The Other Face Of Christmas
Santa Claus has forgotten about these kids
There I was, gathered with all my family enjoying our time together after a long year. If you ask me, it felt like anything has changed. We ate the traditional Christmas meals along with the customary hot chocolate, we had a tall tree filled with multi-colored lights in the living room, and the children were excited to open their presents at midnight — restless to find Santa Claus.
Unfortunately, due to the national quarantine imposed for the holidays, we could only stay with each other for a few hours and then headed straight home as we were at our grandma’s house.
The ride home was so heartbreaking… and revealing.
Looking through the window the shops were closed but people were still out there, outside. Families were resting in makeshift shelters in the parks, mothers carrying their little children on their backs on the streets without any gifts in the midst of darkness, and — as everybody was rushing to get home in time to avoid the fines — nobody was willing to aid them.
It was like seeing our society falling apart.
As a child, I don’t recall not having a hot chocolate in front of a fireplace on Christmas Eve or being outside instead of the warm atmosphere of being at home or (God forbid!) not having a single gift to unwrap after waking up on the morning of the 25th.
As the temperature drops, winter frost paves the streets, and darkness reigns, the most vulnerable find it even harder to get by.
Those children were out in the cold and I wasn’t doing anything to help them.
Christmas is now over, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit around and do nothing. There many are things we can all do to help children living in poverty, whether it’s by donating clothes or maybe a — good quality — toy, raising money for charities, or just going outside to give gifts to the kids you see on the streets every day.
We have numberless possibilities to contribute to reducing inequality in our society so let’s do it because what more is Christmas than a universal celebration of unity and solidarity among people?
