Re-birth

In many ways, September 1st felt like the beginning of a new year.  To most of us, it marked the start of the new school year, when children and young adults start going back to school.  A familiar, joyful, and sentimental ring came with this time: communities joining in support of our shared dreams for a better world, vested in our youth’s learning and growth. 

It feels quite different this year.  As September, 2020 dawns upon us, millions of people all over the world are facing job loss, food insecurity, health concerns, and the unprecedented dilemma of how to stay healthy while giving our children the best shot at an enriching education and protecting their future.  The past five months have taught us that life as we know it will never be the same.

While the Covid-19 pandemic is in a league of its own, human history is full of re-births of nations from wars, plagues, strife; re-births that came about because ordinary men and women took the initiative and saw that the road to recovery required a new way forward. They found new ways of doing things, and by so doing, sustained our future. 

The post-Covid future is uncertain.  What is real is the threat this uncertainty poses to our children’s future if their access to education is imperiled.  There are a lucky few, mostly the wealthy and the privileged, who can and will ride this out.  They have the means to hire tutors, acquire cutting-edge technology and the wherewithal to gain access to sustain their children’s education and learning.   

 How about the rest of the many? 

I hear a clarion call for each of us.  Each of us, ordinary men and women, need to go through a rebirth of sorts:  to see the world and its needs with new eyes; to feel the pain and suffering of our fellow human beings – especially the less fortunate -  with a new heart; to seek and find a new way to invest in our future.  

In the past five months, we learned many things about ourselves and our fellow human beings, including how little we know. We also learned how little we need, while also realizing how much we have. Here’s the truth:  each of us can find a new way to invest in our post-Covid future by sustaining the education of our children. Small acts matter; and a recent New York Times article lists some of the ways we can:

·       Donate, if you can:  As the crisis continues, if you can afford it, a recurring monthly commitment gets you to commit for the long run.

·       Join a mutual-aid group:  You’ll be taking cues from the people you’re helping; supporting parents is often the best way to support their children.

·       Give clothing and supplies: Your children might be pleased to know others will appreciate their outgrown clothes; write letters to the other family and find a new friend.

·       Volunteer virtually:  Consider organizing a drive on your own social media to collect school supplies; volunteer as a virtual tutor.

·       Support with meals:  Grow a garden and share your harvest with a local food bank; drive and deliver meals to vulnerable families; assemble food boxes at food banks.

·       Provide a kid with internet access:  Many households with school-age children do not have high-speed internet connection, a must-have for remote education.

At UNLAD, our work towards providing our under-served youth access to education started long before the pandemic. But now, this work has become more daunting and more urgent.  Find a way to heed this call.  Your rebirth, your opportunity to invest in a new future, is yours to take.