A child’s education is the foundation to potential greatness in life. Depriving a child of this fundamental human right is to steal youth, curiosity, and a bridge to cultural appreciation for one’s own country as well as other lands. Naida Sekic returns to DIPLOMATICALLY INCORRECT with her new article on the power of education for children to become fulfilled global citizens.   -- From Susan Sacirbey "MY BOOK AND MY HEART MUST NEVER PART", By NAIDA SEKIC Henry David Thoreau admired the power of books as they marked the treasured wealth of the world and employed the fit inheritance of generations and nations. This, rather beautiful saying, came to mind when reading an article in the “Dnevni Avaz” conducted by UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina on the issue of children, and how in fact 90% of the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not attend preschool. Perhaps this notion may seem banal and somewhat insignificant to many, though the potential consequences of such acts are in fact very relevant to us all as the future of the world lies in the hands of the children of today. 90% of the youngsters of a nation is a rather high number, and perhaps the zeal to work against such poverty should be greater had the tiny heart-shaped lands of Bosnia and Herzegovina been slightly more popular, to say the least. Now, what does this make of a country? Surely, such facts must give in to some kind of understanding of the state at heart. Some of the potential causes may be the lack of institutions, the lack of financial support, or a high unemployment rate and the list goes on. There are millions of reasons to why 90% of the children in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not attend preschool. The lucky ones, the remaining 10% of the children come from urban populated areas in contrast to the less urban and more rural areas of the 90% according to UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina. Often a deprivation of some sort is a punishment of some kind for a wretched act, though how wretched of an act have the children of the world committed to suffer such a brutal punishment; to be robbed of their education? As the character of “Baba” would say in Khaled Hosseini's the Kite Runner, "There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness." Similar to the experiences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the beautiful land of Somalia in the Horn of Africa has lived through many wars, conflicts and injustices. As columnist Fareed Zakaria writes in the “Washington Post,” Somalia is a failed state. This is to say that Somalia, just like Bosnia and Herzegovina, lack complete structure. Unfortunately, the disunity has impacted the children of Somalia the greatest, for according to UNICEF Somalia, "Education and formal classroom learning opportunities are limited and unavailable for a majority of children in Somalia." This is almost as ugly as it gets, for to hinder a child to take part in their childhood and to be deprived of their right to education is indeed the greatest loss for humanity. This is so because through the blessings of knowledge and education do we enrich the lives of our children by making them chase their dreams to its fulfillment, but more importantly, we make them understand that they are worthy of doing just so.  Severe changes need to be made in terms of priorities. The children and their right to embrace the rich world of knowledge and to take part in the culture of education must be a priority for all, for the children of today are not to bear the burden of the adult atrocities of yesterday;  period. Kindly, let us remind our children that they were born with potential, goodness and trust; with ideals and dreams and greatness. Let us teach our children that they were born with wings. They were not meant to crawl, so let us not make them. They have wings. Let us teach our children to use them and to fly. Let them fly through the lands of knowledge and make them the men of worth and value they were meant to be.   ---Naida Sekić Become a Facebook Friend: “SUSAN SACIRBEY” & “DIPLOMATICALLY INCORRECT” Follow on TWITTER @DiplomaticallyX Related Film and Blog Reports: “Unite for Children” - Even in Bosnia & Herzegovina, By Naida Sekic diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/unite-for-children-even-in-bosnia-herzegovina/45422 Part I – “A Place To Call Home,” By Naida Sekic: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/more-from-naida-sekic-a-member-of-the-bosnian-herzegovinian-diaspora-from-susan-sacirbey/42329 Humanitarian Channels: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/humanitarian Bosnia Channels: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/bosnia Diplomatically Incorrect Channels: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/diplomatically-incorrect