A Movie Story That Opens The Door to Discuss An Important Issue
A beautiful movie adapted from a story by Ihsan Abdel Quddous with the same name, but it is one of the few films that surpass the story. The story is very short, discussing the politician’s acceptance of his secret relationship with a dancer and partnership with her, then he denies and disowns her in public. It does not discuss the human issue presented by Wahid Hamed in the film, which is whether a dancer has the right to build a shelter for children or adopt children.
In the film, the dancer has a personal motive, she wants to secure her future by someone who can stand by her side when she is sick and old, which is of course a legitimate motive even if it wasn’t out of pure altruism. Steps towards good lead to good, and God’s doors are not closed to anyone, if the intention is sincere and there is no malicious purpose behind it.
The problem is that we are surprised every day by many strange things, and calls to open the door of adoption wide for anyone who wants, under the pretext that poor children live on the streets and pavements, not finding anyone to take care of them or live their childhood, while being assaulted day and night, and their innocence assassinated in the most brutal way, and pushed into crime, and this is true but could it hide an ill-intention, or is it just idealistic perceptions of some well-intentioned people without thorough examination and deep thinking?
Let’s start with some questions that are only meant to make us think:
Should we allow a drug dealer for example to build a shelter?
If the answer is yes,
Who can guarantee that he won’t exploit those poor children as labor to grow or distribute drugs, and may even give them this poison to ensure their loyalty?
Should homosexuals be trusted with children, whether by allowing them to adopt or build a shelter?
If the answer is still yes,
Who can guarantee that the purpose is not to assault children without supervision, as sometimes happens on an individual level?
Should the door of adoption be opened for unmarried men or women who refuse marriage and forming natural families?
If yes,
Who can guarantee their actual ability to take care of a child, when they refuse procreation, and what would happen to the children if their circumstances change in any way?
Unfortunately I cannot decisively answer yes or no to all these cases and more in a simple way, because the answers are confusing and highly complicated, requiring research and study of each case. No one knows the intentions except Allah. And the reason for confusion is what we hear every now and then about strange incidents of celebrities and wealthy people who assaulted children, who may be innocent or guilty.
Who knows? Maybe it’s a plot by a competitor or a resentful person, and maybe it’s the truth, and armies of lawyers always find a way out for them as it happens continuously.
Just as a couple abandoned a girl child after adopting her for three years, because the wife got pregnant, so the couple preferred to return the girl to the shelter and take care of their coming child, and I don’t know the couple’s financial situation or ability to care for more than one child.
I also thought about what would happen if an unmarried person adopts a child then a travel opportunity arises or an unexpected circumstance occurs or they decide to marry and their partner rejects the child.
The issue of adopting street children or shelter children is complicated. They are in fact helpless, either orphans, an illegitimate relationship product, abandoned by their parents or lost them in some way, ran away from their cruelty, kidnapped. Therefore, the adoption process would be without oversight from any reliable entity that can protect them. Otherwise, this entity would have taken care of them and sheltered them instead of leaving them destitute.
And we cannot deny the existence of excellent efforts by individuals and associations that provide assistance and support to these poor souls, but they are scattered limited efforts by those who neglected them:
One of the well-known foreign schools held classes for some of those children after school hours.
And some associations hold cultural and artistic workshops in poor areas.
Some mosques and churches provide assistance.
This is in addition to supporting individuals.
All appreciated efforts made quietly, that neither solve the problem nor part of it. Even accepting adoption and building shelters will not solve it, because the solution is to dry up the sources producing those children in the first place, which means eradicating poverty, unemployment, addiction, drug dens, prostitution, rape, adultery, child abduction, slums, obligating parents to care for and spend on their children.
These are complex social issues I don’t intend to discuss. As for the issue of these children, it requires innovative solutions based on field studies to provide practical solutions to be adopted by governments if they want to protect society from ready-to-explode bombs at any moment. Then encourage civil society to support and implement clear plans that serve these completely deprived categories and oversee the implementation.
Leaving those children on the streets is dangerous for them and society. Adoption is not a solution for it’s an illusion that can collapse at any moment. There is no guarantee of preventing the exploitation of the child or even guaranteeing the life of the adoptive parent and that their relatives would accept spending on the child and caring for them after their death, or give up part of the inheritance for their benefit.
I don’t want to assert that the existence of those children is proof of lack of humanity and dead consciences. Only God knows people’s circumstances and no one is infallible. But they are timed bombs that will explode at any moment if we don’t act wisely and find a radical solution that saves them and saves us with them.
All solutions need major efforts, long-term plans, oversight and follow-up that exceed the government’s ability alone and the scattered organizations’ efforts, as well as exorbitant sums. But they are not impossible if the intentions for real reform are sincere. They are wasted human resources that if directed towards construction would build. Otherwise they and us would be lost . Construction here is by knowledge and work. Emptiness, poverty and ignorance are the real enemies of any progress or reform but we keep going in circles without doing anything.
Can we calmly think of a comprehensive solution that achieves a safe street for us and a decent livelihood for them that they earn by themselves without expecting anyone’s compassion, adoption or entities that give and prevent? We suffer from shortage of labor in almost all fields.
Train those children and teach them in evening schools which are open for overnight stay for the homeless. Then they would go in the morning to work places for training on manual jobs that are needed and profitable in the market. Open savings accounts for them with their wages until they reach the legal age. So after several years, we would have secured them a decent respectable life, and closed one of the doors of crime and chaos.
Arabic