Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com

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Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore Theme: "Children are our most valuable resource." Ritual: Lighting candles for the millions of children who have lost their childhood: Missing children; Children with special needs; Malnourished Children; Unborn Children; Child labour and Street Children. Event: 14 November 2011 - Childrens Day 20 November - Universal Childrens Day 29 August - International Childrens Day Requirements: A Teacher and 2/3 student leaders will take full responsibility for prior preparation: 1. Arrange and organize the prayer service, with prior preparation for the requirements. Assign readers to responsibly render their role, practice earlier to set the tone of prayerful devotion and let the prayer flow with meaningful pauses without flaw. 2. Display prominently The Theme, Quote and the Logo. 3. Prepare the 5 placards to be displayed during the ritual and 5 candles to be lit. 4. the choir to practice earlier and sing. 5. 3 teachers and 3 Readers to read their part during the prayer Introduction: Reader 1: Globally certain days are dedicated to significant events, hence 20th November was chosen as a Universal Childrens Day in 1959 by the UN General Assembly to celebrate and promote the welfare of children all over the globe adopting the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. In 1989 U.N. signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, sanctioned by 191 states. In India Childrens Day is celebrated on 14th November, the birth anniversary of independent Indias first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Children used to call him "Chacha Nehru" (Chacha in Hindi means Uncle). He was fond of children and spared his free time by playing, singing and telling stories to them. He used to say that "Future India is in the hands of Today's Child".
*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
A child is recognized as a person under 18 as the age of voting, driving license, marriage is on completion of 18 years in many countries. Every child has the right to be born in a socially safe environment and have a mother and a father. Childhood is about innocence and playfulness; joy and freedom. Celebrating Childrens Day is about giving children the right to enjoy and grow into healthy, educated and responsible citizens of the country. The children are our future. We celebrate all children on childrens day. Let us pray the song as we enter into the presence of God. Song: He's got The Whole World In His Hands Refer: http://youtu.be/guyrERfsCB8 OR If You're Happy And You Know It Reader 2: Children make our life important. We can't form our children on our own concepts. We cannot fashion our children after our desires, we must have them and love them as God has given them to us. When I see children, I see the face of God. That's why I love them so much. That's what I see.(Michael Jackson). Being with children connects us to the ever-present deeper wisdom of life. All of us have to recognize that we owe our children more than we have been giving them. Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven as our soul is healed in being with them. While we try to teach our children all about life, children teach us what life is all about. Children are remarkable for their intelligence, ardor and curiosity, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision and their intolerance of shams. Of all nature's gifts Children are the sweetest gift bestowed to humankind in His divine providence. The world is as many times original and precious as there are children in our lives. Let us listen to the scripture reading from the gospel of St. Mark 10:14: Reader 3: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (After a brief pause of 30 seconds) Christ loves little children because he loves their simplicity and innocence; Jesus has sanctified childhood by passing through it himself as a little kid, child and adolescent. Children are harmless, free from malice, meek, modest and humble; without pride, self-conceit, ambitious desires of grandeur and superiority. There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child, there are seven million. Children open our eyes and ears to the beauty and life in the world that surround us all the time. Reader 4: The child is recognized, universally, as a human being who must be able to develop physically, mentally, socially, morally, and spiritually, with freedom and dignity. Every child is born with inalienable human rights founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of race, gender, language, religion, origins, wealth, birth status or ability. Childrens rights are
*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
central to creating a world of peace, fairness, security and respect for the environment. We owe our children the best we have to give them. India has the world's largest child population, as 40% (at 484 million) of India's population is below the age of 18 years. Despite the existence of rights, millions of children suffer from poverty, neglect, abuse, without access to shelter, sanitation, education and justice systems in both industrialized and developing countries. Only a section of the children in the world enjoy childhood. There is an entire populace suffering. 51 million children are unregistered at birth. 53 per cent of girls in the age group of five to nine years are illiterate. 17 million children in India are in forced child labour. 2 million children are exploited through the commercial sex trade. As we celebrate childhood with its manifold blessings we befriend the children who suffer in praying for them. Song: We are the children of the world. - .Refer : http://youtu.be/hdtTgUSZE9o Ritual: Lighting candles for the millions of children who have lost their childhood: (5 Children holding placards with titles below and 5 holding lighted candles they come on the stage in pairs as their part is read by 5 different readers and later remain on the stage till the end.) 1. Missing children 2. Children with special needs 3. Malnourished Children 4. Unborn Children 5. Child labour and Street Children Leader: Lets give all the lost children some hope. Lets light a candle as a sign that they are in our hearts. We can all open a door for a child in reaching out and opening our heart. 1. Candle for Missing Children: A missing child is a parent's worst nightmare. Every day thousands of children go missing during calamities (tsunami, floods, earthquake), tragedies (riots, wars, accidents), in crowded places (as railway stations, melas), while quite a few runaway from their homes or are kidnapped. Many of the children are never traced but end tragically in child labour and trafficking, streets, remand homes, rape, begging and death. CHILDLINE reaches out to all children in need of care, protection and in emergency situations and can be accessed by dialing 1098. Anyone who has lost their child can post a message on the website www.missingchildsearch.net launched by Don Bosco National Forum for Youth at Risk in association with UNICEF setting the search in motion simultaneously in 40 cities in the country offering hope to families in their search for the child. In this digital age of online communication and supportive unconventional methods many are traced and united with their families, however many households keep their search and hope alive for decades. We remember the trauma and agony of these missing children and their families in lighting this candle of hope.
*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
2. Children with Special Needs: Children with special needs require assistance for the developmental disabilities that may be medical, mental or psychological. They include autism, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, down syndrome, epilepsy, mental retardation, dyslexia, sensory or speech disorders as vision or hearing impaired. These children are ignored and excluded from the mainstream and need the inclusion and services of therapy and schooling they deserve. One in every ten children is differently abled (disabled) in India. Many of the children who are differently abled are put away by their families in institutions that lack the means, money and staff to take care of them. Although every special-needs child is different and every family is unique, there are some common concerns that link parents of challenged kids. Their families have to deal with frequent crises, uncertainty and worry. The parents of children with special needs are heroic in being more flexible, compassionate, persevering and resilient than other parents. We light a candle for these children with special needs and their families who care for them. 3. Malnourished Children: Food is most basic human need. Malnutrition results when certain nutrients lack in the diet threatening life and limiting physical development and mental capacity to learn. Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger. India is home to 42% of the worlds underweight children. Malnutrition costs valuable lives, our precious GenX, for 50 per cent of all childhood deaths are due to malnutrition. Every year 15 million of our children die of hunger. Statistics reveal that one in every three undernourished children in the world lives in India. In spite of numerous government schemes and safety nets malnutrition remains widespread in our country. We need to break the links between poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. There is more than enough food on the planet to feed everyone. The world has the knowledge, resources and the tools to conquer hunger and is one of the MDGs (millennium developmental goals) set by the United Nations. No child should go to bed hungry and no child should be born underweight and stay undernourished. We light this candle for millions who die of starvation and disease due to malnutrition in our state and country. 4. Unborn children: The life of an individual human being begins with conception and ends with death. In an abortion an unborn child dies. Abortion is genocide on human race and against Gods prized creation. The culture of silence of those who know better and yet cannot protect the voiceless unborn is ironical. "On a scale of cruelty, encounter deaths between security forces and gangs, are a tear drop in the ocean,"

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
Every year, an average of about 11 million abortions take place, and around 20,000 women die every year due to abortion related complications. In India 1.72 million children die each year before the age of one, because of the gender bias causing the skewed sex ratio. We raise this candle for the millions unborn especially the girl children who journey directly from womb to tomb and pray that everyone take the responsibility to improve the situation. 5. Child labour and Street Children: Child labour is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. Millions of children are occupied in work that deny their right to survival, education and development; vulnerable to abuse and neglect. The ILO (International Labor Organization) estimates that 215 million children currently work at all sorts of hazardous jobs around the world usually because of poverty. They labour in agriculture exposed to pesticides as in cotton fields and plantations; manufacture of carpets, fireworks, bricks, glass, footwear etc., mining and quarries in setting explosives, sieving and carrying ore. Some children are trafficked and in bonded labour as drug trade, prostitution and child soldiers. Street Children are those who are abandoned by their families or runaway from home due to constant abuse and live off the street undertaking occupations to earn a living, scavenging for food in rubbish heaps and sleep on the pavements and remain potential victims of drugs trade and child trafficking. Street life is unpleasant, risky and vulnerable constantly exposed to intense sun, rain, cold, dirt, smoke and pollution. They work as rag pickers playing a useful role in segregating garbage and recycling waste paper, plastic, glass, scrap metal etc., Public perceive the street children as lawless, crime-prone outcasts, police and local officials use violence and intimidation widely against them, arrest and dump them in jail-like remand homes. The survival instinct and tenacity help the street children to survive the daily trials of street life without a citizenship status /birth certificate to get ration cards or legal documents. Though they live in the midst of hardship and poverty yet they survive in groups sharing everything in a spirit friendship like food, clothes, intoxicants, sleeping under the same sheet, teaching each other trades like rag-picking, protecting each other from street violence and the police, and feeding each other in sickness. Street children are to be admired for their courage, intelligence, and initiative as a 12-year-old balloon seller and two young rag-pickers became Delhis latest heroes in becoming the eyes and ears that go unnoticed or unheard in helping the police narrow down on the men who may have carried out one of the Delhi blasts and other two prevented two bombs from exploding by alerting the police in time. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, India has the largest population of street children in the world -- around 18 million, of whom nearly 2,50,000 live on the streets of Mumbai. Don Bosco National Forum for Youth at Risk is a major partner of Childline India
*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
Foundation and extends service to hundreds of street and working children in shelter homes spread in every major city. Let us light a candle for the millions of children struggling to live on the streets and in forced labour Let us now conclude praying the Our Father Prayer Songs Song: He's got The Whole World In His Hands Refer: http://youtu.be/guyrERfsCB8 Chorus: Hes got the whole world in His hands, |: Hes got the whole world in His hands,:| Hes got the whole world in His hands. 1. Hes got the wind and the rain in His hands, |: Hes got the wind and the rain in His hands,:| Hes got the whole world in His hands. 2. Hes got the tiny little baby in His hands, |: Hes got the tiny little baby in His hands,:| Hes got the whole world in His hands. 3. Hes got you and me, brother, in His hands, |: Hes got you and me, brother, in His hands,:| Hes got the whole world in His hands. 4. He's got ev'rybody here in His hands. |: He's got ev'rybody here in His hands. :| He's got the whole world in His hands. OR If You're Happy And You Know It

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands, If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands, If you're happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it, If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands! If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet... If you're happy and you know it, shake your head... If you're happy and you know it, turn around... If you're happy and you know it, touch your toes...
*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
Song: We are the children of the world. - .Refer : http://youtu.be/hdtTgUSZE9o Chorus: We are the children of the world. Ev'ry face is diff'rent, yet we are all the same; We have the same hopes and fears, and dreams for the future, Yes, we are the children; we are the children of the world. Yesterday was yours, we have tomorrow, But in between we all must share today. Be careful what you're telling us, We're learning what you're showing us, Depending on your guidance to help us on our way, On our way. Chorus Look in our eyes, see all the promise, We know the future's in our hands. Give us the courage to face every challenge, Prepare us to risk, so we'll learn how to fly. Watch us fly! Chorus (repeated twice)

10 Child Commandments to Parents

by Dr. Kevin Leman

1. My hands are small; please don't expect perfection whenever I draw a picture or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you. 2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely. Don't restrict me unnecessarily. 3. Housework will always be there. I'm only little for a short time, please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world and do so willingly. 4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs. Don't nag me all day long. Treat me as you would like to be treated. 5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner. 6. I need your encouragement to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember, you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me. 7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I'll be prepared to make the kinds of decisions that life requires of me. 8. Please don't do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts *Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre - AVEC

Don Bosco Youth Services Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019 Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
didn't quite measure up to your expectations. I know it's hard, but please don't try to compare me to my brother or sister. 9. Please don't be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it's a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special. 10. Please take me to Sunday School and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God. www.realfamilies.com/compassion .

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values* PRAYER SERVICE FROM AVEC