Children are seen as a blessing and in Africa, if a woman is barren, then that is taken to be a curse. A curse by the ancestral spirits if they are annoyed, then can punish accordingly. Sometimes in Africa barrenness is attributed to witchcraft, more so among the women who share husbands (co wives).
Although children are so important on the African continent, some people do not consider this or take them to be important in society. They are not respected and yet it’s said that children are the leaders of tomorrow. So many children are denied their rights, such as a right to education. So many families deny children education, some may be they do not have money which you can understand, and others decide not to take children to school because they have no value for education.
Children also suffer a lot in times of danger for example in times of wars. Many of them during this time do not necessarily die because of the bullets but it’s because of the famine, long distances that they travel when escaping from the enemies.
Many parents in Africa have a negative thinking about their children towards taking them to school and so decide to just to abandon them. This is mostly common with some families not considering girl children, they are ignored and some denied the chances to go to school. They see no future in them and so think that girl children are to stay home ever and always for home work.
It would be better if we African people started considering these children’s rights and so stop them from having their lives being put on tension. Some of them flee their homes because of heavy work, others are denied food, shelter, education as mention before, heavy punishments, and some of them are sacrificed to the witchdoctors because of yearning for riches.
It’s my dream that the governments, the communities, different organisations both national and international ones join hands with the African child. This is not because the governments have no money to support them but they instead invest the money in non productive ventures such as buying arms which does not bring benefits.
Children have to enjoy their rights so as to enjoy life in their respective countries because they are the tomorrow’s leaders and so if mishandled, then chances are that we would not have sound minds in future. This can be done through the governments putting strong punishments towards those people/citizens who are found of abusing the rights of children. Therefore we must all be advocates of children’s rights so as to have a prosperous would.
Many of the above behaviors are as a result of inequalities that exist in the societies of Africa. Inequalities are not only in children but also among the different members in the community for example a husband in a home failing to express love to his wives, more so when he has many of them and he cannot exercise equal love to them all at the same time loving the children. If we all change our ways of conduct, then the people around us and those that we are concerned with will have to change because if a child is given attention at home by either the parents or the relatives, then chances are that the child will not go away from home. This means that whenever a child is pressed with a problem, then he or she is free to express him or herself and that problem is solved.
I thank the people or family heads who bear it in mind that giving a child school fees is not the only way to parent children for a better future but also the little time that you spend with them discussing the world is the best. This will help the family members to have trust in themselves and a sense of belonging among themselves. Happiness in a family does not have money but understanding each other.
Thank you for reading my blog and joining our S.A.L.V.E. family respecting Children’s rights.
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