" ON I - WITNESS ' MGA BATANG LANGOY BY JAY TARUC "

We often hear a story about a student leaving their homes, walking for more than two kilometers for school but there are also a handful who must swim the same distance, through the open sea, in order to get an education. 

          Jay Taruc documents the unforgettable struggle of the Magalumbi island, children of Iloilo. Queenche is 10 years old, Raul is 13, and along with their younger siblings, they swim home from school every single day. Their fishermen fathers take them to the mainland but after school, they must prepare themselves for the inevitable. As their parents are out making a living, the children must all swim home – a two kilometer stretch that takes them half an hour in good weather. The children are fearless as they brave the deep waters that at certain points go all the way down to twenty feet. The younger ones hold onto a bamboo log for support in case they get tired. But jellyfish thrive in this sea in the months of June and July and the heavy rains that sometimes surprise them in the midst of their swim make the journey very dangerous. Unable to take their schoolbooks home with them, the kids have to bury their things under the sand every afternoon. In the morning, once they hit the beach, they quickly dig up their books and rush their assignments before getting to school. It’s no wonder no child from Magalumbi has yet managed to graduate from high school. Queenche dreams of being the first, and of someday even making it to college. This documentary video showed and gave us the opportunity to think, that we are all lucky, that even some of us got a chance to study in a beautiful school, or a beautiful home and we don’t have to suffer all those.

               The media serves as the child's avenue to achieve an opportunity to express. It also becomes a place for children to reach for their concerns at their respective offices, especially when they face legitimate child-related issues related to their rights, or their absence. And because of the power of the media to reach the attention of the widest number of people in a country or area, it can be said that the media can be very helpful to children.