Today is Children's Day, and what a better theme for Issue 6. of neXtDRAFT. Anyone who has been following my blog for the last 4.5 years will know that the children of the Philippines especially are subjects close to my heart.

This week was a great excuse to drag out and compile a gallery of photos with links to some of my earlier posts and articles about the children I've met here. But as cute as they are I think it's also important to mention that the Philippines is ranked #3 in the world for risk and exposure to natural disasters. Here in the Western Visayas we are exposed every year to typhoons, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and it is children who are most vulnerable.

The majority of Australians are born into a life of privilege and we find it hard to conceptualise the lives of the more than 26 million Filipinos who live in poverty (I know I certainly had no clue until I came to live here). And the poor are disproportionately affected by these disasters – and are more likely to die as a result. 

So please enjoy the photos this week but spare a thought for the lives of these kids who haul water from wells, hunt for scrap metal, carry jerry cans of water using bamboo poles stretched across their shoulders, and are snapped up by neighbours and relatives to work on their fishing boats and plantations.

Everything I do here is about enabling kids to access education, the ability to go to school, and be a kid for as long as they can.

Till next week. 

Mel xx

PS: I'm also trialling new email software to deliver a better quality presentation. Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the email this week.