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Hope in the Future

By Shantha Sinha
photo Shantha Sinha together with some of the children whose rights she champions

Shantha Sinha's work has helped hundreds of thousands of children leave work and get an education. She and the more than 80,000 volunteers throughout India who support her cause are also changing attitudes toward child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood. Here she shares her reflections on the emergence of a culture of human rights.

We live in a world of inherent contradictions. On the one hand, we are witness to the cruelest of crimes and violence perpetrated against humanity through organized actions and the insensitivities of structures of power and authority--even sometimes from among those seeking to change the existing power balances in the world today. On the other, we see the unfolding of the finest of human values in the simple and noble actions of ordinary people in their daily lives, in leaders and visionaries with moral authority striking a chord of hope for millions of people. We witness the triumph of seekers of truth and justice based on a love for their fellow human beings that is without borders.

Good people exist everywhere, in villages and towns, cities and nations--they are all around us. It is their courage and conviction, their magnanimity and tolerance, their ability to transcend hatred and their love of humanity that has kept the fabric of contemporary society intact. These ordinary qualities are able to transform the current of society--they are the bedrock of a culture of peace and of human rights.

Transformations

In our work for the abolition of child labor through education, we have witnessed many such outstanding transformations. One volunteer was threatened by an employer who was using child labor, who actually wished to have her killed. However, after seeing the conduct of the volunteer as well as our actual work for the children, he became one of the strongest supporters of the movement.

photo Dr. Sinha and her volunteers

Similarly, as our organization promoted children's right to education in villages that were controlled by dacoits [bandits], the dacoits overcame their initial hostility and came forward to engage in dialogue with us based on our common wish for a better future for their children.

We have seen time and again how the most simple and ordinary people can bring about the greatest changes. The volunteers that support our initiative to get all children into school come from similar backgrounds to the people they serve. In the last two decades of our work, the children supported through these volunteers have gone on to enjoy much better economic circumstances.

Gaining strength from the inspiring examples of those who work for the good of others, it is so important to re-instill our faith and trust in all and not to give up on anyone. I have seen the impact of trust in my work, as hundreds of thousands of children have been able to leave work and go to school, as difficult employers have chosen to be part of the child rights movement, as schoolteachers have begun to teach and enjoy children, and as parents have gained the confidence to sacrifice and do all they can to see their children educated.

Hope in the future, hope that is founded on the force of moral authority, will certainly inspire profound actions for the celebration and uplifting of the human spirit. This path of nonviolence, tolerance and magnanimity for harmonizing societies is not easy, but can there be any other alternative to this for a better society?

Shantha Sinha is the founder of the M. V. Foundation and chairperson of India's National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. In 2003 she won the Ramon Magsaysay Award--considered Asia's Nobel Prize--for Community Leadership. She is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Hyderabad Central University.

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