From Eduland, a Facebook page


WHAT ABOUT THESE CHILDREN
Have you ever seen it yourself or have you been told? Have you really imagined or given it a thought? Do you know how it feels to be poor?
Wait a sec! Don't be angered by my rhetorical questions. Of course, I know a lot of people reading this have either experienced poverty or are likely under its dehumanising spell. But there are those who know the true meaning of poverty. People like this...
...I was on the phone with a friend on 25th, Dec, 2015. We were doing the normal guy thing on the phone...a bosom friend I had not seen or heard from over a year, you should imagine how wacky we would sound. We shared both true and...you know na...boys lies we've had in the past year. His new "bae" took the later greater part of our chat.
The euphoria of our seeming endless talk had taken the better of us when it all went wrong. A sudden silence visited my phone and my thought, the obvious. After my hellos fell dead on the ears of my disconnected friend, I managed to grudgingly put off the call and headed to WhatsApp to find succour for my loneliness.
Minutes later, I received an image message and it was from my friend. I rushed and opened it. I was confused as I didn't understand why he sent me such bizarre images of a battered child. At the same time my mind was already restless and terribly disturbed by such horrific pictures of a child whose back skin was completely ripped off and utterly destroyed by presumably a hot iron. I was yet captivated in my shock when my friend, Oscar, followed the images with a message which read " bro, u can just see why I was off the phone at that time. The little boy you see in those pictures ran into our compound in a pull of blood. While he explained, he became unconscious and was rushed to the hospital. It was gathered his step mother is responsible. She accused him of stealing food from her pot today and the rest is inexpressible."
At this point, I didn't understand what my feeling was. Aside my unreserved empathy for the boy, unprecedented anger had just possessed me and I could see my cold body burn in terrible temperament. Had I been there, the "Jezebel would have her wicked self to blame" I muttered.
Well, this is not the first time and it certainly won't be the last to hear this sort of ugly story. The boy has lost his mother just like other many children who are either motherless or orphans. The untold hardships and excruciating pains they are subjected to either by their stepmothers, guardians or custodians will rent hearts and pull stream of tears. Have you seen these children? They are the ones experiencing true poverty. You know why? Poverty is best defined and felt in loneliness. They are both deserted and un-cattered for. They grow up with heart and emotional scars and intractable conflict of goodness and badness. They live around us and need just some kindness.
My question: did or will you reach out to children like the motherless Prince this season?