PRINCESS CAROLINE OF MONACO BRINGS CHEER TO STREET CHILDREN
MANILA, October 26 , 2004 (STAR) By Rebecca Rodriguez - Princess Caroline of Monaco toured a detention center for minors and a shelter for Manila’s street children yesterday as part of her campaign to promote children’s rights.
The princess of Hanover arrived Sunday — her first visit to the country — as the president of non-profit child advocacy group AMADE (Association Mondiales des Amis de l’Enfance or World Association of Children’s Friends), founded by her mother, the late Princess Grace of Monaco, in 1963.
"I will try my best to help your country do that," Caroline said at the Manila Youth Reception Center (MYRC), referring to the fight for children’s rights and the raising of funds for dispossessed kids.
AMADE has helped juvenile mothers and their infants and has provided legal assistance to imprisoned minors in the country since 1999.
The MYRC is a temporary home to 108 young offenders, who are awaiting a decision by courts on their petty offenses, said Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, who showed the princess around the premises while the children waved flags and sang songs.
The older children in the center gifted the princess with a friendship bracelet made of twine.
The living conditions of the young inmates — where cells were filled to twice their capacity — apparently shocked the princess, who cited the need for immediate action.
She said this undertaking was like trying to stop a volcano from erupting using a plastic cup, "but it needs to be done."
Princess Caroline also visited street children at the Makati Coliseum before having lunch with kids from the Virlanie Foundation, the French aid organization which is helping Metro Manila’s homeless children.
Single mothers sang "The Greatest Love of All" while clutching their babies, and autistic kids also rendered a song number.
"When she was carrying some of the kids (during lunch), the princess was very emotional," said Virlanie founder and president Dominique Lemay.
The princess hosted a fund-raising dinner at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel last night for the Virlanie Foundation. She plans to leave Manila tomorrow.
The princess has chaired AMADE, which has 25 member states, since 1993. Five more countries will be affiliated with it this year.
AMADE has been working closely with Virlanie, which since 1992 has put up noteworthy projects to help streetchildren, including different homes for the abandoned and neglected.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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