The Day of the African Child

Saturday, 16 June 2007, celebrated the Day of the African Child. Apparently, this day has been celebrated every year since 1991 and I am afraid to say, I have only just found out about it.

The Day of the African Child was first initiated by the organisation of African Unity. The day is in honour of the memory and courage of thousands of Black school children in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976, who took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. During those two weeks of protest, over one 100 young boys and girls were killed and more than 1,000 injured.

Can anyone remember that day? I can. It's one of those painful and ugly memories that you bury somewhere deep inside until......

Each year the day is associated with a different message. This year UNICEF is drawing attention to the issue of Child trafficking.

I know this day has passed but it is never too late to learn something new or to get involved.

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.

- Marian Wright Edelman

Our best seeds and our dearest fields - those are our children

- Cheikh Hamidou Kane