More Must Be Done to Protect Children, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, December 29, 2011

More Must Be Done to Protect Children

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
December 29, 2011

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,152873.html

Reverend Pam Greaves shares a moment with Amrit Ramoutar after presenting him with a gift during the Feast of the Holy Innocents service at the Holy T...

More must be done to prevent the deaths of young children in this country, Roman Catholic Priest, Father Kenneth Assing, said yesterday.

Speaking during the Feast of the Holy Innocents at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Port-of-Spain, Assing said society must make every effort to protect its young children.

“It’s difficult to protect children, especially when we have a culture of silence on matters of infanticide because people are either threatened if they say anything, or they too were abused and they have to remain silent,” he told the congregation.

Assing was referring to the deaths of children during incidents of violence and even those who are killed during abortion.

He added, “There is an underlying culture of how we relate to people. We see something happening and we talk to the wrong people and among ourselves we have a good gossip and then begin to make judgement calls on the persons involved, not knowing the circumstances behind the situation and not reporting it to the police because they are afraid of the repercussions.” Assing said apart from one’s personal decision to have an abortion, which is a contributing factor to infanticide, legal decisions made by governments can and have led to deaths of born and unborn children.

At the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which is of the Anglican faith, children from the St Mary’s Children Home, Cyril Ross Nursery and Kids in Need of Direction (KIND) were treated to gifts from parishioners of the church.

Before the blessing of the gifts, Reverend Pam Greaves, who officiated the feast, joined the children in singing songs and the reading of scriptures. Once the gifts were given to the anxious children from the homes, they were seen busily unwrapping them, with many smiling in delight at the gift they received.

One parishioner, who gave her name as Joan, said, “This is the sixth year since we began this initiative and it always brings us joy to see the smile on the kids’ faces when they open their gifts.”