin or two into their dirty hands.
The priests do not have anything either in their plans to make the kids jump up in joyous celebration of the Baby Lord Jesus who loves them.
Scene 5: There is a house for rescued children (from physical abuse, drugs and commercial sex) in Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City, run by a non-governmental organization (NGO) that is called “Dreamer’s Home.” It is 99.99 percent funded by a foreign charitable institution.
A visitor asks the staff: “Why Dreamer’s Home?” The answer is quick but filled with conviction: “Because this is the house where the children learn to dream again.” This is the place where children who want to put their dark past behind and run towards daylight are schooled and rehabilitated for re-entry as responsible and productive members of society.
Final Scene: Lights dim and as curtains fall, voices plead: “When will some of all that money raised by Sinulog organizers be used for sustainable activities that will give a glint of hope and joy to the eyes of abused children? When will this fiercely Catholic society realize that the best honor it can give Sto. Niño is to enable these children to dream again?