Capture the compassion

Rachel Itwaru thinks seeing poverty at a young age changed her views of the world forever. Now she discusses why she thinks it’s important for every child to learn about injustice in the world.

''I vividly remember the disparity between the Jamaica depicted to tourists and the real Jamaica.'' ''By teaching children of the human condition perhaps we will be able to shape their concern and optimism for it.''

I recently attended a movie about the lives of people who were oppressed by debt and unfair trade. Many, including myself, were inspired by the film to continue our advocacy of fair trade, but I wondered how several remained completely unaffected and doubtful of this accurate film. How did our reactions come to differ?

I began to contemplate past experiences that possibly could have had an impact on the way we see certain situations. Personally, I recalled a holiday to Jamaica with my family. I was eight at the time, but I vividly remember the disparity between the Jamaica depicted to tourists and the real Jamaica. As a child I had never witnessed such hardship. The experience made a lasting impression on the way in which I perceive the world around me and I am convinced that the effect on my views was a result of my naivety at the time.

In this way, the compassion of a child can seem like a glimmer of hope in the face of doubt and cynicism. Young minds, unaffected by the notion of impossibility, always respond with a promising idealism when asked of their future profession or academic prospects. Nearly every child wants to alter the world in some way.

I believe that children possess an indefinable attribute - one that encompasses a certain curiosity about the world and its perplexities, but one that still retains a confidence in the ability to ameliorate its problems. This is an invaluable characteristic that should be developed and stimulated. But how can one preserve that crucial quality in children?

If I were responsible for this, my main priority would be to implement a curriculum in schools intended to expose them to topics that will be of greater concern to them in the future. Illuminating the world’s injustices and atrocities to children is important in helping them formulate their own opinions, but it is also of equal importance to expose them to the world’s beauty.

When children see the magnificence of the world and its inhabitants, perhaps they will feel more inclined to protect it against political, social, and economic wrongs. I think that primary school lessons rarely address the development of children as members of a greater society. They rarely regard children as citizens - that is, citizens of a global society who have the capacity to one day alter the world.

The experience that I had as a child in Jamaica opened my eyes to poverty, but also exposed me to possibility. By teaching children, not only about the geography of the globe, but also of the human condition , perhaps we will be able to shape their concern and optimism for it. Then we can capture that compassion until the sparks of their thought transform into action.