Children's day

Hmm... It's Friday today. I want to write about someone and  my changed perspective towards her. Her name is Favour, one of my babies at school. The time I spent alone with her today made me understand the huge implication of stigmatization on a child.

One thing that is common amongst humans is the quest to be relevant. Children tend to need this more because they are yet to develop their mindset into self acceptance. Hence, they need the acceptance of people to  feel important.

When a child feels valued, it'll be evident in the way they relate with people and they will not be easily intimidated. It boosts their self esteem and builds them altogether. Every child needs to be valued.

This is my reason for this explanation: 

Last term, this Favour was treated like a plague simply because she said her grand father was an occultist. Because of this, it affected her as an individual as she sometimes acts abnormal.

Her mates said she was possessed and avoided her. At a point she started feeling that way, thus behave so macabre.

Sometimes, she'll voice out that her grand father was calling her and frighten her mates.

She's an upcoming learner, so we felt she was better off not coming to school at all.

One day, I fixed my eyes at her, I saw how lonely she felt. She sat alone because all of her seat mates didn't want to mingle with her.

She was always calm and only ask me questions that are out of context.

So this term, I brought her close to me. Seeing that she is now close to me, the pupils started believing that she is harmless.

First I include her in whatever I want others to do for me. You know the joy when your teacher tells you to help her out, not by command or coercion. Something like "Favour, please help me store these books on the shelf." Of course you'll be delighted that you're useful to the teacher. That's how she felt,  I observed it.

I involved her in subject defense and when she was done, I praised her and called her my personal beaurii❤️. And yes, she's a very pretty, tall and neat young girl.

She started having friends, of course, since Miss Grateful likes her, who are we to reject her?😁😁.

So she told me once that she likes mopping the floor and I let her have that responsibility. Thanks to her, my class is always squeaky clean and she does it with cheerfulness. I engaged in a conversation with her today. I just told her "Favour let me keep you company while you mop. Oya gist me."

She started narrating how she lost her little sister, she shared the moments she had with the baby when she was alive. She told me about her family. Now, I pray the parents of this child don't let her know everything that goes on in her family because if they did, that means, I have heard everything 🤣🤣🤣.

Okay, let me tell you the extent🤣🤣🤣

She told me when her mom attempted suicide, now you can imagine how deep her story was. But that's by the way.

She is doing better academically now because I told her that she's very important to me, she's like a little sister to me and if she doesn't do well, it will affect me, I will be very disappointed.. Now she's fighting to be the best and I'm proud of her.

I thought about her situation last term and wished I realized earlier that there's absolutely nothing wrong with this child. She was only going through the trauma of stigmatization.

Tomorrow is children's day and I'm using this medium to say that children deserve to be valued, loved and cared for. Happy Children's day to Favour. Happy Children's day my personal beaurii ❤️🥰

#From my dairy, 26 May 2023