I’ve just had a lovely two days being
‘classroom assistant’ for Ryan and Rosa at the Acholi Quarters as they embarked
on a week of teaching some of the younger children who don’t go to school at
all.
It’s not something I manage to do very
often – I’m usually focusing on the logistics side of the trips, getting lots
of photos to provide the team with a visual record of the trip, and letting the
young people of the CRED teams deliver the lessons and activities that they
have spent so much time preparing and resourcing. But those foci weren’t so
necessary or prominent this time and it was a very pleasant change to be able
to be with the children for longer than just having a random selection of them
walking with me wherever I happen to be going as I carry out my various tasks.
Yes, I still had that every time I stepped
out of the building where we were doing the lessons, and it still makes me
smile when the little toddlers coming running up shouting ‘mazungu mazungu’ and
then grab hold of a finger each as we walk along. But it was very special to
have that extra time with some of the ones doing the lessons as they tried to
master the phonic alphabet, do some basic addition, and practise writing some
of their letters and numbers.
These children will probably never be great
scholars – let’s face it, if you’ve got to age 8 without having the chance to
do regular schooling, then you’ve definitely got a lot of catching up to do
just to be average for age.
But what they lack in educational
knowledge, they certainly make up for in other ways, and the adultness in some
of these children can be both heart-warming and heart breaking to see.
Half way through the morning, and then
again during the afternoon, we fund the ladies to cook Ugandan-style porridge
for the children to drink. It’s made from millet, and is more liquid than our
porridge, but the children love it, and for many it is the first, and maybe
only, meal of any substance that they will have that day.
Once the children we are teaching have had
their large cup-full, other little ones in the area will get a look in, but it
also brings a lump to my throat when I watch so many of the older children going
and seeking out younger siblings to make sure that they also get some porridge
– either by making sure they are in the right place at the right time, or by
giving up some of their own porridge so that the little ones don’t go hungry.
Today, one of the girls, Lakey, who can
only be 5 or 6 herself, found an empty water bottle, and having had some of her
cup of porridge herself, then carefully poured the rest into the bottle so she
could take it home to the little ones – such selflessness at such a young age.
At the same time Maisy, a loud, boisterous,
and very in-your-face 8 year old, suddenly wasn’t in the building anymore, and
when I went to check where she was, I found her nearby giving portions of her
cup of porridge to 3 younger siblings who were sitting just near to where we
were.
Nothing new - I've seen it before many times, but sometimes these things can hit you afresh, and today was one of those days
Another adult-ness about the children I
witnessed today was when a very little toddler fell over and started crying
just outside the building where we were teaching. Maisy was inside at the time,
but as soon as she heard the cry, even without seeing who was making the noise,
she put down the activity that she was enjoying and went out to sort out the
baby. It turned out the baby was her little sister, and Maisy as the oldest has
to look after her. Desperate to go to the lessons, Maisy had left the baby with
the next sibling down, her brother Derick. But she clearly didn’t consider
herself to be off-duty as official baby-sitter – as soon as she heard the cry
she went out to check on the baby, and Derick, and help get things settled
down.
Again, I know this isn’t unique, and I’ve seen it
all too often before around the world, but today it just reminded me yet again
of the role of the child-carer, and how many there are in the world who are
living a life of adult-ness at such a young age.
Tomorrow I’m across to Rwanda, to spend a
week in Kigali with a CRED Team who are on their way out there to deliver an
educational activity week to the children at the GNPDR Catch Up Centre for
street kids and ex-street kids.
Whilst at the airport I might get round to
writing about a couple of other meetings I’ve had here, and some incredible
work that is going on by those organisations.
But for now I end by saluting all young
carers around the world – who day in day out give up some of their childhood
innocence and freedom to care for family members who are less able to care for
themselves. May these young people be blessed, as they are a blessing to
others.
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