It all started in a very mundane manner but here is how the
story goes:
Our work entails visiting slum neighborhoods most of the
time. I have come to discover that no two visits to the same neighbourhood are
ever the same. On this particular day in 2009, I went on a field visit to
Ikota.
Ikota is a high-density slum neighbourhood situated along
Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos. This community plays host to over ten thousand
people of which children and women constitute a greater percentage of the
population. It is a cultural melting point hosting communities of diverse
tribes and nationalities, amongst which are Ibos, Yorubas, Bini, Efik,
Itsekiris, Ijaws, as well as Ghanaians.
Children in this
community face many daily challenges to their education. Their parents are very
poor, uninformed and uneducated. The extreme level of poverty in the community
is evidenced by the filth visible everywhere and the bamboo shacks that has
been converted to homes.
As I got into the community on that fateful day, I noticed a
group of young children playing near a refuse dump. It was about 10am in the
morning and I knew they were supposed to be in school. However, knowing the
poverty and illiteracy level in this community, I wasn’t too surprised to find
children running around in their underwear during school hours. On closer
examination, I discovered that they were not playing. They were actually
scavenging for food! I was shocked to my marrows! My eyes welled up with tears.
Neatly packed in the small tote bag in my left hand was my lunch for the day.
The stench from that refuse dump was horrid and I couldn’t help but ask them to
leave the place. They all ran away playfully except for one of them.
 |
| Modinat in her school uniform now |
She looked frail and small. By merely looking at her, I
placed her age at 4 years but when I stooped to talk to her, she told me she
was 8! Poverty and malnutrition had slowed down this girl’s physical growth and
development. Then we got talking. I asked after her mother and she said: “I no
have mama and papa, I dey live with Broda Ramon”.At this point, I couldn’t hold
back the tears anymore.
I thought about myself at that age. I couldn’t imagine not
having my parents. I would have been like a fish out of water. During my
growing up years, I was so unaware of what went on around me that I couldn’t
imagine scouting for what to eat. But here was an 8 year old girl with a bleak
future staring her in the face if nobody did anything.
Immediately I asked her to take me to Broda Ramon, she took
my hand as if we had known each other for a long time. Brother Ramon turned out
to be her paternal uncle who took her into his home after she lost both
parents. Her other siblings (a boy and a girl) were also living with different
relatives. He had been crippled from the waist down as a result of his
involvement in a serious auto accident. He told me he repaired umbrellas to
make ends meet and could barely provide for himself and his family (his wife
left him with their 3 children after the accident) I told him about Bethesda
and asked the little girl if she would love to go to school. Her response was
“I wan chop food before I go Bethesda school”
This snapshot was taken after we shared the food in my lunch
pack and dressed her up.
Modinat (that’s her name), has since been enrolled into the
Bethesda Nursery and Primary School, Ikota. She is presently in the Primary 3
class and doing very well.
There are thousands
of Modinats around us: in our neighbourhoods; in the slums and on the streets!
Imagine what their future will be like without our intervention, no matter how
small.
The SLUM2School project is an amazing initiative and we are
extremely glad to work together with Otto Orondaam and his amazing group of
young change agents who have decided to put hope on the faces of innocent
children. If nothing is done, these children could grow up to become sex
workers, house helps, touts and miscreants in the society. It is amazing how a
little act of kindness can switch the future of a child. Just like Modinat, we
can give them hope and secure their future!
Support the SLUM2School Project today! Let’s put 100
children from the Makoko slum in school by May 10th, 2012!
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