Today is Peter Pan Day. Peter Pan is the protagonist of several children’s stories by James Matthew Barrie and the only child on the fictional island of Neverland who never grows up. He embodies the innocence and carefreeness of childhood, the desire for imaginary and often violent adventures, without concern or understanding for real danger and real suffering. Peter Pan never grows up and never changes.
Growing up is such a barbaric business… full of unpleasantness
Movie quote from Hook from Peter Pan
In contrast to Peter Pan, children in Kenya and Cambodia have to deal with the harsh realities of adult life at a very early age. In Kenya in 2016, 41% (source: The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, USA) of the population is under the age of 15! In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this population group only makes up 13, 14 and 15% of the total population respectively. The average age of the Kenyan population in 2016 was 19.5 years. Life expectancy in Kenya is 64 years. The low life expectancy of the population, coupled with a high number of AIDS deaths, means that many Kenyan children are orphans. The average per capita income in Kenya in 2016 was $3,400, which is just under 6% of the average Swiss per capita income of $59,400. The large number of children is therefore also plagued by massive financial hardship, which unfortunately very often means that these children have very little opportunity to be children and very often have to contribute to the family income from a very young age. This is also one of the reasons why the Maasai population repeatedly expresses the desire for the construction of safe places for the children, such as crèches and kindergartens. See the Smart Nurseries project here.
