Kesz's Story

Kesz’ Journey to a Better Life

As stated by the childrens care website “More than 30 million in the world are not immunized against treatable or preventable diseases”. In the Philippines alone, there are 15 million street children and almost all of them don’t even know how to simply brush their teeth or wash their hands to keep away the germs. This was all realized by a young boy named Kesz. In the dumpsites of the Phillipines, this young boy lived  in garbage at the age of four. Because he was rescued from his hardships, Kesz is bravely and powerfully fighting to provide street children with hygenic education and hope.

Kesz has been very grateful for the helping hands that pulled him out of the fire. As a result, he believes that he should do the same for the street children of the Philippines. After Kesz decided to run away from his abusive father, he fell into a pit of burning tires as he was roaming the dumpsite. “Looking back, the fire that burned my skin and flesh is the same fire that started a flame in my soul. A flame that would warm cold hearts, a flame that would shed light to the path of the lost, a flame that would spark hope, lighting an entire sea of darkness and desperation.” Kesz’s Acceptance speach. The pain Kesz had to undergo made him work to end the pain for street children. Some of the things Kesz was able to accomplish was instructing the children to sanitize themselves to prevent escapable death. Without all of this hardship, he wouldn’t have been able to help others. You could say that the same fire that burned away his flesh and skin, also burned away the fear and doubt. Because of this, Kesz has come out on the other side of the suffering much stronger than he was before. In Kesz’s case, he was rescued by Mr. Harnin, “Mr. Harnin, the father I  look up to, taught me these principles and keeps on reminding me daily by his own life’s example.” When Kesz was in the burn unit it was a day of suffering, but when Mr.Harnin walked in it was suddenly his last days of pain. Mr. Harnin provided him with love and care, and he would love to reciprocate that love for the children in the streets. If he could follow Mr.Harnin’s examples and help the ones in need or “burning” then what’s stopping him from making life better for the street children?

Kesz has been very successful in improving the health of the street children because he taught the little things that make a big difference. Kesz feels strongly about improving the smaller issues.  “Everyday 6,000 children die from diseases associated with poor sanitation, poor hygiene, and WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”  In this quote, Kesz is dropping a cold hard fact on the audience. It’s not fun to hear. But you can’t choose what you want to hear. It’s reality. The most horrific . Kesz has decided to provide hope and education to the street children.“My message to all children here and around the globe is; our health is our wealth! Being healthy will enable you to play, to think clearly, get up and go to school and love the people around you in so many.” This quote states that being healthy unlocks your ability to all these other oppurtunities. Kesz has taken the chance he was given to turn life around for these kids by showing them how to take care of themselves and give them some vital information that could help them further along in life, and could even help the children of the future. If you take care of yourself, you are more able to help the others around you.

With all these points in mind, it is clear that Kesz has done everything in his power to help the street children in the Philippines. Kesz has proved that you must still do something even if what you can do, is not as significant as you would think. You don’t need to donate buckets of cash to the red cross or donate all your belongings. Kesz has changed the lives of children by teaching them how to sanitize themselves in the simplest ways that make all the difference. This story not only is very heartbreaking, but it makes you think, if he can make such a difference, there is nothing to stop me from doing the same.