Shillong, Apr 19: With simple props but a deep and personal story, members of the NGO Faith Foundation took to the street at Mawlai Phudmuri on Saturday evening to convey the message that adults must listen to children and encourage them to speak out when they face abuse.
Faith Foundation is in the middle of a month-long ‘Keeping Our Children Safe’ campaign in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Other than the street play, which will be performed in Police Bazar and Laitumkhrah in the coming days, the organisation has also been engaging in sensitisation programmes that have, or will, be held in different neighbourhoods of Shillong in addition to a children’s programme on All India Radio.
This year’s theme, ‘Believe The Child’, highlights a critical reality – that child sexual abuse often occurs in silence and, in most cases, the perpetrator is someone known to the child. When children gather the courage to speak, their voices must be heard, trusted and acted upon and the theme emphasises the responsibility of adults to listen, believe and take timely action to ensure children’s safety.
The street play, entitled ‘Mano Ban Ïarap Ïa Nga?’ (Who Will Help Me?) draws on the folktale of Ka Nam, a girl who was promised to a tiger by her mother.
Two groups of people clash in the play – on one side are those who loudly call out perpetrators of abuse but they are up others who are more concerned with hushing up such crimes so as not to bring shame to society. How communities also protect perpetrators in positions of power was another angle that was tackled in the performance.
The actors are members of Faith Foundation. Given the organisation’s work in the field of child sexual abuse, many of the performers were themselves left in tears by the end, such as its emotional impact.
Through this campaign, Faith Foundation aims to raise awareness among adult stakeholders about child sexual abuse, including how grooming occurs and how it can be prevented. It is promoting increasing awareness and encouraging proactive adult intervention as key steps toward protecting children and building safer communities.
The street play will be performed again in front of the MUDA complex at Police Bazar on Tuesday and then at Don Bosco Square in Laitumkhrah on Friday, both at 4:30pm.
