Child torturer no more

In my family, I was dubbed notoriously as the Child Torturer.

Don’t get me wrong—I do not strap children in metal chairs and electrocute them or anything. My “torture” usually is teasing them until they cry. And when I say cry, I mean nerve-wracking, jaw-breaking kind of crying.

But of course, in the end, feeling a little guilty, I would cuddle my nieces and nephews and make them laugh.

Afterwards, I’d make them cry again.

Child-Torturer queen, indeed!

But I’m not saying I dislike or hate children. It’s just that I like to make fun of them. My family believed I was not capable of establishing rapport with kids because I just couldn’t help but tease them to tears.

Thus, when they found out that I was going to work for UNICEF this summer, they were shocked, to say the least.

I can remember it quite clearly as if it were yesterday:

On the morning of March 25 I ran inside my sister’s room and yelled, “I’m a VIP!”

“More like a KSP,” my sister said, rolling her eyes. “Since when did you become a very important person?”

“When UNICEF chose me to become a summer intern,” I said. I showed her a copy of the email, saying I was 1 of the 12 people accepted for UNICEF’s Volunteer Internship Program this summer.

“So what’s UNICEF?” My sister asked, tossing the paper aside.

“United Nations.”

“United Nations what?”

“United Nations, um…” I mumbled. “They’re a non profit organization that aids children,” I was visibly unsure if I got it right. I would find out later that UNICEF does more than simply giving aid.

My sister laughed. “You don’t even like children.”

“Now I do.”

“You won’t last a week in your internship.” It was either I was not made of strong stuff or I was such a cunning creature to having squeezed myself into UNICEF.

“I thought you said they interviewed you?” My uncle said that afternoon when I told him the news.

“They did!”

“So how did you fool them?” He asked. Then he roared with laughter.

Very supportive, aren’t they? Yet I couldn’t blame them, for they knew my antics with children.

However, a very famous philosopher once said that the only thing constant is change. And change indeed is what happened to me.

I not only survived the whole week of my internship, I actually spent an entire month and a half with UNICEF! And the funny things is, I enjoyed my stay. So survive isn’t the right word to describe it.

The internship was fun and life changing.

It was fun because I spent my time with 11 really cool people, all with the passion to help the Filipino children. We got to plan different activities to promote UNICEF as well as to raise funds. It was hard work but we knew we couldn’t fail because that meant failing the children as well. So whenever we felt hopeless? Someone would say, “For the children! ”

But the most memorable thing during the whole internship was when I actually got the chance to meet these children. Almost a hundred, in fact.

This was the first time I’ve ever talked and mingled with street children. And I realized that no matter how the streets may toughen them up, no matter how rough they are, no matter how dirty they may look – a child is a child. We still need to protect them.

And that’s why I said the internship was life changing. Well, a bit of an exaggeration there, but still, there were a lot of things about me that has changed over the summer. Even my sister could attest to that. Because now, I can’t look at a child without thinking of the things I could do to help. Before, I would not really care. It was enough for me to know that somewhere, somehow, someone is helping them. This time around, I’m not content to just sit around and let someone else do the helping. I wanted to be part of it.

What’s even more surprising was my attitude to my cousins. I was nice to them and much sweeter, there’s no other way to say it. And I realized that my cousins really liked me too—if I just didn’t tease them too much. This time, they’d run up to me yelling “Ate Cynes!” and cover my faces with kisses and hug me tight. Unlike before, they’d run in the other direction when they see me!

So it may have come as a surprise to many people when I began working for UNICEF – but there was a reason behind it. It gave me the chance to change my attitude towards children. What’s more, I also got the chance to help and make a difference.

If you are interested to learn more about UNICEF's VIP,
send an e-mail to kcarbon@unicef.org.
Or call (0632) 901-0154.