My soapbox: Childhood can be painful. Very painful. As I tended to my sick mother this week, I paused to reflect and introspect, on my childhood, on childhood itself, on the childhood of the privileged ( some of my friends kids), and the underprivileged (many children I teach everyday). Those who truly know me are aware of how emotional I become. They see my tears as I hear more and more depressing news of some students. See my anger when I witness first hand the physical abuse - scars, burns, broken fingers, hastily shaved hair of some girls. They know my attempts and wishes to take these children home and envelope them in a cocoon of safety forever. So many stories, so few helpers. When will social workers be deployed to the schools that need them? When will proper homes be set up for abused children? When would a regular, efficient, foster parenting programme be enacted? MOE, my TTUTA, please be cognisant of the pain of childhood for some. As I witness the girl who goes into a fetal position whenever she is scared, or observe the forced smile on the girl who was recently made pregnant by her stepfather (along with her sister), and a few months later saw that same man burn her mother to death, I lose some of my faith in humanity. When I advocate for a severely burnt victim (deliberately done by her mother, in places unmentionable) not to be returned to her abusive mother, but was still sent there by an out-of-touch court system, only to be starved later on, or when I see the wildness in the eyes of another girl who cannot attend school regularly because she has nothing to eat and is on her own since her mother is hospitalised, I die a little. Yet Im scared to take them for a weekend or a week, because I am worried about the alleged gang connections of the family. Whimpy? Probably, self-preserving yes. I cry a million tears everyday I interact with certain children. I send out pleas to the universe, to Oludumare, to any supreme being, for even a brief glimpse of happiness for these children. I get sick thinking about it, wishing it away; cementing my belief in reincarnation, and knowing that once this exist, these innocent babies would spend their next lives as Princes, Princesses, and most importantly they would be happy. MOE, through my TTUTA, please, please, please, give these youths access to social workers, proper homes, freedom from fear, state protection, and the ability to enjoy all the rights of the child as set out by the UN. I am tired of getting myself sick, I am tired of being helpless, I am tired of dreaming for a better day.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:32:33 +0000
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