Saturday, July 5, 2014

FAMILY BREAKDOWNS DESTROYING THE HOPE FOR A BRIGHT TOMORROW FOR CHILDREN





"I am for the children to be jealously guarded, securely protected, warmly insulated against any crude backlash and be fully insured against any intentions meant to destroy their full development and growth".


We are punishing our children, creating a hell on earth for them. We have made personal, selfish and betraying decisions that are leaving them dead emotionally. Listening to the ordeals of what the children at FreMo Elementary School I was left wondering whether a home is any safer, secure and homely for the children of the millennia. Divorce, separation, death and domestic abuses are the burdens laden on the shoulders of the little ones. We have destroyed our self images in front our children. We quarrel, fight, drink, and abuse each other in front of our children. We only care about our needs, wants, wishes and self satisfaction to free our emotions. Just because we sired and carried them through pregnancy doesn’t not mean they don’t have rights or even worse our thinking that our escapades override theirs. We are entrusting our children to the teachers in school to bring the best out in them, but let me tell you something we are doing teachers injustice by sending to them dead logs of children, abused, bleeding and heartbroken inside out. They don’t have capability, platform and resources to handle all these challenges. We are hiding ourselves in our own frustrations domestically, socially and financially but downloading them to our little children. I don’t have any moral standing or authority to judge, crucify, conclude and decide on what happens when couples don’t agree but I am for the children to be jealously guarded, securely protected, warmly insulated against any crude backlash and be fully insured against any intentions meant to destroy their full development and growth.All decisions must be a win for the child. The child must walk as the ultimate winner spared love for his story to tell.



 I am yet to come to terms of what was narrated by our teachers as we sat for our weekly staff meeting. As a policy we meet each Tuesday afternoon and asses our progress as a team and each teacher gives a report of how each class is achieving and if at all if there is any other issues that we could share and agree on. The baby class teacher gave her opening remarks and informed us how she was trying her best to keep her class on the move through sounds, drawing, counting, reciting and memorization. She went further to tell us how she has managed to keep her class in control despite the bad influences most of the children have been through and have been showing indiscipline from the time admission. Then she went to explain her worst fears, worth challenging. Most children are coming to school very dirty because nobody is at home to care for them. Mother has separated with father, they no longer stay together and the father comes home very late not caring whether they have eaten or not. Sometimes when he arrives home, he is screaming, tossing and throwing chairs all over the place, asking them where their mother is hiding. Last night they slept very late, now this morning the boy walked to school, smelling and having urinated himself from last night. On arrival the little comrades were uncomfortable with his smell and therefore reported him to their teacher. The teacher decided to take him out and try to bath wet him, while talking to him kindly in the event to gather more information on how life at home has been at home lately. The teacher herself could not control her emotions from what the boy was describing about home, but as a leader she tried and held her tears back to make it better for the little “John”.


She went on to tell the staff about the other day. After class, she was going home and two little children in her class ran after her and they said “Teacher Marion we are going to your place tonight’. Teacher Marion asked them what their parents would think of her if she takes them to her place. The little ones are aged between 5 and 7 years. They told her, mama fought with dad last week and mama walked out with our little brother. Since then we have been taking care of ourselves. We no longer take meals at home. What we eat at school as tea break and lunch break is what sustains us for the night. We rarely take baths at home because mama is not present to prepare us. The last day mother was at home, father had come home very drank and wanted to kill all of us. Lately, mama passes by home after every three days leaving for us some little food which we hide so that dad doesn’t find out she was around and that we have eaten. As you read through all these you are left wondering where the children’s department, government, NGos and all children’s rights organs and civil societies. By the way, that is what I keep asking myself since then. At least for us we stepped forward and are now helping somehow. They are hurting, heartbroken, full of anguish, and facing uncertainty in the crude world of hopelessness. Someone tells me where is tomorrow?

The class two Teacher took the stage and she gave her story in her class. We thought we had enough of emotional drainage until we opened our ears to hearing more of anguish, I could see the quietness, the silence and dismay on our looks. We gathered some energy, while swallowing hard to hide our tears and kept on staying alert intently listening to all of these conspiracies against children. I have two children in my class who are siblings; their father was shot and died sometimes last year. Their mother learnt of his death from a friend who was with him while he got shot. The man was the breadwinner,  since then the family has been searching for his body all over the mortuaries but he has never been traced till today. The children have been staying at home not knowing where to go to school. When I asked them why they could not go to public school, they told her “You see even public schools are not for free. We were sent away from one public school because mama could not afford to pay the tuition that the headmaster had asked for. Last month mother told us she had met one Moffat, the Director of the school who requested her to bring us to this school and start learning for free. We are not having any peace at home; mama goes looking for work every morning, sometimes she comes home late with food sometimes and sometimes with nothing. We rarely eat at home. Luckily what we are given here at school is enough to carry us through the night until the tea break here at school……………..to be continued………………………………….

for your support http://www.fremobirthcentre.com/how-to-help/help-us/

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And came the class three patron, his class is doing fine and all children are responding well to all that he is inculcating and training them. His first challenge is one boy who was admitted from another school and was brought in by his parents because as they put it, they got discouraged about the system in the other school. They were inspired by the FreMo Elementary School of making children enlightened, empowered and made whole through education not forgetting to mention the school culture, beliefs, mottos and core values. The young boy has been experiencing troubles in class work as a result of the under education from where he came from. Well after thorough training and assessment, the boy has got his deep seated challenges in grammar, mathematics, creativity and games all well planned and overcame by intensive tuition. We realized that his former school did not have enough resources in skills, materials and goodwill to make him a standard three. The boy is trying his best to catch up with his colleagues and as for now we hope by the end of this term he could have attained his level. The other day the girl was asked to recite any poem she knows. She went to recite a poem about a home that is full of frustrations. Children are punished anyhow, their mother beaten every other night and their father so irresponsible that she care less of the necessities and basics needed required for a proper and normal learning of them in school. She ended the poem by asking loudly, why Lord, why us, what did we do to deserve this. Somebody help! I don’t get it. How the poem fitted well to what was happening at home? I am yet to comprehend what goes around these children’s minds, brains and hearts. 

Yes as we continue with the spirit of globalization, we donate towards save the children, UNICEF, World Vision and all others, remember many parts of the world little, young and tender children are hurting innocently not knowing who to run to. Will you care today? Will you join us? Asante Sana. Be the voice of FreMo children wherever you may be. 
For supporthttp://www.fremobirthcentre.com/how-to-help/help-us/

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