As I started to take pictures the students rose to the occasion and protested with renewed vigour at the arrival of a photographer. Call it happenstance or serendipity, but the delay in their departure caused by my arrival led to an invite they otherwise would have missed. A delegation of four students was invited inside the government headquarters for an informal meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna.

After their identity cards were checked by security they walked purposefully down the corridors to meet Barna. One of them, a young guy, was particularly impressive. He was very articulate and to the point, the kind of young person who can inspire we older ones to believe that there is hope for the future.

Less impressive was the man they had been invited to meet. Dan Barna, the Deputy Prime Minister who doesn’t seem to understand that denying free computer access to a family that owns just a horse, or a cow or a couple of pigs, is to deny their children a fair chance at getting an education. For families living hand to mouth a computer is beyond their reach and will always remain so. Even if it could be within their reach, among the stresses of a family living in poverty and cramped conditions, how long would a computer last and what tensions would it cause the family? As governments worldwide assist corporations to turn citizens into mere customers, what about those who fall through the cracks?

All these things ran through my mind as he sat in his suit and spoke to the young idealists who faced him. He reassured them that this would not effect them as the changes would not be brought in this year and they would have left school before any reforms were introduced, but he casually neglected to mention what would happen for those who would pass through school in the future.
They left looking like they felt they had achieved something, but I wonder how long it will be before they understand just how empty his promises and reassurances were.