"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, rule and guide. Amen.”- Prayer to Your Guardian Angel

 

Last night, I was plain tired. So, before going to sleep, I prayed the guardian angel prayer.

 

Today, I woke up with a big smile. That smile got bigger as I read about the DOLE Angel Tree project. This project aims to save child laborers and is viewed by DOLE Secretary Baldoz as a best practice, her recent experience in Koronadal telling her that it could be a model for other provinces and cities. The labor and employment chief went to the provincial capital of South Cotabato as a guest of the DOLE Regional Office No. 12’s Social Partners’ Forum cum Fund Raising for typhoon Yolanda victims, during which she awarded 30 child laborers their wishes, for them not to return to child labor. The 30 child laborers-10 from Sarangani Province-five each from Cotabato City, Gen. Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato- have been “matched” with sponsors who granted their wishes, making their transition from child labor to school-and onto the future-much brighter and sure. Each of them wrote their wishes on a paper star, which the DOLE used to adorn a huge Christmas tree on display at the forum venue. Secretary Baldoz was very generous in praising the sponsors of the child laborers’ wishes, and said that eliminating child labor is not the government’s work alone. “I thank all of you for being a Project Angel Tree sponsor. School is really the place for children, not the farm or factories,” she added, in encouraging the 30 children to always stay in school. “This is a best practice that other regions must look into and emulate,” Baldoz concluded. Yes, Project Angel Tree will spread like wildfire, igniting hope in every child laborer’s soul. And right now, my smile is the biggest of them all.

 

Reference/Source: 1. Project Angel Tree best practice benefits 30 child laborers in Region 12’s 2 cities and 3 provinces. From the Department of Labor and Employment Good News’ Archive,Date Posted: January 21, 2014