Standing with Ukraine means fighting for the dreams of their Children

Stolen ‘dreams’?are not the first thought that comes to mind when we think about the bloodshed currently being spilt across Ukraine. But it should be.

Every shell that falls in every Ukrainian village carries more than the human slaughter it perpetrates. Each fallen shell leaves a scar in the hearts of the old and reminds them living in peace is but a dream they once had. It affirms that to live is to be ready to suffer and that dreaming is for the foolish – for they do not wish their grandchildren to grow up fools.

Every siren that echoes in every neighbourhood is louder than high-pitch decimals that disturb the placidity of life. They carry the frenzied fear of parents to gather their children and run for shelters just to stay alive. Each siren renders parents to remove the ignorance of their children for the garlands they see. With every sound that bellows, it etches to slowly remove the guiltiness they once felt and makes their unconditional love for friends secondary to the love of their flag. For children cannot dream as when they sleep under the sound of terror.

Every school gate closed to give room for conflict to reign and every building disfigured by missiles harm more than the time to reopen and rebuild. They are monuments of forgotten child potential and forlorn dreams. The bullet holes on the sides of playgrounds are a reminder of the punishment to children for crimes they did not commit, served by men they have offended. For even when a child survivors all of this, they need teachers who are not victims of what they have lost, but who are dreamers of what children can be.??

Every soldier sent to defend?their land?does not bring the conflict closer to an end. Every breath of every new recruit makes conflict more tormenting for those who knew not the solider; but who love a blossoming son, a protective brother and a future father. For when the soldier returns, neither he nor those who knew him are the same. And should the inadvertent warrior become a martyr, all the children who once laughed over dreams of hope are left alone in fits of nightmare. The hurt of unjust killing is kin to frenzied vengeance, and when the fields of promise become the fields of death, the hope of better gives away to the bitterness of revulsion.

Every tyrant that has even risen was propelled by dreams once stolen. For every tyrant was once a boy, rich with goodness and love for life. For someone else who once a tyrant, stole his dreams, with the words he said, the shells he ordered and the lust for power that comes when you are poor of love.

And for all children who can survive and keep their dreams alive without losing love for others, we must cherish this unvanquished spirit, for they are the future of their community, their country and of our world.

If we stand with the people of Ukraine, we stand with all people and with all children who dare to dream of a world inspired by hope and steered by peace.