Opinion

WE OWE A DUTY TO ORPHANS

Elia Ntali

It is regrettable that some of the student journalists, who are turning deaf ears to calls by the Press Club Executive to donate towards charity and beneficiaries, happen to come from the same affected societies.

Our lazy, lamentable response to these calls may tell two stories – either one does not have, or is simply not willing to participate in the noble exercise. Ironically, we fail to appreciate that being an orphan is none of these children’s choice.

Amongst us, many lost parents at a tender age, but were more fortunate than those stuck at various children’s homes because they found support from relatives or well wishers who sacrificed their resources to hide their “orphan tag”.

Charity Centers in our communities need our support, and even the little that we would have donated will go a long way in the upkeep of these unfortunate children.

Some who are already in the field of journalism may agree that there is little or no support from the corporate world, so its better we take the initiative and be exemplary. We will certainly leave a mark in the beneficiary’s life.

I am one of those people who used to look down on the issue of donating to charity until I paid a visit to an orphanage in my neighborhood. It was a pity to see the children scramble for food and to imagine that a four year old is wrestling with a thirteen year old for something to eat is even more indicting. Who would you expect to win such a contest?

On March 1 2013 (tomorrow) the CCOSA PRESS CLUB descends on a children’s home in Norton.

I am urging all students to come in numbers and grace such a distinguished occasion.

It’s not about the president of the press club, neither is it about the director of journalism, nor the lecturer in charge. It is about all of us as journalists – as the ‘fourth estate’, as ‘watchers’, as reporters, as social ‘evaluators’, and more importantly, as human beings.