Lanterns raise awareness about missing children throughout Hungary

On 27^th June, the Night of a Thousand Lanterns will be held for the 8th time in Budapest and various other cities in Hungary to raise awareness about the phenomenon of child disappearance whose figures are getting more and more alarming by each year in Hungary, as hvg.hu reports.

The One Thousand Lanterns Foundation released unsettling data about the number of missing minors. In 2017, 19 thousand were reported as missing, which is 300 more than the year before. Out of this, 15 907 were over 14, while 3117 were under 14.   This year, up until April 2018, there have been more than 2000 similar reports.

The event series is connected to the International Missing Children’s Day held on 25 May. Ten cities are participating in the campaign, including Budapest, Eger, Győr, Miskolc, and Siófok.  On the 27th May, there will be charity concerts, programs for families with small children, and educative sessions about crime prevention to raise awareness about the dangers of drifting.

It was their foundation that also initiated a milk carton program with photos of missing children based on the registry of the Hungarian police.

As stated on the event’s website, a special focus in 2018 is on the so-called “7-minute families”, which references a recent survey that concluded that an average Hungarian family spends about seven minutes talking to the children in the household.

“We spend more time watching TV, listening to the radio, or talking to our friends. Why do we only spend seven minutes on our kids?”

they are asking.

Forty singers and bands are playing on Sunday, including artists like Hősök, LL Junior and Animals Cannibals.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ezerlampasejszakaja/

The program series gains its name from the most spectacular element of the night, when the crowd sends up lighting balloons in the air, symbolizing those who have gone missing and the light that will hopefully bring them back home.

Featured image: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ezerlampasejszakaja

Source: hvg.hu