WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY?

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we never had another case of child abuse in Kaitāia, Whāngarei, Auckland, Hastings, Wellington and Christchurch ever again now that the nationwide Hikoi Against Child Abuse has finished?  But even as we marched last Wednesday, all of us understood that somewhere in each one of our respective towns and cities there were children crying, or worse still silently cowering, because someone was hurting them.  In fact there still are as I write.  So if that is the case, why did we bother marching and what came out of it?  Where to next?

The purposes of the Hikoi were, for that one day, to give abused children a voice that could be heard throughout the country, and to give adults a choice that could be seen just as widely. 

The Hikoi also gave us another chance in each centre to invite others to join the movement to stop the abuse, start the healing, and protect the children.  That is an open and ongoing invitation.  So, even if you weren’t able to get to any of the Hikoi on the day, or had to leave early, you can still join at any time (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/330166550432500/).

In Kaitāia we’re humbled at the range of people who have already signed up, and plan to bring us all together later this month.  In the meantime we’re carrying on with what we have at hand across the motu.

Who are we?  We are a movement of ordinary people from across the motu who have chosen to be a proactive part of the most extraordinary mahi there is in this country; that of protecting and helping children to become everything they can possibly be.

We are not funded by any government, iwi or other agency.  That means we have no ties or tags on what we’re able to do with our own resources.  Those agencies have their own roles to play, but they can’t do what we can in terms of coming up with solutions and strategies that ordinary people can use any time or place to stop abuse, promote healing, and protect children.

We’re grateful to everyone who made the Hikoi a visible reality.  It’s a tragedy that we had to do it.  But it would be an even worse tragedy if we just gave up and did nothing.

Last week we gave abused children a voice and made a personal choice one way or another.  This week those children are again living in enforced silence, but we are still free to choose.  Today you can be their voice.  Today you can be part of the solution to their abuse. 

Wouldn’t that be lovely?